Ferguson wins season-opening Foster’s 800m sea swim

(CMR) The domestic sea swim season opened on Saturday, 15 October, with Thomas Ferguson edging defending winner Will Sellars to take first in the 38th-annual Foster's 800-metre Sea Swim. 

“It's a really significant event. It normally kicks off our open water swim season for the 800 meters, and we're very grateful that Foster's sponsored it again this year. This is the 38th running, would you believe, in this event, which is fantastic support for Cayman swimming,” the Cayman Islands Aquatic Sports Association Events Director Martin Trott said.

Ferguson finished first with a time of 9-minutes, 29.7 seconds, while Sellars (9:33.05), Harper Barrowman (9:37.3), Jordan Lisle (9:46.02), and Sierrah Broadbelt (10:05.02) round out the top five. 

“Obviously amazing. You see everyone — all the clubs, all the parents, all the coaches. Even my dad [Camana Bay Aquatic Club coach Grant Ferguson] swam today. Amazing to see everyone come out and try their best,” Thomas Ferguson said.

The Foster's 800 marks the first of a series of local open water events, including the 5K national championships, the Pirates Week 5K, the Flow, Butterfield, and CUC 800 sea swims, and the annual Flowers Sea Swim. 

“One of CIASA’s priorities is to push open water swimming as much as we possibly can. Because, as you can see, we have incredible facilities. Seven Mile Beach is one of the best — if not the best — open water swim facilities in the Caribbean. So we need to use that to our advantage and get as many of these swims in the calendar as we can,” Trott said.

Foster's Managing Director Woody Foster said his organization continues to support the event because the sea swims bring the community together. 

“My dad started this 38 years ago because he was a big swimmer, loved swimming. The first one was the Pirates Week 3-mile and we've just been doing it every year since. We love it, and it's a great event,” Foster said.

Up next on the local swimming calendar is the CBAC Fall Kick-Off Meet 21-23 October at the Camana Bay Pool. The next local open water swim is the 12 November Pirates Week KPMG 5K.