Hamilton, Bermuda, October 28, 2014 – The Bermuda Olympic Association (BOA) has announced its official roster of athletes set to compete at the 22nd edition of the Central American & Caribbean (CAC) Games. The CAC Games, dating back to 1926, are the oldest continuous-running regional games in the world. They are held every four years, typically within the Olympic gap years and the previous 2010 CAC Games were held in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. This year’s competition is taking place in Veracruz, Mexico, over the course of November 14th – November 30th.
Three swimmers were among the 41 names announced to represent Bermuda across the more than 40 sport disciplines. Below is the roster with the swimmers’ anticipated CAC Game events:
Lisa Blackburn – 100m breaststroke
Julian Fletcher – 100m breaststroke
Roy-Allan Burch – 50m butterfly, 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle
Lisa Blackburn, at 42-years-old, has been part of the Bermuda National Swimming Team for the past five years. She was named Bermuda’s Female Athlete of the Year in 2011, as she won 2 Gold Medals at the 2011 Caribbean Swimming Championships, and also performed successfully at the 2011 US Winter Nationals. More recently, Blackburn is rekindling her dream of ultimately qualifying and competing at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. In order to train full-time in this pursuit, the former T2 Aquatics swimmer moved to Ottawa, Canada to train with Gee Gee Swim Team under the direction of Dave Heinbuch. She has also recently launched a Dreamfuel campaign to help offset her training and traveling costs.
This past Spring, 24-year-old Julian Fletcher wrapped up his collegiate swimming career at Southern Methodist University (SMU), where he was an American Athletic Conference finalist in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke distances. Fletcher then relocated to California to swim under Coach David Salo as part of the Trojan Swim Club elite swimming squad. Fletcher competed for Bermuda at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where he swam the 100m breaststroke event in semi-finals.
Roy-Allan Burch, 28, who currently trains under Coach David Marsh at SwimMAC Elite in Charlotte, NC, was the first swimmer from Bermuda to break 23 seconds in the 50m freestyle (LC). He has significant international experience under his belt, including the 2012 Olympics in London and, more recently, the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where he swam both the 50m and 100m freestyle swim-finals. Burch competed at the previous edition of the CAC Games in 2010, where he was Bermuda’s flag bearer and, despite a sprained foot, finished fourth in the 50m freestyle.
When asked what he is most looking forward to at this year’s CAC Games, Burch indicated “I’m just looking forward to the meet as a whole. It will give me a good perspective of where I am at so far with my season.” He also commented on how he wants to “represent my country well…..The atmosphere is usually good, as there are many passionate countries in the region.”
As far as life at SwimMAC Elite, Burch noted that the group “has a lot of fun together….because everyone is so easygoing. The group is also more diverse than it’s ever been, so everyone brings something to the table with their own experiences. We are all very determined and share similar goals so we we do our best to motivate each other, but also compete on a daily basis.
Swim enthusiasts are encouraged to follow the CAC Games journey with these three Bermudian athletes on Twitter: @roy_burch, @fletcherbda, and @SwimmingLisa.
CAC Games Swimming Event Psych Sheets Available Here
