Y-SPEEDOS Swim Club finished on top as 15 records tumbled at the pulsating one-day Walter Lowi Swim meet, which was the second meet of the season on the Amateur Swimming Association of Jamaica (ASAJ) calendar at the National Aquatics Centre, recently.

The swim club amassed a combined 266 points in the age-group scoring, followed by Marlins Swim Club with 173 points, with Blue Seals Swim Club completing the top three with 158 points.

The event was dubbed the ‘distant meet’ by the Junior 12 & Under swimmers who were introduced to greater distances than they are accustomed to. Of the 15 records erased, three were from the Masters swimmers, seven from the 10 & Under, with the remaining five being taken down by the 11 & Over age group.

With the sunny Saturday morning being conducive for swimming, the event commenced at a rapid pace when Octavia Grey of the Marlins Swim Club made good of the conditions to establish a new record in event number one. Grey sped to a meet record in the 11 and Over Girls’ 200-metre breaststroke, clocking 3:03.88 minutes to topple the old mark of 3:09.20 minutes. Bryce Butler of Tornadoes followed suit in the Boys’ equivalent with a fast time of 2:45.91 minutes, lowering to previous mark of 2:48.94 minutes.

It was then time for the Christanya Shirley show, as the young sensation of Marlins Swim club continued the record-breaking form with three in quick succession. She first sped to victory in the 8 & Under girls’ 50 metre butterfly event in a time of 38.90 seconds, beating the 39.73 seconds set by Zaneta Alvaranga in 2013. Mikayla Brown (44.63sec) of Blue Seals and Julianna Chambers (49.00sec) of Dolphin Swim Club were second and third, respectively.

The seven-year-old Shirley, who wants to trace the record-breaking steps of Alvaranga, then accomplished a meet record in the 50-metre backstroke, clocking 44.63 seconds to erase the 45.91 seconds previously held by Alvaranga. She later stopped the clock at 49.03 seconds to win the 50-metre breaststroke, again erasing Alvaranga’s previous mark of 50.10 seconds.

But Alvaranga of Y-Speedos Swim Club was not to be outdone, as she was in top form with her elite-like starts and technique. The now 9-10 girls leader toppled the field in the 100-metre butterfly event on her way to a fast 1: 24.52 minutes to take down the old record of 1:29.40 minutes set by Emily Macdonald in 2013. Emma Marston (1:51.27), also of Y-Speedos, and Gabrielle Jones (1:56.57) of Royal swim club took the runners-up spots.