This year has had all the makings of an Olympic year for Lara Butler, who put in a stellar year at Loughborough University during her final season.
“This is definitely my last intense year because not only do you swim, you also have to do gym and stuff and with work, there’s not gonna be enough time to be able to do all that (after graduation). So this was gonna be the peak of my career,” Butler said.
Butler pounded away at the Cayman Islands record books over the past few months, shattering several of her own national marks.
Click here for the Cayman Islands Amateur Swimming Association record books.
“Just knowing I really wanted to get the time as well for the Olympics, so every time I just wanted to beat my time to get closer,” Butler said of her string of breaking national marks this year.
Now she’s heading to Rio 2016 thanks to the Olympic Universality Programme. She takes off 7 August in the women’s 100-meter backstroke prelims.
“I want to get a National record,” Butler said of her expectations. “I wanna beat my time and I just want to go in there and beat my rivals, my Caribbean rivals, who are also my friends. But I wanna enjoy my time at the same time as doing my personal best and seeing what I can get.”
She’ll be flanked by her brother, Geoffrey, who’s making his Olympic debut as well.
“To be able to go to the biggest thing in swimming, everyone’s highlight, and to be able to do it with my brother is just something I would’ve never thought would ever happen. So it’s really exciting.”
Click here to view Cayman’s complete Olympic schedule.
