The Cayman Islands  and the Special Olympics family  world-wide opened the New Year 2010 to the great news that the San Francisco Bay Open-Water swim of local Special Olympics athlete Andrew Smilley had won the poll for the Greatest Open-Water Swim of 2009.

 Among an extraordinarily impressive field of outstanding open water swimming heroes, Andrew’s first cold-water swim last September out-voted the world record setting relay team of Camlough, Ireland as the 2009 Greatest Open Water Swim of the Year. Out of 9,133 votes cast by fans around the globe, 2,086 individuals voted for Andrew and 2,003 voted for the Camlough team.

Andrew placed 107th in a field of 800 swimmers in the RCP Tiburon Mile where the Special Olympics athlete from the Cayman Islands also placed third in the 19-29 age in the non-wetsuit division. This achievement placed him in the running with twenty-three other teams and individuals for the poll. His closest contender was the  Camlough Team which broke the existing and set a new Guinness World Record for the Longest Continuous Open Water Relay Swim as 220 relay members collectively swam non-stop for 232 hours and 52 minutes (over 9 nights and 10 days) to traverse a total of 685.5K (426.5 miles) in northern Ireland.

Special Olympics CEO and Chairman Tim Shriver said on behalf of Andrew, "Far too often, our athletes, athletes with intellectual disabilities, are viewed for what they can't do. But Andrew Smilley is showing the world what he can do and we congratulate him for being selected as the Greatest Open Water Swim of 2009. Andrew's performance in the RCP Tiburon Mile is just one example of how Special Olympics athletes are accomplishing great things that many just dream to achieve."

Andrew has been an athlete with Special Olympics Cayman Islands (SOCI) for over ten years. His main sport is Aquatics; he has competed locally and internationally in Special Olympics and Carifta competitions as well as open water swims like the local Flowers Sea Swim. He also takes part in football, athletics and basketball and was part of the SOCI team that recently returned from an invitational basketball tournament in Bahamas with silver medals.  Andrew also scuba dives and is the athlete representative on the SOCI board of directors.

“The results of this poll demonstrate that persons all over the world were motivated by his achievement.” comments SOCI chairman Eric Crutchley. “Andrew’s dedication to training and his continuous striving to do his best despite the challenges is an inspiration to us all. “

“ We have always been very proud of him – now the world knows why. “ say his coach Penny McDowall with pride.  

When contacted with the news Andrew was very pleased that so many people had voted for him but he continues to focus on getting even better at his sport. “They really voted for me? Wow, cool… What time is swim training tomorrow?”