Our N&D Team
Weekend 1
Day 1
The weekend got off to a good start for our competitors. Showing true fighting spirit, our youngsters delivered some strong personal best performances, with 15 finalists, 2 gold and 3 silver medals, it was a great start and something to build on throughout the championships.
Highlights
Daniel Butler (14) finished in gold medal position in the Boys 1500m Free, finishing almost a minute ahead of his nearest rival in a time of 17:43:16. Slightly outside of his personal best, but a very impressive race nonetheless.
Taryn Wheat(14) was also on strong form, qualifying for the Girls 14 year old 200m Free final in 6th position, moving to 5th position in the final to finish in a time of 2:18:87 and later finishing in silver medal position in the Girls 14 years 50m Free, shaving off a little more time to finish in a time of 29:02.
Brandon Pye (10), James Davison (14) & Luke Pye (14) all qualified for the Boys 100m Breast final for their respective age groups.
Brandon, who was competing in his first championships, maintained his qualifying position to finish 5th in a time of 1:35:98, whilst James and Luke finished in 7th and 9th positions.
The second session got off to a flying start, with 4 top 5 positions in the Boys 200m Fly event.
Brandon Pye (10) kicked off taking silver in a time of 2:59.90, narrowly missing gold medal position. Jacob Openshaw (12)followed with another silver medal in a time of 2:51:37. Daniel Butler (14) took a second gold to finish more than two seconds ahead of second place. With Matthew Hunt (15) finishing in 4th position in a time of 2:29:32.
The afternoon continued with thirteen year old Hannah Wright finishing in 10th position in the girls 100m Back in a time of 1:18:36.
The session finished on a high, with four more finalists in the Boys 50m Back. Matthew Cairns (10) finished in 5th position in the first of the three finals, in a time of 39:53. Followed by team mates Thomas English (12) and Joseph Fairbairn (12)who finished in 4th and 8th positions in times of 35:81 and 37:05 respectively. Oliver Wallace (15) was our last finalist of the day, finishing in 8th position in a time of 32:98.
All in all a great start to the championships from our youngsters, and definitely something to build upon!
Day 2
Despite being tinged with illness and injury, our championship competitors produced yet another day of quality performances, with 19 finalists, two more silver and bronze medals in tow, those fit enough to compete delivered some impressive results!
Highlights
Day two started well, boasting four top ten finishes in the Boys 200m Free event. Ten year old Brandon Pye started the run finishing in 9th position in a time of 2:41:09, followed by Jacob Openshaw (12) who later finished in 10th position. Fourteen year old Daniel Butler brought home the first of 2 medals in the event, taking silver in a time of 2:10:60, before Oliver Wallace (15) took bronze in a time of 2:09:83. A great start to the day.
Amelia Simpson (11) then went on to finish 5th in the Girls 100m Breast in a time of 1:35:38, with Hannah Wright (13) also making her age group final, finishing in 8th position in a time of 1:26:77. Eighteen year old Gabby Burdess added to the list of finalists, finishing in 8th position.
The morning session ended with four more finalists in the Boys 50m Free; with Matthew Cairns (10) finishing in 6th position in a time of 32.89, twelve year olds Joseph Fairbairn and Thomas English who finished in 8th and 10th positions respectively, and Oliver Wallace (15) who finished in bronze medal position in a time of 26:42.
Fourteen year old Luke Pye kicked off the afternoon finishing in 8th position in the Boys 400m IM event in a new personal best time of 5:38:87.
The Girls 200m Fly also produced a number of finalists, with Rebekah Heppell (15) and Georgina Lee (16) finishing in 7th positions with team mate Grace Routledge (17) finishing in 8th position overall.
The weekend’s events ended on a high with 6 more finalists in the Boys 100m Back. Brandon Pye (10) took 10th place in the first of the finals, not quite hitting his earlier performance in the heats, but a good swim nonetheless. After an exciting race, Thomas English (12) took silver in a new personal best time of 1:14:98, with Joseph Fairbairn (12) finishing in 7th position in a time of 1:20:01. Fourteen year old Luke Pye came next, almost matching his final qualifying time to finish in 10th place, followed by Matthew Hunt (15) and Jamie Keyworth (17) who both finished in 8th position in their respective finals.
So overall a strong start to the championships. Hopefully, we will have more great results to publish following the second weekend of championships at the end of the month, and we wish those who weren’t fit enough to compete in this weekend’s competition a speedy recovery in time for round two!
