Swimmers from Cleethorpes
& Scunthorpe Aquatics produced some outstanding results at the recent
British Gas ASA National Age Group & Youth Championships, up against the
best swimmers from across the county. The ASA
National Age Group Championships were held 22nd – 26th July
and the ASA National Youth Championships 28th July – 2nd
August at Ponds Forge International Swimming Centre in Sheffield. The Age Group
Championships are for girls aged 11 – 13 years and boys aged 11 – 14 years. The
Youth Championships are for girls age 14 – 17 years and boys 14 – 18 years
In the Age Groups
Competition, first to represent CASA was 12 year old Josh Jones in the 400
Freestyle he achieved a new personnel best time to finish 11th
overall. Josh also went on to two more
11th place finishes, missing out on that elusive ‘Top Ten Finish’ by
the narrowest of margins. In his 200M
Individual Medley he again came away with a new personnel best time and was
just outside his best time on his 200 Breaststroke. However he was not to be disappointed on his other three
performances. He was on outstanding
form on his 800 and 1500 Freestyle events taking more than 13 seconds off his
previous best time for each event to finish in 8th place on both
races. A place in a final was Josh’s
reward for his swim in the 400 Individual Medley, with another personnel best
time, Josh went on to finish in 8th place.
Eleventh place finishes
seems to be a reoccurring theme for CASA
swimmers, 12 year old Oliver Webster finished in 11th place
in the gruelling 1500 metres Freestyle, a hard swim at the best of times, but
more so when you have just recovered from a week of illness. Oliver also competed in the 800 Freestyle
and 400 Individual Medley.
Another 11th
place came from 12 year old Callum Gladding in the 800 Freestyle, Callum put in
maximum effort to take over 8 seconds off his personnel best time with an
excellent swim. A place in the final beckoned for Callum after his excellent
performance in the 200 metre Butterfly, with yet another new time. Callum
finished in overall 9th place in the final.
13yrs old Sophie Long the
only girl from CASA on the Individual Age groups events competed in the 200
Freestyle and 1500 Freestyle. Sophie
also was one of the four girls making up the 4 x 200M relay team. This was the first time CASA have had a team
in the National Age Groups. The girls
11/13yrs 4 x 200M Freestyle team of Georgia Cragg (12), Zoe Lansley-Hogg(13),
Sophie Long (13) and Natalie Sharman (13)
put in a superb swim to take 7 secs off their entry time, with all four
girls achieving a new personnel best time, an excellent achievement.
CASA had two swimmers at the
National Youth Championships, 14year Leah Altoft and 15 year old Thomas Paine.
Leah had qualified to swim
in 5 events. In the Youth Champs
swimmers compete in joint age groups, for Leah this would mean competing in the
14/15yrs age group and her first event the 400 Individual Medley she gave an
excellent performance taking over 5 seconds off her time, to finish in a
creditable 19th place out of the 51 competing in the event. Leah also put in good swims in the 100
Breaststroke and 200 Individual Medley just missing out a new time in each
event. She achieved a new time in the 200 Breaststroke. Her swim in the 100 Butterfly was to be her
star performance of the competition. A
fantastic swim in the heats saw Leah take nearly 10 seconds off her previous
best time to qualify for a place in the semi-finals. With that excellent swim
under her belt Leah went into the semi-final and achieve another best time and
a 5th place to earn herself a spot in the final. Leah finished the event 9th
place.
Thomas Paine, who earlier in
the year spent part of the season with his leg in plaster, shown he was back on
form, putting a good performance in the 800 Freestyle, narrowly missing out on
a new personnel best time.
Chief Coach Dan Higgon said
“Our swimmers have achieved some fantastic results at these Championships, all
our swimmers can be proud of their success. Just to meet the qualifying times
on these events is an achievement in itself, but to go onto finish amongst the
top few swimmers in the country is an amazing achievement”