Head coach Graeme Thomas and his team were delighted with a series of record-breaking performances as the 2004 Reading Swimming Club championships concluded over the weekend at Central Pool. The sheer number of new club bests showed the great potential of the town’s current crop of top-level swimmers.
Among the records to go, several belonged to Reading swimmers who went on to compete at the highest level - Ian Edmond and Rebecca Cooke - while two others had stood for over 20 years. Others to fall included marks set 10 years ago by Welsh international Suzy Flook and by top performers of more recent years in Craig Woodward and Matt Sandell, and several times two swimmers both went inside the previous meet best.
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The race of the weekend was probably Saturday’s final heat of the girls’ 200 fly, which saw 2004 national qualifiers Emma Zadrozny (16), Louisa Downs and Holly Tanner (14) stroke for stroke in a superb contest which went right to the final touch. Downs’s 2:23.12 took it, with Tanner and Zadrozny both on 2:23.24 and both the 14-year-olds some three seconds inside Flook’s 1994 record.
Zadrozny went on to beat current British 400 IM record-holder Cooke’s 200 IM club record in the top age category by half a second in 2:44.77, and in several events Downs and Tanner both went under the previous meet best.
Other highlights included Russel Korting’s 200 and 400 freestyle wins in 2:00.34 and 4:10.73 respectively, beating records set by Edmond in 1993 and Woodward in 2000, and a series of great performances by Chris Boyce, 11, who took one of club’s longest-standing records in Glen Hall’s 1982 200 back best as well as Edmond’s 200 IM record. Korting and Garry Dixon, in the 14s group, both also set age group records in the 200 back.
Several swimmers joined Boyce and Korting in making clean sweeps of their year and the meet was also a landmark for men’s captain David Thomas, who won his first ever club trophies.
Boys 10 and under: Several swimmers shared the golds. David Mills swam the biggest programme and came home with four, plus five silvers and a bronze. Felipe Ramos won all his four events and James Bradley took a gold, two silvers and a bronze. Charlie Radnedge won the other event and Matthew Alderman won one bronze.
Boys 11: With Boyce clearing the golds, Callum Willcox and James Tichband shared the silvers. Willcox had the edge in third spots with a further five medals to Tichband’s two, and Matteo Spanu and Andrew Wilson picked up a bronze each.
Boys 12: A great weekend for Adam Barrett, winning all 10 events and regularly beating much older swimmers in his heats. Conor Sandell had the edge in silvers, with five and a bronze to Charles Davey’s four and two, while Peter Barkat placed third twice and Matthew Gittings once.
Boys 13: Another clean sweep, this time by Alex Macarthur, with Sam Flory second in each of his eight events. Chris Dunkley took the other two silvers and placed third five times, and the other bronze medals went to Elliott Packham and Markus Orgill (two each) and Mark Chevassut
Boys 14: Garry Dixon almost had things his own way with eight wins plus a bronze in the 200 breaststroke, with York Kloeppel winning both breaststroke events to go with seven third places. Craig Frankum took all 10 silvers and Peter Kirwan was third twice, squeezing Dixon out of the 100 breast medals.
Boys 15: A magnificent meet for Russel Korting with all 10 wins, but pushed all the way by Andrew Chandler in the 100m back. Kristian Statham took the other nine silvers – getting under a minute in the 100 free – and a bronze, and Daniel Jackson was third eight times.
Boys 16 and over: Bruno Bamberger was top overall, first five times and second five, and David Thomas won Sunday’s 200 back and breaststroke along with two silvers and five third places. Daniel John won the 200 fly and 400 free - by just 0.33 from Bamberger in one of the closest finishes in the male programme - and was second twice and third twice. Matt Sandell, swimming only the 100 free, won just outside his own record and double bronze winner Darren Noakes completed the medals tally.
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Girls 10/U: Annette Hopson had the edge among event winners, five to Isabella Ramos’s three and one for Alice Hopkins. Four silvers to Hopkins, two to Hopson and one apiece to Emily Nicholls and Eyraina [correct] Barkat, while bronze went to Hopkins (two), Barkat and Niamh [correct] Howard.
Girls 11: A 70 per cent success rate for Frankie Wilkins, who was second in the three events she didn’t win. Rachael Mills claimed the 100 and 200 free plus four silvers and four bronze and Katie Beth Hawkins won the 100 breaststroke, was second twice and third four times. Natalia Ciecerska-Holmes (a silver) and Katherine Hawkins (a bronze) completed the medal picture.
Girls 12: Ashley James was the first girl to sweep her year, and the rapidly improving Zoe Knott won five silvers and a bronze. The other second spots went to Rebecca Lowe (four) and Hailey O’Brien and the other thirds to Lowe (six), O’Brien and Isobel Wise.
Girls 13: Amy Kunicki dominated with 10 out of 10, the other medals keenly contested by Top District Squad’s Rheannon Sandell (five silvers and four bronze) and Kristina Paige (four and five).
Girls 14: Six wins and three seconds for Louisa Downs, and three firsts, six seconds and a third for Holly Tanner. Rebecca Alderson broke the sequence with a clear win in the 100 breast and placed second once and third twice. Louise Gillatt collected bronze six times and Lisa O’Brien once. Downs’s 100 free broke a record set as long ago as 1982, and Tanner’s 200 back win in 2:23.97 beat the 1994 record by almost seven seconds.
Girls 15: Leanne Haas (six) and Louisa Herring (four) shared the top spots and won three silvers each, the other four going to Charlotte Thompson. Amy Thomas was third in all 10 events.
Girls 16 and over: Emma Zadrozny medalled in all 10 events, winning seven with one silver and two bronze. Danielle Mason (two) and Leona Jones were the other winners. Mason placed second once and third once, Jones four times and twice. Kayleigh Taylor and Hannah Lamb each took two silvers and three and one bronze respectively, and Beth Ayerst one bronze in a well contested age group.
As coach Thomas put it at the end of a busy weekend: "The club’s philosophy of long-term athlete development is proving successful and we have some exciting times ahead. The emphasis in the youngest age groups on high skill levels over outright racing times means those in the development squads should be well prepared for the journey towards high-performance swimming at Youth and Senior levels."
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