Some of the Evening Post-sponsored Reading Swimming Club's brightest young prospects impressed as the University of Bath's autumn series of graded meets concluded on Sunday. The meets give a great opportunity for younger swimmers in particular to swim long-distance events in a 50 metre Olympic-length pool.
The meet kicked off with the boys' 400 IM and a convincing win in a two-horse race for 14-year-old Markus Orgill, whose 5.43.34 was a 12 second PB.
Reading collected two silver medals in bigger fields in the younger age groups as James Bradley placed second 11-and-under and Chris Boyce a close second 12/13. Bradley (6.52.68) went under seven minutes for the first time, while Boyce's 5.36.92 beat his previous best by over 12 seconds. David Mills (sixth 11-and-under), Callum Willcox (sixth 12/13) and James Tichband (eighth in that year) all made PBs, Willcox beating six minutes for the first time.
Reading won two of the four age categories in the girls' event. Frankie Wilkins (5.49.40 from a 6.05 entry time) topped a field of nine 12 and 13-year-olds, a half-second margin over Rachel Williams of Trowbridge and a 16-second PB. Katie Hawkins was one place outside the medals, but her 5.59.06 was easily the biggest PB in the age group.
Amy Thomas and Beth Ayerst were both almost exactly on their entry times in the 16 and over group, where they were the only entrants and Thomas had the edge. Naomi Herring, Louise Gillatt, Rheannon Sandell and Vanessa Wood placed second to fifth in the 14/15 category.
The "speeding ticket" format meant Boyce's 2.35.37 200m backstroke was marginally too fast to count - the gold went to a time of 2.37.44. Tichband had the edge on Willcox as the pair finished 10th and 11th and Orgill, with his year to himself, swam 2.47.38 in his first ever long-course crack at the event.
The ticketing system worked in Reading's favour in the girls' 200 back, as two swimmers were too fast to count and Wilkins stayed inside the limits to win in a 13-second PB of 2.47.18. Hawkins again missed a medal by one place, while Eleanor Cawthorne (seventh) swam a 16-second PB. Herring improved her entry time marginally for a silver.
Adding the 800 metre freestyle to the boys' programme at county level and above this season will see the event in big demand, and the meet provided an ideal opportunity for boys to test themselves over the new distance early in the season. Orgill had some opposition in his year this time, and slashed a 12-minute entry time to 10.48.06 for a silver.
Boyce was the pick of the younger boys - entered on 12.17 and swimming 10.17.83 in fifth place. Mills and Bradley repeated their tussle in the 1500 in the first round of the meet, Mills again with a margin of a second as both swam PBs to place sixth and seventh.
Wilkins misses no opportunity to swim the event and can now count herself an experienced 800 swimmer. She took a bronze in a field of 12, her 10.40.24 a six-second improvement. Rachael Mills, in excellent freestyle form this season, was fourth in 11.00.12, a 25-second PB, while Hawkins in sixth beat her entry time by all of 46 seconds and Rebecca Lowe in ninth also recorded a PB.
Amy Thomas produced another strong PB to win the 16 and over group by well over a minute in 10.08.63, while Gillatt (10.19.36) beat Herring (10.27.09) to the 14/15 bronze, with Wood sixth.
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