A squad of Reading's top swimmers were among around 250 competing at the inaugural Southeast regional championships at the Aldershot Garrison Pool. Tortuous trips to Crystal Palace for the old Southern Counties event are now fortunately a thing of the past for clubs outside the M25.
Breaststroke specialist Leona Jones and freestyler Garry Dixon shone in particular, with Kristina Paige and Louisa Downs also adding their names to Reading's list of qualifiers for next summer's national youth championships.
Jones won Saturday's 100m breaststroke – securing a prized "NQT" national time in 1.15.16 - and placed second over both 50 and 200 metres. The 50 was about as close as it gets, with the gold going to Kirsty Ager of Kent club Black Lion by just three hundredths of a second. Consolation for "Leo's" 200 silver came in a further national time.
Jones also put in two solid individual medleys – fourth over 200 metres and eighth over 400 in a four-second PB, with Holly Tanner fifth junior and sixth overall in the longer swim.
Dixon, 15, became the new region's first ever 800m freestyle champion – an event added to the boys' and men's programme nationally in a long overdue move.
Dixon led from the start from Edward Castro of specialist swimming school St Bede's, turning up the heat in the last 200 for a clear margin of 8.46.29 to 8.50.61, and a national time. Russel Korting (16) placed sixth overall and third junior. Korting was also third junior over 400 metres with Alex Macarthur ninth, and [Korting was] sixth junior over 200.
Dixon also medalled in the 400 IM, with the junior silver and overall fifth spot – his 4.53.13 a national time by the narrowest possible margin, 0.01.
Both Reading's other girls' successes came in the 100 fly. Kristina Paige, 14, notched a great heat PB of 1.06.62 to pip Louisa Downs (1.07.26), as the pair qualified second and third for the final, where their times slipped slightly and they placed third and fourth. Both booked tickets for next summer's nationals in the process, and Paige followed up with seventh overall (sixth junior) over 200 metres.
Amy Kunicki's best swim also came in the fly, sixth in the final in 31.01 and one place higher in the junior rankings.
In a busy Saturday, Downs also placed eighth in the 200 free final and fifth junior. In a generally slow early-season 800 free field she could afford to be well outside her best time and still collect the junior bronze in 9.39.43. Louisa Herring (9.52.96) was seventh junior.
*** Sighs of relief could be heard at Central Pool as the complicated calculations after Round 2 of the Speedo League placed Reading A in the South Premier mid-table gala in Round 3. A poor performance at Oxford last time out raised fears of a relegation dogfight in the final round on 10 December.
However, results elsewhere left Graeme Thomas's squad 11th in the 18-team division and they will contest the mid-table places at Haslemere with the hosts and Wycombe, Windsor, Bexley and Crawley. (over)
Reading B, battling the drop in their first season in the tough Division 1, host the other five relegation candidates at Central Pool.
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