Club Championships 2005

Main session report: 29-30 October 2005

The race of the season so far came on the last day of the Reading Swimming Club 2005 championships, as 20-year-old Matt Sandell and 16-year-old Russel Korting kept spectators on the edge of their seats in a thrilling 200m freestyle heat over eight lengths of Central Pool.

Both were out to beat the record set 10 years ago by the formidable Ian Edmond. After the first 150 both were on course and it looked as if the young pretender might just have the edge, but Sandell, back from Birmingham University for the meet, capped a great tactical swim with a blistering final 25 metres and took the touch in 1.58.47 to 1.59.06 - the consolation for Korting being that he was also over a second inside Edmond's record.

The record was one among a number to fall over the weekend, all in the older age categories. Sandell also beat Edmond's 100 fly record and his own in the 100 free. Garry Dixon set new marks in the 15s group in the 200 back and 400 free and was close to several others.

Among the girls, Leona Jones broke the 100m breaststroke mark in the top age category. Louisa Downs - who like Dixon won all events bar two in her age group - beat a 200 fly record dating back to 1983 and also set a new mark in the 200 IM. Holly Tanner claimed both backstroke records in the same year, taking nearly six seconds off the 200m time set by Danielle Mason in 2003 in a swim which was also inside the senior record, set in 1999 by Becky Cooke.

Eight-year-old Alexander Cawthorne - the only under-nine tackling the meet - took home three golds via both the 100 and 200 back and 200 breaststroke. Niko Ciecierski-Holmes picked up two golds, three silvers and a bronze, while Barnaby Kempster, swimming only Sunday's final session, was a convincing 100 free winner. Joe Tichband, with another year in the age group to come, placed third twice.

James Bradley and David Mills shared the first and second places, Bradley winning eight events and Mills two. Matthew Alderman placed third in all his swims and championships newcomers Joe Statham and Joshua Manning both picked up fourth places.

The golds were shared between 2005 national qualifiers Chris Boyce and Callum Willcox. Boyce won all six events he swam and Willcox the other four, with Callum achieving some particularly good PBs including one of 20 seconds in the 400 free. James Tichband did well to separate the pair in the 200 back in one of a series of silver and bronze medal swims, while Jason Passmore won the 100 breaststroke silver and took four third places. Joseph Burgoyne won a first championships medal as he placed third behind Willcox and Passmore in this event.

As expected, Adam Barrett - top all-round 12-year-old earlier in the year at both county and regional level - made a clean sweep of the golds, with big improvements in the breaststroke events a highlight. Conor Sandell swam a series of disciplined heats in taking all the silvers, cutting over half a minute off his 200 free entry time. The third places were shared among Matthew Frankum, George Feast and Andrew Middlewick.

Alex Macarthur produced another clean sweep, and Markus Orgill and Chris Dunkley impressed in putting in big improvements across the board. The pair shared all the second places and all but two of the thirds, as Sam Flory claimed bronze in the 400 free and 200 breaststroke. The 200 free was typical, with Dunkley taking 10 seconds off his PB for the silver and Orgill 20 for the bronze.

Garry Dixon won all events but two and his record-setting 400 free was the fastest across all age groups. Even substantial PBs in the breaststroke events left him trailing behind York Kloeppel. Kloeppel medalled in all his swims and Craig Frankum in all but one of his, with an excellent six seconds inside-entry 2.54.63 winning the 200 breast bronze for County Squad's Peter Kirwan.

Sandell won all three events he entered in record times, and Russel Korting swam all 10 events, winning seven, placing second twice and third once and featuring in many of the weekend's closest heat finishes with Dixon or Sandell. Kristian Statham picked up three silvers and a bronze, and outgoing club captain David Thomas - back for the meet from the University of East Anglia - went back to Norwich with three silvers and two bronze. Development Squad coach Rob Knott reaffirmed his Speedo League credentials with a sub-57 second 100m freestyle silver and also placed second to Korting over 400 metres. County Squad's Darren Noakes collected four third places and Daniel Jackson two.

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Georgie Wilkins was the only entrant in most events, but posted several times which would also have won medals in the 11s group. Bethany Staley collected two silvers but was narrowly pipped to second place in the 100 free by fellow Development 3 Squad swimmer Jenny Martin.

Annette Hopson won gold with every swim, some excellent PBs including a cut in her 200 free entry time by over nine seconds to 2.40.12. Ellie Wood and Alice Hopkins shared the other medals, Hopkins taking silver in both backstroke events and the 200 IM and Wood in the other events.

The medals were shared among four girls in probably the most exciting age-group competition of the weekend. Rachael Mills was in outstanding freestyle form and won over 100, 200 and 400 metres, cutting her 400 PB by 22 seconds and her 200 by eight. Frankie Wilkins claimed all the freestyle silvers and won both backstroke events and the 200 IM. Katie Hawkins swam an impressive 2.51.84 in her first ever 200 back and two excellent lengths of backstroke helped her to the IM silver between Wilkins and Mills. Hawkins also confirmed her position as the year's top breaststroke swimmer, going under three minutes for the first time over 200 metres, but put in possibly her best swim in the 100 fly where she cut an entry time of 1.29 to 1.20.08 for the gold, just ahead of Wilkins despite the latter's slight PB. Eleanor Cawthorne kept Mills out of the medals in the fly and both backstroke events. Cawthorne, Natalia Ciecierska- Holmes and Zoe Clark shared the fourth places, with Jennifer Taylor among several girls in the year outside the medals but producing strong heat swims.

Another age group where one swimmer dominated, as Berks and South Bucks County team member Ashley James won nine events. However, the much less experienced Rebecca Lowe turned the tables in the 200 breaststroke and also claimed seven silvers. Lowe was outside the medals in the backstroke swims, where Zoe Knott took the silvers and Rebecca Turner the bronze. Knott took six of the remaining third places and Hailey O'Brien two, while Natasha Bunn was the pick of the girls outside the medals.

For the second year running, Amy Kunicki won all her year's events, with her 100 free time of 1.03.39 the third quickest across all age groups. Naomi Herring placed second in every single event and Grace Waldron third in all but two as Vanessa Wood had the edge in both butterfly swims. Waldron cut a 200 free entry time of 2.47.22 to 2.33.59.

Eight winning swims for Louisa Downs, in most of which she was also the quickest across all age groups. Two of these beat meet records, and she was also within a 10th of a second of Anna King's 1997 100 fly mark. Downs placed second to the record-setting Holly Tanner in the two backstroke events, where Louise Tayler-Grint twice placed third. Louise Gillatt swam a series of third places, but moved up to second in the 200 breaststroke.

No surprise to find Leona Jones winning both breaststroke events, with a record in the 100, but she also took the 200 and 400 free, both backstrokes and the 200 IM. Emma Zadrozny swam only the 100 free and fly, but won both, and Leanne Haas was the age group's other winner as she won the 200 fly. Louisa Herring placed second in both the longer freestyles and third in the 100, while Haas was second in the IM, 200 back and 200 breast. Amy Thomas's best swim of the weekend brought her a 200 fly silver and she also took home the IM bronze.

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