The long haul of the 2007 Berks and South Bucks county championships ended at Maidenhead's Magnet Pool with a further crop of medals for the Evening Post-sponsored Reading Swimming Club.
Adam Barrett (14) won the British age group categories (BAGCATS) plate as top all-rounder in his year for the second season running. His breakthrough series confirmed his arrival as a force across all age categories at county level with brilliant overall silvers and junior championship wins in the 400 IM and 100 backstroke.
Rachael Mills (400 free) lifted her second junior championship trophy of the year and Frankie Wilkins (200 fly) her first. The experienced Holly Tanner put in one of her best ever short-course 200 fly swims to win the senior title by a big margin, Zoe Hester took both trophies in the 50m backstroke and Ellie Wood completed a great championships with golds in big PBs in the 12s age group.
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Girls' 400 free:
Rachael Mills starred with the 13s gold in 4.41.45, sixth in the overall field of 55 and winning the junior trophy for swimmers still under 17 at the end of the year. Louisa Herring (18) placed fourth overall and Wood missed an age group medal by one place.
Boys' 400 IM:
Reading fielded four of the top 10 across the overall field, with Barrett an outstanding second in 4.49.22 and winning his age group by a big margin as well as the junior title. Callum Willcox was second 13-year-old, with bronze medals for Chris Boyce (14) and Alex Macarthur (15).
Boys' 50 back:
Barnaby Kempster (11) and Alex Cawthorne (not yet 10), Reading's top performers across the championships' four weekends in the two youngest age groups, took silver and bronze, with further thirds for Barrett and Macarthur.
Girls' 50 back:
Zoe Hester, soon leaving Reading to board at Plymouth College, took both the overall championship and the junior trophy in 30.94. Naomi Herring qualified third fastest for the final but just missed out in fourth. Herring still claimed the 15s age group silver, with Ellie Wood second 12-year-old and Eleanor Cawthorne taking the 13s bronze.
Boys' 400 free:
Kempster was just pipped to an age group gold by Windsor's Alexander Farrell, with another silver for Barrett (ninth across all ages) who now has the two-minute barrier in his sights. Garry Dixon, warming up for the British championships in Manchester, was fourth in the overall championship.
Boys' 100 IM:
An event not swum above county level and then not in all counties, as it can only take place in 25-metre pools. Barrett with yet another silver was Reading's best, with a further bronze for Alex Cawthorne - who will still be a 10-and-under next season.
Girls' 50 breaststroke:
No Reading medals, but encouraging swims for Wood and Issy Keenan, fourth and fifth in their year, Jennifer Taylor as fifth 13-year-old and Zoe Clark, 14, also fifth – all these girls bar Wood in their first season at county level.
Girls' 100 free:
As usual, the biggest field of the championships – 112 in all. Holly Tanner ranked highest, qualifying eighth for the final and eventually repeating the placing. Wood (silver) and Mills (bronze) were age group medallists.
Boys' 100 back.
Barrett did brilliantly to top the heat times, but Wycombe's hugely experienced Scott Mudge (18) obviously swam his heat tactically with plenty in reserve for the final.
Barrett slashed his PB to 1.02.08 in a brilliant effort in the final, pushing hot favourite Mudge (1.01.29) all the way and taking the junior trophy by over two seconds from Bracknell's Tom Keen.
This may well also be Kempster's top event in the long run, and he won his year's gold by over three seconds. Cawthorne reeled off another bronze.
Girls' 200 fly:
A superb effort by Tanner (2.22.55) brought her home six seconds ahead of Windsor's Caroline Wroe in the fastest heat to lift the trophy for the second time in three seasons. Wilkins was an excellent overall third and junior champion in 2.37.94, Wood won her age group in 2.44 – a PB by almost 10 seconds – and Mills took the 13s' bronze.
Boys' 50 free:
Not a strong Reading entry, with even Barrett outside the medals for once in seventh, but Cawthorne and Kempster confirmed their promise with third places.
Girls' 100 IM:
A further huge PB by Wood – entered on 1.19 and hitting the wall in 1.13.08 – rounded off her excellent championships series with a gold. No further Reading medals, with Wilkins and Mills fourth and fifth in their year the next best.
Relays:
The youth freestyle quartet of Tanner, Naomi Herring, Louisa Downs and Mills took the trophy in 4.08.77, a two-second margin over Amersham, but had to settle for silver behind Bracknell in the medley where Wilkins stepped in for Mills. The boys were outside the medley top three, but Dixon, Macarthur, Daniel Jackson and Russel Korting were third in their freestyle. end
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