RSC 2010 Easter Open Report

For the second year running, RSC were delighted to welcome a team from Sliema in Malta. Impeccably turned out as always and a great credit to their country, Sliema went home to go straight into their national championships with a number of age-group medals. Closer to home there were strong Reading connections in large squads from Basingstoke coached by David Wittig and Graeme Thomas, Tilehurst with a very strong team in the older age groups, several of whom cut their teeth with Reading, and Fareham Nomads coached by Portsmouth students Rob Knott and Holly Tanner. Among other local teams, Maidenhead Marlins look a much more competitive team under the stewardship of Paul Lloyd - 12-year-old Abigail Dow shining in particular - while Newbury included one of the top older boys in Jake Jezzard and by far the strongest younger girl in Zara Ryan, only 11 but regularly beating most older swimmers. Shiverers SC from Hove sent a large squad, as did Surrey’s Elmbridge, including top 10-and-under girl Summer Upton, while individual entries came from as far afield as Flint and West Suffolk. Reading’s young assistant coach Amy French, on university break, made a trip back from Essex just to help out, greatly appreciated by the club.

Friday

Friday began as usual with the long-distance events and the girl who went on to dominate the ladies' events for the second year running put down a marker. Adenais Vachon of Farnham won the 1500 ahead of the hosts' Emma Harris and was faster than all the male swimmers. Both then switched from the longest distance in the programme to the shortest as they placed first and third in the 50 free, separated by Amy Medlock from Shiverers. The 800 was a great success for Sliema’s Julia Zahra and Rebecca Dalin, who both went inside the existing Maltese national record which had stood since 1995, the older Dalin marginally faster. Shiverers’ Adam Warner won both the 1500 and the next longest-event, the 800, where Sorcha Smith, the lone entrant from Linslade in Bedfordshire, was fastest girl. The 100 individual medley - one length of each stroke - was new to the programme for 2010 and featured a home gold as York-Peter Kloeppel, now at Loughborough University, headed Farnham’s excellent all-rounder Connor Price and popular Wycombe veteran Alex Vine, still a fierce competitor at 24. Medlock took the ladies' ahead of Basingstoke's Sally-Ann Chui and Alice Gent of Maidenhead.

Saturday

Saturday was dominated by Vachon and Tilehurst's Adam Barrett, both clear winners of the overall top swimmer trophies at the end of the meet. Vachon's wins saw her again have a slight edge on Harris, this time in the 200 free. Barrett's golds included denying Shiverers’ Warner a third freestyle gold in the 400. Louise McFadzen of Newbury was the meet's youngest grand final winner at just 13, taking the 100 backstroke. Vine turned the tables on Kloeppel and Price in the 100 breast, Price though topping the rostrum for the 200. Lizzie Gray of Tilehurst, excellent in a demanding range of events across the weekend, claimed the 400 IM and the 100 fly, and Linslade’s Smith showed her versatility by adding the 200 breast to Friday's 800 free win.

Sunday

Sunday’s shorter programme saw familiar names take nearly all the golds – Vachon the 400 and 100 free, Gray the 200 fly. McFadzen completed a backstroke double as she added the 200, Sorcha Smith claimed her second breaststroke win by taking the 100. Among the boys, Barrett rattled off the 200 and 100 free and two new names featured as backstroke winners. Liam Man of Guildford claimed the prize voucher over 100 metres ahead of Chesham’s Marcus Johansson, who reversed the positions in the 200. Kloeppel eased through his 400 IM. The big German lapped younger swimmers in a very small entry but then had a scare as a disqualification was incorrectly called for his lane rather the next one. Fields for the longer medleys and 200 fly were regrettably small. This had the effect of pitching Reading’s 11-year-old Anya Charrington into the grand final as a reserve against girls towering over her. Anya had to swim her own race and inevitably placed fifth out of five, but her two efforts cut a 3.31 entry time to 3.27, then chopped almost nine more seconds off in the final.

The "Skins"

The “skins” events on Saturday and Sunday pitched the meet’s best sprinters into a series of quick-fire elimination heats over 50 metres, swum to a strict cycle of three minutes as the girls and boys alternated. Barrett and Vachon cruised comfortably through the freestyles. The medley involves the four strokes being drawn at random and all the balls going back into the hat for the last race. Barrett and Kloeppel were the last men standing, with York the favourite if the breaststroke ball was drawn and Adam almost certain winner for the other three. Backstroke was the one Kloeppel least wanted, which saw Barrett easily home. Among the girls, Vachon and Basingstoke' s Gemma Wilson slugged out a final 50 metres of butterfly, Wilson pushing hard but the winner in no real doubt.

RSC Swimmers

Some  younger home swimmers had their first taste of a meet at this level. Alex Douglas, 13, got things off to just the right start as he placed third out of five boys his age within the 1500, and more importantly took almost 36 seconds off his 20.53 entry time. Bruno Kempster, 10, kicked off a series of swimmers which saw him eventually finish top boy in his year as he romped home by six seconds in the 100 IM. There were further PB is s for Josh Goebel and Alex Bakker-Noguer in the 11s, Bakker putting in a very strong freestyle length. Niko Ciecierski-Holmes missed a medal by one place in a field of 10 - one of whom, Joe Riley of Fareham, swam the 1500 and 800 freestyle that afternoon just a day after tackling the 800 in a meet at Portsmouth! Douglas chalked off another huge PB in his 800, where the real landmark swim came from Tads Ciecierski-Holmes. Not long turned 12, he needed to PB by well over a minute for a first ever Southeast Region qualifying time, paced it beautifully in an outside lane and came home with three seconds to spare.

Reading continued to register PBs on nearly every trip to the starting block on Saturday. Only two 13-year-old boys tackled the 100 fly, Douglas entered a second slower than Malta's Mat Galea but finish a second quicker. Kempster was pipped by Farnham's Marcus Frontera in the 200 IM, but went under three minutes for the first time, then looked stronger and stronger in a 5.22 400 free. Tads was just outside a second regional time and Douglas clocked a five-second PB. A three-day meet makes big demands of younger swimmers and some were tiring by Sunday, when home team highlights included a 200 free which brought further PBs for Kempster, Bakker and both Ciecierski-Holmes brothers and yet another for Kempster with a 100 free silver.

Reading's girls first turned out in Friday's 50 freestyle, with a full hand of PBs from Charrington, Ellie Fields, Katie Boyce among the 11s and Georgia Doran and Sian Fields, two years older. Charrington ranked highest, one place outside the medals. Ellie Fields was Reading's first girl age group medallist as well as highest scoring overall, her 100 IM bronze almost 6 seconds faster than her previous best. Charrington was sixth and Boyce eighth - Katie's a huge PB of more than nine seconds. Doran pushed hard in missing a medal by one place. Jenny Martin was second out of only two 15-year-olds, and again a good PB. Jordan Langridge had her first swim on Saturday, a five second PB for a bronze in the 13 years age group in 2:25.15, Charrington also a bronze winner with a similar improvement. Ellie Fields ended the meet with a medal of each colour, a close second to Newbury's Amy McBride in the 200 breast followed by a 100 gold in the same stroke, an event which required both a heat and a final which she took comfortably. Rachel Coombes was eight seconds faster than her entry time in the 200 breast and qualified for a slightly unusual 100 final. With the two fastest girls in the year qualifying for the overall grand final, only the bronze was a stake in the age group swim and Coombes took it comfortably. As the girls closed the meet with their series of 100 free finals, Charrington amazingly had enough energy left after her 200 fly grand final exertions to claim a narrow bronze in her age group, a .10 second PB with Fields fifth. Langridge missed out by one place among the 13-year-olds, cutting her heat time as did Jenny Martin in the 15s final.

Top girls and boys:

10 and under: Summer Upton (Elmbridge), Bruno Kempster (Reading)

11: Zara Ryan (Newbury), Jordan Caleja (Sliema) and James McFadzen (Newbury) tied.

12: Abigail Dow (Maidenhead), Alex Cawthorne (Tilehurst)

13: Louise McFadzen (Newbury), Christopher Dickson (Basingstoke)

14: Amy Medlock (Shiverers), Jake Jezzard (Newbury)

15: Lizzie Gray (Tilehurst), Liam Man (Guildford).

Overall: Adenais Vachon (Farnham), Adam Barrett (Tilehurst).

THE MAJOR MEDALS

FRIDAY

1500 FS M Adam Warner [SHIVERERS] Alex BURRELL [BRACKNELL] Jack Peters [FARNHAM]

1500 FS F Adenais Vachon [FARNHAM] Emma Harris [RSC] Alex Panayides [KINGSTON]

50 FS F Adenais Vachon [FARNHAM] Amy Medlock [SHIVERERS] Emma Harris [RSC]

100 IM M York-Peter Kloeppel [RSC] Connor Price [FARNHAM] Alex Vine [WYCOMBE]

800 FS M Adam Warner [SHIVERERS] William Clark [KINGSTON] Daniel LEE [CANVEY ISLAND]

800 FS F Sorcha Smith [LINSLADE CR] Jade Pithers [MAIDENHEAD] Alex Panayides [KINGSTON]

50 FS M Liam Man [GUILDFORD] Mark Harris [RSC] James Bradley [TILEHURST]

100 IM F Amy Medlock [SHIVERERS] Sally-Ann Chui [BASINGSTOKE] Alice Gent [Maidenhead]

SATURDAY

200 BR M Connor Price [FARNHAM] James Chater [TILEHURST] Stuart DOWN [BASINGSTOKE]

400 IM F Lizzie GRAY [TILEHURST] Sally-Ann Chui [BASINGSTOKE] Gemma Wilson [BASINGSTOKE]

100 FLY M Adam Barrett [TILEHURST] Chris Dunkley [TILEHURST] Jacob Glanville [NEWBURY]

200 FS F Adenais Vachon [FARNHAM] Emma Harris [RSC] Gemma Wilson [BASINGSTOKE]

200 IM  M Adam Barrett [TILEHURST] Liam Man [GUILDFORD] Connor Price [FARNHAM]

100 BK F Louise McFadzen [NEWBURY]  Ashton Marshall [SHIVERERS] Sally-Ann Chui [BASINGSTOKE]

200 BR F Sorcha Smith [LINSLADE CR] Catherine Holmes [M'HEAD] Lizzie GRAY [TILEHURST]

400 FS M Adam Barrett [TILEHURST] Adam Warner [SHIVERERS] Jake Jezzard [NEWBURY]

100 FLY F Lizzie GRAY [TILEHURST] Clare Fowlie [SHIVERERS] Olivia Handley [BECKENHAM]

100 BR M Alex Vine [WYCOMBE]  York-Peter Kloeppel [RSC] Connor Price [FARNHAM]

200 IM  F Adenais Vachon [FARNHAM] Lizzie Gray [TILEHURST] Gemma Wilson [BASINGSTOKE]

200 FLY M Adam Barrett [TILEHURST] Elliot Carter [ELMBRIDGE] Adam Saunders [ELMBRIDGE]

FS SKINS F Adenais Vachon [FARNHAM]

FS SKINS M Adam Barrett [TILEHURST]

SUNDAY

400 FS F Adenais Vachon [FARNHAM] Emma Harris [RSC] Gemma Wilson [BASINGSTOKE]

100 BK M Liam Man [GUILDFORD] Marcus Johansson [CHESHAM] Jake Jezzard [NEWBURY]

200 FLY F Lizzie GRAY [TILEHURST] Adenais Vachon [FARNHAM] Keone Crockwell [BASINGSTOKE]

400 IM M York-Peter Kloeppel [RSC] Jonny O'Hanlon [KINGSTON] Tom Dawson [TILEHURST

100 BR F Sorcha Smith [LINSLADE CR] Emily Herbert [NEWBURY] Abigail Lelliott [SHIVERERS]

200 FS M Adam Barrett [TILEHURST] Connor Price [FARNHAM] Jake Jezzard [NEWBURY]

200 BK F Louise McFadzen [NEWBURY] Rachel Brampton [TILEHURST] Lauren Waldram [BASINGSTOKE]

200 BK M Marcus Johansson [CHESHAM] Liam Man [GUILDFORD] Jake Turner [TILEHURST]

100 FS F Adenais Vachon [FARNHAM] Lizzie GRAY [TILEHURST] Iris Ingham [TILEHURST]

100 FS M Adam Barrett [TILEHURST] Oliver Leonard [TILEHURST] Connor Price [FARNHAM]

MEDLEY SKINS F Adenais Vachon [FARNHAM]

MEDLEY SKINS M Adam Barrett [TILEHURST