REPORT NER Youth/Age Group Championships – W/E 1 20th/21st May
The North East Region’s most talented 11-14 yr olds were brought together at Sunderland Aquatic Centre this past weekend for part 1 of the annual Long Course NER Championships.
Team GAW are extremely well represented at the championships this year with no fewer then 20 swimmers competing over the two weekends. The 1st weekend witnessed a tremendous level of performance by GAW swimmers who achieved a near to 100% PB success rate. Everyone gave their all and represented the club with great distinction.
In total, the team achieved 15 finalists. Included in that number were 13yr olds Adam Strickland (200m freestyle/100m backstroke) and Hannah Brown (400m IM/200m fly), 12yr olds Evan Sordy (200m fly) and Jessica Cottee (100m breaststroke.) In the boys 1500m there was also a notable top 10 performance (HDW) by 12yr old Fintan Airey.
And to the medalists! In total Team GAW achieved a haul of 7 medals consisting of 4 golds, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals.
13yr old Ryan Zhao led the way; competing in only 5 events Ryan came away with 4 golds (50m/100m breaststroke, 100m backstroke, 200m freestyle) and a silver medal (50m freestyle.) A feat made all the more impressive by the fact that the last 3 gold medals were achieved in a 45 minute period with little or no time to adequately swim down and re-focus; a truly Herculean effort. The standout swim for Ryan had to be his 100m backstroke, a swim that left him top of the 13yrs British rankings for the event. After a bullet start Ryan used his trademark underwater prowess (utilising the full 15m permitted) to storm into an early lead. By 50m Ryan had around a 2 metre lead which was swiftly extended further following another lung busting 12m underwater off the halfway turn. Ryan proceeded to cruise to a 3 second victory over the field, even managing to completely miss his finish (just to prove he’s human!)
Team GAW’s other medallist of the weekend was 13yr old Adam Barrett. Adam joined his team-mate Ryan on the podium in the 200m freestyle, picking up an exceptional bronze medal in a gritty wall to wall performance. It was however his 400m IM that proved the greater achievement. As Adam surged into a half-way lead following a personal best 1st 100m butterfly and dynamic backstroke leg, he then managed to hang on grimly in the breaststroke before maintaining form in his frontcrawl leg. In securing the bronze medal in a time of 5:13.87, Adam actually lowered by a further 10 seconds his long course PB, achieved in his morning heat swim, a tremendous effort.
Competition resumes on Saturday and if this weekend is anything to go by, get set for another fantastic set of performances from Team GAW. Well done and good luck to everyone involved!
Paul
