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Swimmer of Meet |
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Team This was the seventh year that this trophy has been competed for in memory of 'Mr Swimming', Geoff Moulder. I'm so pleased to say that for the seventh year BOSTON have won the trophy and it was lovely see Geoff's daughter Tess giving out the awards. As always with a victory it is never easy to pick the swimmers of the meet, but before I break down those swims that caught my eye I would like to say well done to the B Team. It always makes me proud when we have a One, Two finish in the events. Luke Jones finished second to Reuben Reed and had to work hard in a close race. Ben Warren's front crawl was a good second with a big gap to the rest of the field; the winner once again being Reuben. Ose Ikhena never got near his older brother, but then nobody got near him from the other teams. It always looked like a One, Two finish from the start. Well done to the selectors who got it right this time with no B swimmers beating the A team! The 200m events are always a nice tool to measure how well the next bunch of swimmers are doing - and it's looking good! It was a good start in the first event for the 9 year olds with Izzy Swain finishing 2nd and Casey Butler in 4th place. Izzy is strong and works hard in training, I feel that she is going to be a good swimmer. Casey needs to focus more in training. Lewis Teague, already an established swimmer, finished second in the boys event against a South Lincs 9 year old as big as Patrick! Lewis need to focus on his training more if he is going to get to the next level. I'm really pleased with Michael Keal - he is coming through nicely and I can see him being involved in the A team in the future. Pippa Wilson took my vote for swimmer of the 9 year olds. She has really come on this season winning the 200m IM and coming second in the 200m Breaststroke. I was worried that Pippa would struggle to hold the 2 lengths butterfly together but in the end there was no doubt, although I thought she was going to be taken out for a bit of a glide on the backstroke turn. Keep up the good work Pippa. In the B team, Philippa Housam was disqualified for the butterfly and breaststroke, and Emily Murfin for a one handed turn, so that was a shame for both girls. In the boys breaststroke, Brandon Whitham gained a County qualifying time and although finishing in 3rd place I feel that he will always be challenging for that breaststroke slot in the A team. Close on his heels was Liam Brotherton in 4th place. I can see Liam being another Oliver Street - gutsy, always working hard, with a never say die attitude. Liam also swam the Individual Medley finishing in 6th place with Lewis finishing in 5th place for A team. Amber Nuttman, following in Mum's footsteps, put up a good 200m Backstroke swim to gain a County qualifying time and finished in 2nd place. I'm so pleased with how Amber is working in County squad as I thought she might struggle, but if she carries on working like she is now, hers will be another name we will be seeing lot of. Caoimhe Atkin Palmer is a strong girl who has now started to move in the right direction and is going to be a lot more involved in gala's in the future. Caoimhe finished 5th in the 200m Backstroke event. Harry Dean Allen has also just moved to County squad and although his work rate is good, he needs to work harder on the stroke's. The same can also be said for Ben Woods. These two boys finished in 5th and 6th places respectively in the boys 200m Backstroke. Now to the A Team swimmer of the meet. As I said, Pippa Wilson was up with the best of them for winning the 9yrs Individual Medley, as was Susannah Yielding in the 11/u 200m Breaststroke in new personal best time and winning by a clear 3 seconds. Oliver Street showing once again, as he did last week at Peterborough and Leicester, that he can win from behind with his never say die attitude. I love his determination to win but would rather see him winning from the front! Another PB in his number one stroke and distance the 200m Butterfly. Laura Swain is still finding her form winning the 200m Freestyle - also coming from behind in a new PB but I felt there was more to give in the middle of the race. So it comes down to two swimmers; double winner Reuben Reed and triple winner Patrick Ikhena. I'm pleased to see Reuben is on his way back although he's not settled down to training yet; so much talent but it'll be wasted without the work rate. Reuben gained a PB in the 200m Breaststroke winning by 13 seconds and won the Freestyle by 23 seconds. Swimmer of the Meet goes to Patrick Ikhena, winner of his worst stroke, the 200m Backstroke, by a mere 7 seconds in a personal best time. Patrick then won his third stroke, Freestyle, by 12 seconds and beat his brother, Ose, by 17 seconds to win the 200m Breaststroke in a new personal best time. Well done all and keep on winning! Ian |
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Team
Well done to all who
participated, especially to the younger swimmers who were having their
first shot at a 200m gala. Well done!
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