ENGLAND SOUTH WEST ARE TOP OF THE CLASS
England South West left it to the last race of the session
to be named top region in the pool at the second annual UK
School Games in Coventry.
With just a few point separating England's South West and
North teams throughout the competition, South West clinched
it in the final race to score 259 points overall and claim
the title from the South East who won at last year's inaugural
Games in Glasgow.
Team Captains Louisa Farrer-Fisher (Leander) and Adam Harrington
(Crawley) both contributed to their team's haul, notching
up an impressive six gold, two silver and three Games Records
between them.
Farrer-Fisher, who was top performer at last year's Games,
went one better this year adding a silver in the 4x100m Freestyle
to the golds she won in the 100m and 200m Freestyle and 4x200m
Freestyle and 4x100m Medley relays.
"That was an amazing team performance and everyone pulled
together," she said. "The tension has been building
towards the end of the meet and the win was about who could
rise to the pressure. It's been really exciting.
"There's always pressure on you at a meet and personally
I wanted to match last year's performance, but knew it would
be hard. My main focus was getting the positions for the team.
Times are less important here, it's the racing that counts."
Harrington, who will join a team of Britain's best young
swimmers to combine education and training at The Southport
School in Australia next year, won individual gold in the
100m Backstroke in a new Games Record and took the 200m Individual
Medley title in a lifetime best.
"I'm really pleased, I wasn't expecting to do so well,"
he said. "I don't set my standards too high, but aim
to get close to a PB and to get it in the medley is great.
It's brilliant to be team captain too. I'm captain at my club
but to gel with new people and get the team going is a real
buzz."
"It's brilliant to win the meet and that's down to a
big team effort. Everyone's hard work paid off and the support
has been great."
South West swimmer Charlotte Barnes (University of Bath)
was also key to the region's success, securing both breaststroke
titles in two new Games Record times before helping her team
to medley relay gold. The 16-year-old, whose training has
been disrupted by a recent back injury, finished nine seconds
ahead of the field in the 200m event in 2:35.20 before clocking
1:13.07 over 100m.
"I would have liked to go faster but I'm pleased to
get both titles and new Games Records," she said. "I've
got a problem with my vertebrae at the moment so I knew my
times wouldn't be great - I was three seconds off my PB in
the 100m and four seconds off it in the 200m. I'm still pleased
though and I'll now be concentrating on the British Championships
next year.
"Being in Coventry amongst so many other athletes is
really inspiring and I'm really happy to be a part of something
that promotes sport in the UK."
England North's James Cowburn collected three gold and one
silver medal to help his team to second place with 247 points.
The Stockport Metro swimmer won individual gold in the 200m
Backstroke and put in strong lead-off performances in both
freestyle relays to help secure gold for his team.
"It's a relief to get the individual gold," said
Cowburn. "I've not trained too hard for this but I was
disappointed with my performance in the 100m Backstroke so
to swim well in the 200m is a good boost.
"We went into the relays thinking we could come away
with a medal but didn't count on the gold. I led off on both
races and got a good lead, which I think helped the rest of
the team and gave them that extra edge. There's good team
spirit here and it's great to get the team golds.
"I've been training at Stockport for about a year now
and I'm seeing improvements. My coach at Winsford encouraged
me to take the step to a performance club and it's paying
off."
Two golds for multi-disability swimmer Elizabeth Simpkin
(Southport) were also integral to England North's second place
finish. The 13-year-old gained the most points in both the
100m Butterfly and 200m Individual Medley for gold and was
second fastest with a lifetime best in the 100m Backstroke
for the silver, equalling her performance in 2006.
"I'm really pleased to match last year's performance,"
she said. "I didn't do so well on my last event so I
thought I'd blown it. It makes a difference having someone
to race against and I think that's why I managed the PB in
the backstroke."
Scotland's Megan Gilchrist (City of Edinburgh) won both the
400m and 800m Freestyle to earn some points for the Scotland
South East team and finish as one of the top female medallists.
"I came her to have fun, try to win some points for
the team and golds for me and I did what I wanted," she
said. "My times aren't PBs but they're solid for where
I'm at right now. We've been trying some different methods
in training and I've been following a sprint-based programme
over the last two weeks to see how I react to it.
"I'm really enjoying my swimming this year. My coach
Fred Vergnoux has done a really good job and I've come on
so much which is reflecting in my times. I train with Alena
Popchenka which is so inspiring for me. I'd love one day to
achieve what she has."
Freestyle specialist and ASA Youth Champion Conor Leaney
continued his form for Ireland, winning individual titles
in the 50m and 100m Freestyle. In the 4x100m Medley - the
final event of the meet - the 16-year-old put in an awesome
performance as anchor to add a further gold to his personal
tally, pipping the England South West team to the touch.
"This is an extra meet for me and I wasn't expecting
to do so well," he said. "I won gold at the ASA
Youths and I was hoping I'd be able to repeat that here. I
was only just off my PBs from earlier in the summer so I'm
really pleased. The team has done so well here to get the
medals we have."
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