AGE GROUP RECORD SMASHED ON SECOND DAY
The boys 14 year old 400m Individual Medley saw the age group
record broken twice by David Gregory in the heat and the final
on the second day of the ASA National Age Group Championships
2007.
Having claimed the first record of the day in the heats,
David Gregory (Plymouth Leander) went out hard in the final
to take an early lead over Matthew Parks (Swim Trafford).
Gregory looked on track to claim another games record and
continued to look strong into the final 100m to take the title
and his second record of the day in a time of 4:39.83 seconds.
Parks went onto win the silver in a time of 4:44.95 and bronze
was claimed by Ieuan Lloyd (Co Cardiff) in 4:46.99 seconds.
The Plymouth swimmer then went one to claim silver in the
100m backstroke event finishing in 1:01.25, just behind Warrington's
Matthew Verdon who took the gold in 1:00.87. Taking bronze
was Dan Ruckwood (Co Birmingham) touching in 1:01.47
Ferndown's Naomi Vides put in an excellent performance both
in the heat and the final of the girls 12 year old 100m Breaststroke.
Taking the heat in 1:15.02 showed that Vides was on track
for a strong swim in the final.
In the final Vides took a small lead in the first 50m, but
this lead was extended in the final 50 to secure the gold
medal with a time of 1:13.89 seconds.
There were many close finals through the evening and one
of the closest was found in the boys 11 year old 100m Backstroke,
which saw Mark Szaranek (Carnegie) and Caleb Hughes (Mid Beds)
neck and neck up until the final two metres.
Szaranek fought hard to take the lead and took the gold medal
in 1:11.49 seconds, Hughes finished in 1:11.82 to take the
silver medal. Taking bronze was Anthony Lucas (Gallica) touching
in 1:12.91.
Anne Bochmann (UEA Norwich) and Matthew Johnson (City of
Leeds) continued to dominate their age groups with impressive
performances.
Bochmann started with gold in the girls 13 year old 800m
Freestyle, touching with a time of 9:02.53. Ahead of Sian
Morgan (Co Bradford) in a time of 9:16.74, Sarah Lucas (Gallica)
took bronze in 9:17.11 seconds.
The UEA Norwich swimmer took her second gold of the day in
the girls 13 year old 200m Butterfly, she took the lead in
the final 50m finishing in 2:20.20 seconds.
Team-mate Bathany Coggins took silver in 2:21.39 and Millfield's
Bryony Campbell claimed bronze in 2:21.39.
Johnson took his first gold of the day in the boys 12 year
old 800m Freestyle, he finished five seconds ahead of Joseph
Poynter (Bournemouth Dolphins) - taking gold in 9:00.98 seconds.
Poynter touched in 9:05.97 to take bronze and Ben Wood (Chase)
who finished in 9:16.04.
In the 400m Individual Medley Johnson dominated from the
start to claim his fifth gold medal in two days. He finished
in a time of 4:56.37 ahead of Ryan Flanagan (Bo Kirklees)
who claimed silver in 5:02.09. Bronze went to Oliver Bitowt
(Lincoln Vulcans) in 5:07.07 seconds.
Johnson took his third medal of the day in the 12 year old
boys 200m Freestyle when he touched in 2:03.39 to take silver
behind Matthew Powell (Haslemere), who finished in 2:03.04.
Bronze was won by Ben Wood (Chase) in 2:08.67.
Regional Talent and Development Coach for the North East
Dave Legge has been encouraged by the standard of swimming
at the competition.
"All of the Talent and Development staff have been really
impressed with the level of swimming," he said. "We
have seen very strong swims through the heats and finals and
it is great that we have seen swimmers stepping up to the
finals and tackling them well.
"Naomi Vides had an excellent swim in the final of the
100m Breaststroke. It was great to see her finish in such
a fast time. There have also been putting in some impressive
performances from Bochmann and Johnson over the past two days.
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