CARRY ON BREAKING RECORDS
David Carry (City of Aberdeen Swim Team) broke one of the
longest standing British Records on the first day of competition
at the ASA Swim 21 National Youth Championships and ASA National
Championships (50m) at Ponds Forge in Sheffield.
The 25 year old Loughborough University swam to glory in
the Men's 400m Freestyle final, and in turn achieved a new
British best time of 3:47.40. Paul Palmer's previous best
of 3:48.02 had stood since January 1998 and Carry was delighted
to have finally bettered it.
Carry said, "I have been aiming for this for a few years
now and it's more of a relief than anything that I finally
have the record.
"I've been working hard with my coach Ian Turner who
incidentally coached Paul Palmer who is someone I have looked
up to and respected for a long time.
"I found the heats hard going this morning but felt
good this evening and was aware of the fast splits. I just
kept building and building over the course of the race and
am really happy to get the record."
Carry's coach Turner was also pleased.
"This record has been on the cards for David for about
12 months. It's really great for him to finally achieve it
and I do believe that he can go even faster.
"Like David, I was concerned with the heats this morning,
but he really pulled it together for the finals.
"Obviously Paul's record has stood since 1998 and it
was Paul's time that got him the World Championship bronze
medal. I find it very interesting that one of my current athletes
has broken the record of one of my previous athletes."
Dean Milwain of Loughborough University took silver in 3:50.55,
ahead of Loughborough team-mate Ross Davenport who won bronze
in 3:51.63.
Hannah Miley of Garioch also enjoyed a successful day taking
two titles, the first in the Women's 16/17 years 200m Backstroke,
the second in the Women's Open 400m IM.
Miley dominated the IM and finished close to her British
Record in a time of 4:40.58. Keri-anne Payne took silver in
4:44.69 with bronze going to Jessica Dickons from Borough
of Stockton in 4:49.43.
Miley's reaction was also one of shock.
She said, "It was unexpected to go so close to my PB
and I feel there is more to come.
"I'm off to the US tomorrow for the US Nationals with
my first race being on Tuesday, the 200m Butterfly. My main
focus will be the 400 IM on Wednesday.
"I've had a really good couple of months following my
success at the British Championships in March. That was a
big stepping stone for me and its clear that the training
schedule that my coach and I have put together is going well."
Ellen Gandy took the first title on the first day of competition
at the ASA Swim 21 National Youth Championships.
The 15 year old from Beckenham grabbed glory in the Womens
14/15 yrs 100m Freestyle, finishing strongly in a time of
57.23. Home favourite Rebecca Turner from City of Sheffield
was second in 57.81 with Fiona Doyle of Ireland finishing
third in 58.18.
Speaking after the race Gandy seemed a little shocked by
the result.
"That was an unexpected surprise; I really didn't expect
to win," she said. "Coming to the Nationals straight
off the back of the European Junior Championships has been
very tough.
"I had a bad swim this morning in the heats but I made
up for that in the final where I was feeling really good.
I am still in shock, I really didn't expect to win a Freestyle
final, especially as Butterfly is my usual stroke."
In the Men's MD 400m Freestyle, it was a record breaking
day for Sam Hynd of Nova Centurion. Not content with breaking
the British Record for the S8 category in the heats in a time
of 4:37.18, he went onto smash the European Record in the
final. Hynd's new time of 4:34.15 earned him 991 points.
Andrew Lindsay of Incas (S7) won silver in 5:13.43 (823 points)
with Robert Welbourn of Lincoln Vulcans (S10) taking bronze
in 4:20.83 (821 points).
Hynd's time for this event is now less than a second away
from that of World Record Holder Xiaofu Wang of China (4:33.37)
and there was no hiding Hynd's delight at this new mark.
"I've come pretty close to the European record in recent
months," he said. " But finally getting it has still
come as a surprise to me.
"During the race I did what my coach has been telling
me to do, and I went out hard and remained focussed throughout.
I was feeling pretty good before the race and I felt good
once I was in the water."
Louise Watkin of Kelly College also broke the British Record
for the S9 category in the Women's MD 400m Freestyle final.
Watkin touched home in 5:03.26 to earn 659 points and a bronze
medal. The title itself went to Rhiannon Henry (S13) of Swansea
Performance Centre who finished in 4:48.28 (893 points) with
silver going to Emma Cattle (S10) of Luton who finished in
5:19.71 (679 points).
Watkin's performance is perhaps all the more impressive considering
she has been competing at this event for less than a year.
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