JOHNSON COMPLETES MEDAL HAUL ON FINAL DAY OF AGE GROUPS
City of Leeds swimmer Matthew Johnson secured his ninth gold
medal from the final day of competition at the ASA National
Age Group Championships at Ponds Forge in Sheffield.
In the boys 12 years 400m Freestyle Johnson used his strong
finish to great advantage to take the title. He swam shoulder
to shoulder with nearest rival Joseph Poynter for the first
half of the race but timed his run into the finish line well,
slowly easing ahead of the field after the 250m mark.
>From there the race was never in doubt and Johnson touched
home in
>4:20.69. Poynter from Bournemouth tried to stay with the
leader but in
>the end had to settle for silver in 4:22.00 and Matthew
Powell of
>Haslemere won bronze in 4:23.03.
Johnson then went onto take the 200m Breaststroke title winning
in a time of 2:41.33, over 5 seconds ahead of nearest rival
Joseph Poynter who had to again settle for silver in a time
of 2:46.01. Bradley Kemp of Hants North was third in 2:46.23.
Head Coach from City of Leeds, Ian Grayson, was clearly pleased
with Johnson's performances.
"Matthew has worked hard and has put in some great times
and performances all this week," he said.
"For the 400m freestyle, we knew Matthew had a strong
finish, so the plan was to stay near the front of the pack
and pull away in the final phase of the race. This he did
with great effect.
"Eight gold medals is a great haul from one championship,
and among his many highlights I was particularly impressed
with his performances in the 400m IM, 200m Butterfly and 1500m
Freestyle. He has swum a wide and varied programme and his
results show we are working well as a team and moving in the
right direction."
Ellis Jackson is another athlete with an impressive haul
of medals from the past four days. The 12 year old from St.
Felix School won a further two gold medals this evening taking
her total to six, one better than last year.
In the 200m IM, Jackson was leading after the first leg and
stayed in first position for the rest of the race. Despite
a strong freestyle leg from Sycerika McMahon of Ireland, Jackson
held on and took the title comfortably in 2:24.13. McMahon
held on for silver in 2:25.96, just ahead of Fiona Donnelly
of Derventio who took bronze in 2:26.10.
Earlier in the evening, Jackson stormed to victory in the
200m Backstroke, taking gold in 2:20.83, almost four seconds
ahead of silver medallist Fiona Donnelly (Derventio) who touched
home in 2:24.75. Laura Allison from Borough of Stockton was
third in 2:26.62.
Jackson's coach Sue Purchase was quick to praise her.
"I am extremely proud of her," she said. "It's
only the second time we've been to the ASA Age Group Championships
and we are delighted to be back, especially with the great
results Ellis is achieving.
"We didn't really have any medal count in mind when
we came here; such things are difficult to plan as you can
never be sure how these young athletes will perform on the
day. However, Ellis has remained very focused throughout the
meet and has deserved all her success.
"From a coach's point of view, her 200m Backstroke and
200m Butterfly victories were particularly pleasing to watch."
Anne Bochmann of UEA Norwich also increased her gold medal
tally to eight with wins in the 13 years 100m Freestyle, 200m
Backstroke and 200m IM.
At the end of the meet, Nick Sellwood, England Talent Development
Manager, explained that this event and the forthcoming Youth
Championships will be used as part of the selection criteria
for placing approximately 288 English athletes on English
Athlete Talent Development Programmes.
He said, "We have witnessed some excellent performances
over the past four days. From the National Age Groups we have
already selected 192 swimmers for the Level 1 regional programmes.
These programmes will provide skill development, athlete education
programmes, screening and individualised core stability work
for its participants.
"We will now go on and select a further 160 at the Youth
Championships in the coming days."
The ASA National Age Group Championships take place from
23-26 July 2007 at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre,
Sheffield.
Full list of results from Day 4 are as follows:
400m Freestyle
Boys 11 yrs
Gold: James Guy (Swim Trafford) 4:35.75
Silver: Caleb Hughes (Mid Beds) 4:40.22
Bronze: Joe Knight (Millfield) 4:46.19
Boys 12 yrs
Gold: Matthew Johnson (City of Leeds) 4:20.69
Silver: Joseph Poynter (Bournemouth) 4:22.00
Bronze: Matthew Powell (Haslemere) 4:24.03
Boys 13 yrs
Gold: Jordan Sharples (Stockport Metro) 4:16.37
Silver: Jordan Theaker (Gallica) 4:16.44
Bronze: Samuel Davies (Stockport Metro) 4:22.76
Boys 14 yrs
Gold: Matthew Parks (Swim Trafford) 4:09.47
Silver: Lewis Dyson (Bo Kirklees) 4:10.92
Bronze: Myles Crouch-Andreson (Northampton) 4:11.89
100m Freestyle
Girls 11 yrs
Gold: Tegan Turner-Clarke (Co Sheffield) 1:03.18
Silver: Loren Bleaken (Bath Uni) 1:03.68
Bronze: Siobhan-marie O'Connor (Bath Uni) 1:03.92
Girls 12 yrs
Gold: Emma Saunders (Bolton Metro) 59.15
Silver: Kathryn Woolston-Thomas (Newburn) 59.66
Bronze: Sara Hamilton (South Aberdeen) 59.76
Girls 13 yrs
Gold: Anne Bochmann (UEA Norwich) 59.19
Silver: Stephanie Blakeburn (Billingham) 1:00.36
Bronze: Sian Morgan (Co Bradford) 1:00.46
100m Butterfly
Boys 11 yrs
Gold: Cameron Austin (Preston) 1:05.73
Silver: James Guy (Swim Trafford) 1:06.88
Bronze: Thomas Mules (South Dorset) 1:08.04
Boys 12 yrs
Gold: Matthew Powell (Haslemere) 1:02.77
Silver: Matthew Johnson (Co Leeds) 1:04.46
Bronze: Joseph Schooling (Gallica) 1:06.01
Boys 13 yrs
Gold: Steven King (Bracknell) 1:01.78/Thomas Yang (Ireland)
1:00.52 Commemorative Medal
Silver: Grant Halsall (Isle of Man) 1:01.84/Velimir Stjepanovic
1:01.43 Commemorative Medal
Bronze: Daniel Johnson (Middlesborough) 1:02.55
Boys 14 yrs
Gold: Cameron Brodie (Kelly College) 58.98
Silver: Adam Barrett (Reading) 59.06
Bronze: Myles Crouch-Anderson (Northampton) 59.45
200m Backstroke
Girls 11 yrs
Gold: Madeleine Tichborne (Barnet Copt) 2:32.86
Silver: Holly Hadden (Stockport Metro) 2:33.68
Bronze: Eleanor Beckwith (Ferndown) 2:36.36
Girls 12 yrs
Gold: Ellis Jackson (St Felix School) 2:20.83
Silver: Fiona Donnelly (Derventio) 2:24.75
Bronze: Laura Allison (Bo Stcokton) 2:26.62
Girls 13 yrs
Gold: Anne Bochmann (UEA Norwich) 2:21.33
Silver: Sophie Teasdale (Portsmouth) 2:23.76
Bronze: Holly Brettle (Middlesborough) 2:24.62
200m Breaststroke
Boys 11 yrs
Gold: Caleb Hughes (Mid Beds) 2:50.70
Silver: Zak Dawson (Newburn) 2:52.85
Bronze: James Chater (Tilehurst) 2:57.54
Boys 12 yrs
Gold: Matthew Johnson (Co Leeds) 2:41.33
Silver: Joseph Poynter (Bournemouth) 2:46.01
Bronze: Bradley Kemp (Hants North) 2:46.23
Boys 13 yrs
Gold: Sam George (South Aberdeen) 2:30.77
Silver: Christopher Febo (Co Southampton) 2:36.06
Bronze: Craig Benson (Warrender) 2:37.34
Boys 14 yrs
Gold: Timothy Almond (Warrington) 2:28.04
Silver: Patrick Callan (Wear Valley) 2:30.27
Bronze: David Gregory (Plymouth Leander) 2:31.05
200m Individual Medley
Girls 11 yrs
Gold: Madeleine Tichborne (Barnet Copt) 2:37.56
Silver: Kirstie Hackett (Co Birmingham) 2:38.21
Bronze: Holly Hadden (Stockport Metro) 2:38.86
Girls 12 yrs
Gold: Ellis Jackson (St Felix School) 2:24.13
Silver: Fiona Donnelly (Derventio) 2:26.10/Sycerika McMahon
(Ireland) 2:25.96 Commemorative Medal
Bronze: Laura Allison (Bo Stockton) 2:27.20
Girls 13 yrs
Gold: Anne Bochmann (UEA Norwich) 2:22.44
Silver: Corrie Scott (East Kilbride) 2:25.85
Bronze: Holly Brettle (Middlesborough) 2:26.55
4x200m Freestyle Boys
Gold: City of Birmingham 8:16.15
Silver: Stockport Metro 8:20.47
Bronze: Plymouth Leander 8:21.87
4x200m Freestyle Girls
Gold: Gallica 8:52.55
Silver: Newburn 8:56.99
Bronze: Derventio 8:57.64
More than 700 competitors aged 11-14 have qualified through
ASA Regional Championships and will be competing for national
honours and selection to the ASA's England Talent Programme.
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