National titles for swimmers
17 August 2005
EDITORIAL - whtimes@archant.co.uk
SWIMMERS from the highly-successful Hatfield club made a splash at the ASA National Youth Championships in Sheffield.
Hatfield's Rachael George, Richard Charlesworth, Jonathan Quinn and Adam Brown all claimed gold medals at the Ponds Forge pool earlier this month.
Club colleagues Brown and Charlesworth won gold, silver and bronze between them in the men's 15 to 16 years age group.
Two of those medals came in the same race, with 16-year-olds Charlesworth and Brown both battling for podium places in the final of the 400m freestyle.
Charlesworth took the national title with a time of 4 minutes 00.16 seconds with Brown third in 4 mins 05.24 secs. Plymouth Leander's Steven Beckerleg, 15, split the two Hatfield swimmers.
Brown finished one place higher up in the final of the 100m freestyle. He took the silver behind Wycombe's Robert Matthew-Stroud in 52.63 secs.
The same pair were also first and second in the 50m freestyle, with Brown again taking the silver in 24.07 secs behind a British age group record.
Brown made it onto the top step of the podium in the 200m freestyle in 1 min 53.63 secs. Charlesworth was fifth in the same final.
Quinn won the men's 15 to 16 years 400m individual medley final in 4 mins 30.43 secs and was seventh in the 200m IM final.
The Hatfield quartet of Brown, Charlesworth, Andrew Curtin and Quinn took fourth place in the final of the men's open 4x200m freestyle relay.
GB international George, who won a relay bronze medal at the European Junior Championships in Hungary last month, struck gold in Sheffield and also claimed a couple of silvers from the domestic competition.
She won the girls' 14 to 15 years 50m freestyle title in a time of 27.25 secs. The 15-year-old swimmer also finished first in the 100m freestyle in 58.01 secs.
City of Liverpool's Francesca Halsall beat George to first place in the 200m freestyle, with the Hatfield swimmer having to settle for silver in a time of 2 mins 03.09 secs and sixth place overall in the senior rankings.
George, who is coached by Nick Juba at the Hertfordshire Sports Village pool, was also second in the 400m freestyle.
Hatfield had a number of other finalists in the age groups. Ann-Louise Knapman came seventh in the final of the girls' 14-15 years 100m backstroke and Faye Barnard was ninth in the 100m butterfly and 10th in the 200m butterfly in the same age group.
Barnard, Cara Purvis, Natalie Smith and George came ninth in the final of the women's open freestyle relay.
In the senior Commonwealth Games trials, John Sargent was ninth in the final of the men's open 50m backstroke in 27.81 secs and Bradley Neal 14th fastest in the semi-finals open 50m butterfly.
Lucy to take on the world
17 August 2005
EDITORIAL - whtimes@archant.co.uk
TALENTED Hatfield swimmer Lucy Yates will travel to Monaco for the World Biathle Championships after she confirmed her position as the number one junior in Britain.
The St Albans teenager returned to the scene of her bronze medal performance in the British Aquathlon Championships - a swim and run event - seven days earlier, to compete in the U17's biathle event last Sunday. A biathle is a continuous run, swim, run event.
Although she is one of the youngest in her age group, Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers athlete Lucy dominated at Salford Quays.
After a steady 1,000m run, she was positioned on the shoulder of the leader as she began her swim.
Training with Hatfield Swimming Club then paid off as she took first place and opened up a substantial gap in the 200m swim.
Lucy emerged from the second transition for the final 1,000m run before the next competitor was out of the water and from there she eased to victory. After the race Lucy said: "I couldn't believe it, as it is the first time I have won the swim.
"I kept expecting them to swim over me." The British Championships also served as the qualifiers for the World Biathle Championships in Monaco in September. Last year in Germany Lucy finished in fourth position, but she is determined to get amongst the medals in Monte Carlo. Lucy also claimed a gold medal with Team Vipers in the junior girls' section of the National Triathlon Team Relays.
This popular event took place at the National Watersports Centre at Holme Pierrepont, near Nottingham.
Parmiter's pupil Lucy was part of a team of four and showed her increased strength in the water and then her speed on the running stage.
Golden girl Ceri breaks record
EDITORIAL - whtimes@archant.co.uk
03 August 2005
A WARE teenager was one of the stars of the Cheestrings ASA National Age Group Championships in Sheffield. Presdales School pupil Ceri Unwin struck gold at the Ponds Forge complex over the weekend and also broke a British age group record.
The seemingly unstoppable 13-year-old Great Britain international claimed her first gold of the championships on the opening day in the girls' 13 years 400m freestyle. The Hatfield Swimming Club member, who took the gold in the same event at last month's European Youth Olympic Festival in Italy, stretched the field from the start. She was nearly seven seconds ahead in a finishing time of 4 minutes 22.20 seconds.
Lincoln Vulcans swimmer Sophie Allen had to settle for silver ahead of Chester's Lucy Worrall. Unwin produced a record-breaking performance on Monday to claim another national title on day three of the championships. She set a new girls' 13 years British best time in the 200m freestyle.
The Herts golden girl won the race in a time of 2 mins 04.35 secs to finish ahead of Beckenham's Ellen Gandy and Sophie Allen. BACK TO HOME PAGE
