Thurrock Swim Club in more pool success (From Echo)

Thurrock Swim Club in more pool success

SWIMMING: Thurrock Swimming Club recently sent 14 top athletes to compete against the best swimmers in Great Britain at the National Swimming Championships held at Ponds Forge International Sport Centre in Sheffield.

After competing in a gruelling 2 week long competition, Head Coach Lisa Bates and her team of swimmers produced what must have been one of the best ever performances by the Thurrock based club, with many Thurrock swimmers finishing the competition with top 10 GB rankings.

Thurrock's age group swimmers (aged 14 and under), were in impressive form, with almost all swimmers performing lifetime best swims.

Thurrock's newest recruit, 14 year old Sean Houilhan, smashed his lifetime best to finish 3rd in his signature event, the 200m Breastroke (2:30.3). Sean has been one of the UK's top breastoke swimmers in his age group for sometime now and it clearly showed, when the St Clere's student stormed to the bronze medal placing. Sean also competed in the 200m IM and once again produced a new lifetime best to qualify for the final and finish in 4th place overall (2:14.37). An 11th place finish in the 100m breaststroke (1:12) meant that Sean qualified as a reserve finalist and this completed an impressive championships for the Thurrock new boy.

Thurrock has a strong contingent of age group Butterfly swimmers who were also at the top of their game.

Twelve year George Epsly produced a fine 200m butterfly heat swim (2:27) to qualify for the 12 year old final and in the evenings final George was in outstanding form. Despite being the youngest competitor in the final, George finished in an incredible 6th place (2:26), a swim that confirmed the Gable Hall pupil as one of the brightest young butterfly talents in the country.

Fourteen year old William Edwards student Sonny Ford has also excelled under new coach Lisa Bates. Ford has had a great swim season and another outstanding performance in the heats of the 200m butterfly, saw him qualify for the evening finals. Sonny then went on to swim the race of his of his life to finish 6th in the final of the boys 14 years 200m butterfly. A time of 2:14.55 makes Sonny the fastest 1996 born 200m butterfly swimmer in Great Britain.

Also competing in the 200m butterfly was Thurrock's busiest swimmer, 12 year old James Day. James qualified for 7 National events in all and followed in the footsteps of his Thurrock counterparts by delivering some quality swims. Day started with a 13th place swim in the boys 12 years 200m fly (2:32) and followed this up with the 9th fastest 400m freestyle swim in the boys 12 years category (4:39.09). In the evening final, James smashed his PB and a time of 4:37.74, saw James finish in 7th place. There seemed to be no rest for the talented 12 year old, and he was soon back in the pool, finishing13th in the 200m freestyle (2:14), 18th in the 100m fly (1:10) and 23rd in the 400m IM (5:26). James' efforts over the week long age group competition, saw him finish in 7th place overall in the boys 12 year old BAGCAT points, an outstanding achievement.

Thurrock's only female representative at the age group championships was 13 year old Kayleigh Umfreville. Making her debut at national level, Kayleigh competed in the gruelling 1500m freestyle and despite not being at her best still managed to finish as 31st fastest in Great Britain (19.07.79) Backstroke specialist Gareth Hawkins was making his 2nd individual appearance at the Nationals and started his campaign with an impressive 14th place swim in the boys 14 years 100m backstroke (1:04). Gareth also qualified to compete in the 200m event and a 2:21 swim earn't the Gaines school student 21st place overall. Gareth along with Sean Houlihan, Sonny Ford and Chafford school student Harry Geggus, was also involved in two exciting relay events. It was the first year that Thurrock have had an age group team that qualified to compete in the freestyle and medley relays and Thurrock's quartet certainly did not disappoint.

Despite being ranked 24th in the freestyle relay, the boys quartet smashed the opposition in the early heats and were surprising qualifiers for the final. They went on to finish in 9th place. In the medley relay, Hawkins, Houlihan, Ford and Geggus played their part in one of the most exciting races of the championships, only missing out on a prestigious 3rd place finish by a mere 2 seconds.

Thurrock's Youth swimmers (age 15 and over) were also in fine form. Top performer was 17 year old, ex Kelly College student, Braden Wren. Wren has been a national standard swimmer since the age of 11 and 6 years on, is still battling it out with Britain's best. Braden qualified for 5 events in all, the highlight being the 200m butterfly. An outstanding heat swim (2:05), meant than Wren qualified in a middle lane for the semi-final and it was in the semi that Braden surprised his rivals when he stormed home to qualify 2nd fastest for the evening final (2:04). In the final a medal was a real possibility, but the competition was tough and Braden finished in 6th place overall. Braden went on to qualify for the semi-final of the 200m IM (2:10) and the final of the 400m IM (4:41) and as a result finished an injury plagued season on a real high.

Fellow 17 year old Conor Harrold was competing at his first nationals for some time and delivered quality swims in the 200 fly (2:12) and 400m IM (4:44). The highlight for Conor was in the 200m backstroke, where a fantastic heat swim of 2:10, saw him qualify for the semi-final ahead of some quality opposition. Harold raised his game for the semi and finished 11th fastest overall (2:09) just missing the prestigious final by a whisker.

Thurrock's other youth male trio also swam well; Alex Delicata in the 200m fly (2:13), 800m free (8:52) and 400m free, Charlie Hayes in the 400m IM (4:50) and 200m breast (2:37) and Harry Payne in the 400m, 800m and 1500m free. Thurrock's only female representative in the Youth category was 16 year Kerriann Chipperfield. The canvey based swimmer swam a solid 200m butterfly heat (2:24) and qualified for the semi-final where she finished 20th overall (2:26). Kerriann also had good swims in the 100m butterfly and 800m freestyle.