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Butterfly specialist Robyn Le Friec was the star of the
show am ong
the Beau Sejour Barracudas group on the final weekend of
the Hampshire County Championships.
That being the last one for those hoping to achieve the
consideration times for the Island Games, it was a
nerve-racking experience for some, but Le Friec had no
need to worry. The 17-year-old Ladies’ College student
secured her place in the team for Rhodes by winning the
penultimate event of the weekend, the 50m butterfly.
‘Robyn trains really hard and she never misses
training,’ said her coach Alison Frankland.
‘She thoroughly deserves the success she’s having at the
moment. She’s a very competitive swimmer and that’s why
she’s getting such results.’
In a nail-biting finish to the 50m butterfly, she
touched out her nearest rival, Eleanor Selby of
Winchester City Penguins, by just 600ths of a second to
take the title in a lifetime best of 30.86.
In all, she reached five finals. She clinched bronze in
the 100m freestyle in a time of 1.02.01, fourth in the
200m butterfly and freestyle and seventh in the 100m
butterfly. She also claimed two gold, two silver and
three bronze medals in her age group.
The second championship title for the Barracudas was won
by Jonathan Le Noury in the 1,500 freestyle.
He finished a massive 13 seconds ahead of his nearest
rival to take the title in a time of 16-39.16.
Although outside his best, he was pleased to have
achieved the Island Games qualifying time in preparation
to defend his title in Rhodes.
Over the weekend, he reached four finals in the men’s
open section: he finished in silver medal position in
the 50m backstroke, bronze in the 100m backstroke and
sixth and eighth in the 200 and 100m freestyle
respectively.
He also picked up gold medals in his age group in the
400 and 200m freestyle and bronze in the 100m backstroke
and 100 m freestyle.
The third championship title of the weekend went to
Victoria Parfit who won the 16-and-under junior title in
the 200m breaststroke, in addition to picking up third
place honours at the 100m distance.
Although still only 13 and having competed successfully
in the two previous weekends under the British Age Group
Category Awards Scheme, she achieved the qualifying
standard to compete at open and junior level in no fewer
than 15 events.
With heats and finals running almost back to back,
Jeremy Osborne was kept busy all weekend.
The freestyle star reached five finals: his best
performances came in the men’s open 100 and 200m
freestyle.
For the shorter
race, he joined fellow Sarnians Le Noury, Ian Hubert
and Ben Lowndes in the line-up for the final of the most
coveted award in swimming, the men’s 100m freestyle.
Osborne took second, just under half-a-second behind the
winner, Daniel Crook of Fareham Nomads, two years his
senior.
He also had to be content with second place honours in
the 200m freestyle in which he was pipped to the post by
James Stockdale of
Portsmouth Northsea, also two years his senior.
He also placed third overall in the 50m freestyle, in
addition to claiming six gold, one silver and two bronze
medals in the 16 years group.
Following the disappointing news that four-times Island
Games gold medalist and record holder Tom Hollingsworth
had pulled out of the Games to concentrate on the
national championships, swimmers have had to made
adjustments to their training programme at the last
minute in order to help fill the gaps he has left.
None more so than Hubert who has worked tirelessly to
achieve the qualifying times in the 100 and 200m
butterfly events. Reaching four finals, he placed fifth
in the 100m butterfly and sixth in the 200m distance to
record lifetime bests of 1.00.45 and 2.15.01.
He also claimed two gold and three silver medals in his
age group.
After a gap from serious training of several years,
Chloe Brehaut, a previous Island Games swimmer and
backstroke specialist, looks all set to gain a place in
the Island Games team.
Her performance over the weekend was impressive as she
reached three finals, placing fourth overall in the 100m
backstroke and 100m individual medley and 5th in the 50m
backstroke. Adding to this success, she won three gold
in the 19-plus age group, two silver and two bronze
medals.
Justifying her place in the Games team, Joanna Laine
produced excellent performances to reach two finals,
placing fourth overall in the 50m backstroke and fifth
in the 100m individual medley.
She also claimed two silver medals in her age group.
Competing in the same one, Rachael Le Page pulled out
all the stops to reach two finals, the 100m breaststroke
and 100m individual medley in addition to winning
individual gold, silver and two bronze medals in her age
category.
Looking to defend his Games title in the 50m
breaststroke, Matthew Robert, now studying at
university, reached the final to record a season’s best
time of 31.35 placing forth overall.
He also reached the final in the 100m breaststroke
placing fifth overall and claiming a silver medal in his
age group.
Other notable performances came from Paul and Chris
Adkins, Jack Le Poidevin, Jennifer Salmon, Gemma
Nicolle, Matthew Allen, Louisa Jurkiewicz, Lauren Judge
and Katie Salmon.
Showing great potential for the future at their first
appearance at senior level, there were some outstanding
medal-winning performances coming from Jacob Cherry,
Rosie Le Friec, James Jurkiewicz, Edward Dickinson,
Sunny Gosselin and Hannah James. |
