Eloise is a record-breaker
Newbury swimmer romps to new best in breaststroke at county championships
NEWBURY swimmer Eloise Wade broke an age group record on her way to gold at this year’s county championships. Swimming in the girls 13 years age category, she set a new meet record of 36.45 seconds as she finished first in the 50m breaststroke.
She had already set a record in the heats with a new personal best of 37.28 seconds, before bettering that in the final.
That saw her clinch second place in the Junior Championship, which combines the times of all swimmers 14 years and under at that distance and stroke.
She also won silver in the 100m and 200m breaststroke and a bronze in the 50m butterfly.
These results saw her take top 10 placings in the Junior Championship in all three disciplines.
A total of 27 medals were won by the youngsters at the Berks and South Bucks County Championships, which were held over two weekends in January at High Wycombe’s 50m pool.
Head coach at Newbury District Swimming Club Tony Woodward said he was really pleased with the results and praised all the swimmers for their positive attitudes.
“It was great how quickly the swimmers got back into it after Christmas and that brought some promising results at the championships,” he said.
“The attitude of everyone in training really picked up in the run-up to the competition and that showed in the results they achieved. There is still room for further development and that is what we will now begin working on.”
He also thanked all the parents who helped out at the event, which relies on the support of volunteers to ensure it goes ahead.
Christopher Emberlin won a total of nine individual medals across the four days – one gold, four silver and four bronze – in the boys 12 years age group.
Also in the 12 years age group, Kirsten Fraser won two silver medals – in the 800m and 1500m freestyle – while for the boys Jamie Leach took a silver in the 50m breaststroke and a bronze in the 200m breaststroke.
Can Tugcetin (below left), swimming in the 14 years age group, took home three silver medals in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke.
He also finished second in the Junior Championship in all three distances.
In the girls’ 14 years age group, Georgia Humphreys won bronze in the 1500m freestyle, finishing fifth in the Junior Championship.
Kaleb Fox-Jones won a silver in the 200m backstroke and bronze in both the 50m and 100m backstroke, in the 15 years age category.
He finished ninth overall in the Senior Championship at the 50m distance, which is for all swimmers aged 15 years and over.
In the 15 years girls, Freya Barlow won silver in both the 100m and 200m backstroke, finishing fifth in the Senior Championship in 100m and eighth in the 200m.
Vivien Wallis, swimming in the 16 years age category, won a bronze medal in the 200m breaststroke race.
The girls 12/13 years relay team just missed out on the medals, finishing fourth in both the 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley races.