Louise heads for Sheffield

Newbury swimmer claims a place in national age group finals

NEWBURY Swimming Club's Louise McFadzen qualified for the National Finals at Sheffield in July after coming through the South East Regional Youth Finals at Crawley over the weekend.

She and club-mate Jake Jezzard competed in several events and it was the former who won through to Sheffield in the 100 metre backstroke in the 14-15 age group.

She had also been seeded fifth in her heat of the 50m backstroke and got off to an excellent start by winning the race in a time of 33.04 seconds, despite being one of the younger competitors in the age group. Her time was good enough to be the reserve for the final, giving an overall placing of ninth.

Shed was also seeded fifth in the 100m, needing a time of 1:08.85 to qualify for the National Finals and a solid 33.61 at the 50m took her on to win the heat and claim her Sheffield spot.

It was also good enough to take her into the final, in which she finished fifth in a slightly slower time of 1:09.15 secs.