WEEK 2 RESULTS

Piper adds 800m Crown

The final weekend of the 2006 South East Region ASA Bagcat Championships produced some great results for Thanet Swim Club members as 14 of them competed in 30 races against the finest junior swimmers in the region.

Keiron Piper, 13, withdrew from the 1500m Freestyle race on Saturday to concentrate on gaining a fast enough time in the 800m Freestyle race on Sunday morning in an attempt to gain an 800m entry at the National BAGCAT Championship in July. This year, for the first time at the National Championships, Boys are allowed to enter the 800m race and Girls are allowed to enter the 1500m race. Previously, only Boys did the 1500m and Girls, the 800m. The top 30 times submitted for Boys in the 800m and Girls in the 1500m, which have to have been achieved at a licensed or Regional event this year, will qualify for entry as there are no qualification times.

Keiron, who had taken the 400m Freestyle South East Crown a week earlier, was in spectacular form again and maintained a great pace throughout the race. He claimed his second Gold Medal and Championship Crown, over 6 seconds ahead of the Silver Medallist, Jake Howles from Portsmouth who went into the competition ranked No.6 in the country. Keiron's time would seem to guarantee his entry for the 800m Freestyle and probably rank him in the top 5 going into the National Championships. The swim created a new Personal Best and broke the Club Records for both the 13/14 age group and the Open age group.

Keiron rounded off his championship performances with a third medal, this time in the 200m Freestyle. He set himself a new Personal Best and National Qualifying Time with a time of 2mins 09.46secs, winning the Bronze Medal to add to his two Gold Medals.

12 year old Evie Bunte had a fantastic swim in the 200m Freestyle and was unlucky when she came within half a second her first ever National time by registering 2mins 21.56secs. The time gave her an 8 th place finish and a new Personal Best which broke the Club Record for the 11/12 age group. Evie matched that 8 th place finish in the 800m Freestyle when she came home in 10mins 14.25secs.

Louise Gates gained herself two high placed finishes when she claimed 5 th place in the 200m Breaststroke in 2mins 55.70secs as well as 5 th place in the 100m Breaststroke in 1min 21.93secs. 13 year old Louise also finished in 19 th place in the 200m Freestyle, recording a new Personal Best in 2mins 20.36secs. Lacey Palmer, who is also 13, recorded a new Personal Best in her 200m Freestyle race which gained her the 11 th place in a time of 2mins 17.49secs.

11 year old Chloe Thorpe had a massive 21.19 seconds improvement on her Personal Best in the 800m Freestyle, recording 10mins 53.39secs and claimed herself 9 th place. Chloe also made a new Personal Best in the 200m Breaststroke, knocking over 2 seconds off her previous best time and giving her 14 th place. In the 100m Breaststroke, Chloe claimed 13 th place in 1min 30.93secs and she also claimed 26 th place in the 200m Freestyle with a time of 2mins 36.55secs to round off a good weekend.

Libby Henson, who is 11 years old, also had a massive Personal Best in the 800m Freestyle when she made an improvement of 18.3 seconds in her race to record 11mins 02.61secs which gave her the 11 th place finish.

13 year old Milly Henson claimed an 8 th place finish in the 200m Butterfly in a time of 2mins 47.10secs. Milly also set herself a new Personal Best in the 200m Freestyle when her time of 2mins 24.68secs earned her 34 th place and Milly also recorded a 20 th place finish in the 100m Breaststroke with a time of 1min 27.40secs.

Aaron Clements was another high placed swimmer at the weekend. 12 year old Aaron gained 7 th place in the 200m Butterfly with a new Personal Best time of 2mins 45.26secs. In the 200m Breaststroke he came in 8 th place in 3mins 20.01secs and Aaron completed his races with another Personal Best in the 200m Freestyle where his time of 2mins 26.01secs gained him 16 th place.

10 year old Jake Davies started off with an 11 th place finish in the 100m Breaststroke in a time of 1min 40.10secs and followed that with a new Personal Best of 3mins 34.94secs in the 200m Breaststroke finishing in 14 th place. In the 200m Freestyle Jake gained 33 rd place with his time of 3mins 01.34secs. Another 10 year old, Ben Pond, claimed 19 th place in the 200m Freestyle when he recorded a new Personal Best time of 2mins 47.83secs.

Jack Little produced a good performance in the 13 year olds 200m Butterfly to claim a 10 th place finish in 2mins 43.69secs. Jack also gained a 19 th place finish in the 200m Freestyle when he touched in 2mins 18.39secs. 10 year old Elisha Kennett came 20 th in the 100m Breaststroke in 1min 43.51secs and gained 23 rd place in the 200m Breaststroke in 3mins 39.80secs.