Andrew and Philippa set new standards in Age Group success
The fourth round of the Shropshire Age Group Championships saw fewer events being contested by Shrewsbury ASC swimmers but the medal habit (17 in all) was proving as strong as ever and three squad members performed to regional standard. Andrew Meredith (17) remains supremely motivated and his two swims, over 200m freestyle and 100m breaststroke resulted in a pair of regional qualifying times, the freestyle time of 1.59.73 a new record for the championships. The breaststroke swim, his ‘weakest stroke’ was the fastest on the day, no mean achievement after battling out a victory with a nationally ranked swimmer in the same heat.
Philippa Hatton (13) was another regional qualifier, her time of 2.36.06 in the 200m backstroke also a new record for the age group. She followed this up with second place over 800m freestyle. Imogen Griffiths (16) continued her domination of the backstroke event adding the 200m distance to her Coventry entry sheet with a time of 2.26.12.
Several swimmers just missed out on age group honours but personal best performances and silver medals were their reward. Peter Williams (13) continued his form with a time of 2.23.00 for 200m freestyle. Victoria Highfield (9) and Kathryn McNally (12) were both runners up over 200m backstroke. Another long distance event, the 800m freestyle, saw Emily Marrs (15), Kate Almond (14) and Louise Highfield (17) all finishing in second place. Josh Hatton (15) was kept very busy with three events, his best performance coming in the 100m breaststroke where he took silver and made the final. He also secured bronze over 200m and 800m freestyle. Bronze medals also went to James Morris (10) and Oliver Henry (13) in the 200m freestyle plus Becky Ellis (13) in the 800m freestyle.
The 200m freestyle saw several swimmers demolish their personal best times, by at least 10 and up to 24 secs! These included Jessica Waters , Howard Stringer , Oliver Russell (all 10) Liam Taylor, Ellis Salisbury Davies, Joe Beasley and Jack Rogers (all 11). Sam Johns and Chris Barber (both 12) were on song in the 200m breaststroke, each taking 9 secs off their PB time.
Francesca Baguley braved the 800m and looked good from start to finish with her time of 12.02.07, she also set a PB at 200m backstroke