RTSC Gala Reports

Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd May - London Youth Championships - National Sports Centre, Crystal Palace

Having had to travel to Ealing’s Gurnell Pool for last year’s London Youth Championships, it was good to back at Crystal Palace’s National Sports Centre. Despite the return, the format adopted for last year remained the same, with all events swum over two days instead of spread out over three. This made it a tough couple of days of competition for many.

Apart from a fairly full programme of individual events a number of the boys also had relay swims to contend with.

One of the busiest swimmers was 17 years old Daniel Stepton who opened his account with a win and a long course NQT in the opening 400 metres Freestyle event. A strong swim in the 100 metres Freestyle saw him qualify as 3rd fastest to the final, though he decided to withdraw to concentrate on his main event. This paid dividends as he soon recorded his second victory in the 17 years+ 200 metres Backstroke final, setting a new Event Best Time of 2mins 12.46secs.

With heats, finals and relays beginning to take their toll, Stepton again posted the fastest qualifying time in the heat of the 200 metres IM and was the second fastest over 200 metres Freestyle. Again he decided to pass up these finals to reserve some energy for the 100 metres Backstroke and again the result was Gold.

16 years old James Davis, competing in the boys joint 15/16 years age group, also had his work cut out, and his time of 4mins 18.50secs in his opening 400 metres Freestyle event got the ball rolling with a silver medal. This set him up nicely for his main swim of the weekend, the 800 metres Freestyle, and he didn’t disappoint. He controlled the race from the outset, taking to the front at the midway stage and stretching out his advantage to win by more than five metres. His time of 8mins 46.43secs bettered his previous best by more than fifteen seconds and was nine seconds inside the NQT. Davis went on to add two more silvers to his haul with PB times over 400 and 200 metres IM. Only fatigue stopped him adding another medal in his last event of the weekend, the 200 metres Freestyle. Having set the early pace in this one, he was caught in the closing stages and had to settle for 4th.

Stepton and Davis were joined by Jamie Harrington and Jake Harrison for both the Boys 15/18 years 4 X200 and 4 X100 metres freestyle relays. Strong performances in both events saw Town finish with silvers, just behind Ealing on both occasions. Romford’s respective times of 8mins 07.87secs and 3mins 42.56secs were good enough for them to finish in the top 30 best performances around the Country and secured their places at this year’s National Championships. Harrison went on to finish 5th in his individual 100 metres Freestyle swim in the 15/16 age group.

After a nervous start to the weekend and the disappointment of only a reserve place for the final of the 100 metres Backstroke, 14 years old Rachel Welsh regained her composure and was back in business in the 200 metres event. Her time of 2mins 34.86secs saw her snatch the silver medal in the girls 14/15 years age group. Revitalised and full of confidence she went one better over the 50 metres distance to take gold in a PB time of 33.39secs.

Team mate Harriette Davis had a mixed weekend that had started promisingly with a top eight finish in the Girls 14/15 years 400 metres IM (second fastest 14 years old) but was out of sorts in her main Backstroke events. Her best result on the opening day saw her finish as the fastest 14 years old in the Girls 14/15 years 800 metres Freestyle, though this only gave her 4th spot in this tough double age group.

Also in the same age group, 14 years old Louise Harrington was not far behind Davis in finishing 6th in the 800 metres Freestyle. Harrington’s best event came on Day 2 as she swam to a PB time of 2mins 31.05secs in the heat of the girls 14/15 years 200 metres Butterfly, setting a new PB over the first 100 metres on the way. Another gritty performance in the final, just outside of her heat time, bagged her the silver medal.

16 years old Nicole Raymond found the competition tough in her first year in the senior 16+ age group and did well to take 7th place in the 50 metres Freestyle. She saved her best for the 200 metres IM where a PB time of 2mins 32.05secs in the final brought her through to 3rd.

There was also a bronze medal for 17 years old Sam Whitehead in the boys 17+ years 800 metres Freestyle. Seeded 9th in his age category he ploughed through the field to finish with a time of 9mins 11.42secs, some 30 seconds faster than his entry time.

17 years old Jessica Coles did well to finish 4th and 7th in her respective 200 and 100 metres Breaststroke swims and 19years old Natalie Ward was 8th in the final of the open age group 200 metres Backstroke

Well done to all.