News - Regional 09

Maxwell’s Swimmers return a haul of Medals from the Regional Championships
During May 16 Girls and 18 Boys from Aylesbury-based Maxwell Swim Club competed in the South East Regional Championships. It takes a great deal of talent as well as hard work and dedication to qualify to swim at this standard and the impressive number of entries from Maxwell reflects the Clubs high ambitions and stated purpose of providing its swimmers with the opportunity to reach their full potential. Head Coach Kevin Brooks stated “this has been a great year for us with so many qualifiers and great performances - the good thing is that next year will build from this and I can see Maxwell achieving far more!”

The Championships are split in to two events, the Youth Championships for 14 years and older Girls and 15 years and older Boys, with the Age Group Championships being for the younger competitors.

Lucy Chenery competing in the Multi-Disability category of events amassed a total of 6 Gold Medals, winning the 50m, 100m and 400m Freestyle events, the 100m Backstroke, the 100m Butterfly and the 200m Individual Medley.

Hannah Askew won Gold in the 50m Butterfly in a winning time of 28.69 to break the Regional Record for this event. Hannah’s other medal was Silver, which she achieved in the 50m Freestyle in a time of 27.36. She was also the fastest qualifier in the heats of the 100 and 200m Freestyle events, the latter in a time of 2:06.44 establishing another Regional Record. Another final beckoned in the 100m Butterfly with Hannah qualifying 3rd fastest for this event, but she forewent the chance of further Medals by not competing in the Finals of these events due to a niggling injury. This made her successes all the more creditable, especially considering that she complemented these swims with a 6th place finish in the 400m Freestyle.

Rory Kemp also returned home with two Medals, both Silvers which he gained in the 800m and 1500m Freestyle events finishing in times of 8:39.48 and 16:28.26 respectively. Tom Smith earned Bronze in the 800m Freestyle in a time of 8.59.36 and also achieved a 6th place in the 1500m Freestyle. Maxwell’s haul of Medals in the Youth Championships was completed by Ollie Brewer who gained a Silver in the 400m Individual Medley event completing this race in 4:52.52. Ollie also had a number of other top-ten finishes in the 50m, 100m and 200m Backstroke, the 400m and 1500m Freestyle and the 200m Individual Medley.

Other notable performances came from Corinne James 50m Breaststroke - 5th, 100m Breaststroke 10th; Sarah Powell 50m, 100m, 200m Backstroke - 7th, 10th and 6th respectively; Anna Evison 200m Individual Medley - 7th and 800 Free 9th ; Abi Bunce 400m and 800m Freestyle - both 8th, 200 Free -10th; and Hollie McIntyre who came 9th in the 50m Breaststroke. The Club also entered teams in the Relay events and achieved 7th place in the Mens 400m Freestyle and 9th in both the Men’s 800m Freestyle and Women’s 400m Freestyle Relays.

At the first weekend of the Age Group Championships Maxwell swimmers did not have to wait long before achieving further Medals. Caitlin Wheatley (11) battled her way to a Gold in the 100m Butterfly in a winning time of 1:14.99. Caitlin also made the final of the 200m Individual Medley finishing 6th and gained 9th places in both the 200m Backstroke and 400m Individual Medley events.

Leah Picillo (11) won Silver Medals in both the 200m and 400m Individual Medley races clocking times of 2:43.05 and 5:42.91 respectively. She achieved top-ten places in the 100m and 400m Freestyle events, the 200m Backstroke and the 100m Butterfly. Leah also went on to win a Bronze in the Girls 400m Freestyle Relay where she was joined by Ellie Bunce (12), Cristina Matheson (13) and Emily Martin (12) achieving an impressive time of 9:32.28.

David Witham (10) swam extremely well achieving 4th place in the 200m Backstroke, 5th in the 100m Backstroke, 7th in the 400m Individual Medley and 10th in the 400m Freestyle. Liam O’Brien (12) also came close to a Medal taking 4th spot in the 100m Freestyle and 9th in the 100m Butterfly.

Other top-ten places were achieved by Rhys Hylands (13) 100m Butterfly - 5th, 400m Individual Medley - 6th; Aaron Lee (14) 100m Freestyle - 6th, 100m Backstroke - 9th, 200m Individual Medley 10th; Alfie Bones (12) 100m Backstroke - 9th; Cristina Matheson 100m Butterfly - 9th; Ellie Bunce 100m and 400m Freestyle -10th in both; and Thomas Kaye (14) 200m Backstroke - 10th. The Boys 400m and 800m Freestyle Relay teams also performed well to achieve 6th and 8th place finishes.

With the second weekend of this Championship still due to take place in the middle of June, the Club is hopeful of further podium places and continuing good performances from all its swimmers.