Week 1 Kent County Championships Report

RTW Monson got off to a flying start at the 2017 Kent County Championships.

Every single boy, in every single swim, did a long course personal best. Throughout the team, 89% of our swims were personal bests, or within 2% of their best time.

One thing was evident as the distance sessions progressed: Monson swimmers could executed their tactics perfectly. On several occasions Monson swimmers were waiting, biding time at the halfway point, then pounced at the closing point to win their races.

On the boys team, Kody Bradbury and Andre Strydom put on a clinic on how to race a 400m front crawl. Both were behind by at least five meters, yet came through to win in emphatic style. Whilst on the girls team, Captain Annabel Guye-Johnson and Maddy Burton came first and second in their heat, also showing that tactics are extremely important in the longer races. A special shout out to our youngest swimmer of the weekend, Izzy Mercer, who led from start to finish, winner her heat by ten meters, and dropping a whopping nine seconds. Lucy Reeves and Aidan Crewe also did a fantastic job, finishing second in the 16 years a group in the 800m free and 400m free.

Coach Simon said after, "It’s great to see so many of the athletes executing their tactics right, and It's also great to see how fast the athletes can swim at this point of the season. We are working hard, racing even harder, and the athletes are showing how mentally tough they really are. It's exciting."

Top finishes:

Maddy Burton) SILVER 400fc / SILVER 400 IM / SILVER 800 fc 15 yrs

Andre Strydom) BRONZE 400 fc / SILVER 400 IM 15 yrs

Aidan Crew) SILVER 400 fc 16yrs

Lucy Reeves) SILVER 800m fc 16 yrs

Thomas Leman) 8th 400 fc 15 yrs

Jazz Lambert) 8th 800 fc Open

Kody Bradbury) 4th 400 fc/ 4th 400 IM 14 yrs

Mia Burns) 10th 400 fc 15 yrs

Annabel Guye Johnson) 400 IM 5th Open

Andre Strydom: bronze 15 years 400m free/ silver 15 years 400 fr

Maddie Burton : silver 15 years 400m free/ silver 15 years 400 IM/ silver 15 years 800m free

Next weekend we will be back at Crystal Palace for more fast racing.

GO MONSON!