Week 2 Kent Championships Report

Week two of the 2017 Kent Championships saw 55 swims from Monson Swimmers, of which, we had an 80% personal best rate.

On day one, Kody Bradbury got us off to a great start with a bronze in a closely fought 100m butterfly. Up next was Izzy Mercer who came 4th in the 200m freestyle.  Maddie Burton finished just outside the 15 years age group medals with 0.06 seconds being the difference between 3rd and 5th place, and Mia Burns came 8th in the 15 years age group. Finally, Caitlin Fearon rounded out a strong 200m freestyle for Monson finishing 2nd in the 16 years plus age group.

In session 6, Kody rounded off a great day by winning the 200m butterfly in the 14 year old age group! In the 15 year old age group Andre Strydom finished in 5th place, and fellow 15 year old Toby Dray finished 7th. In the 100m freestyle, Caitlin Fearon won a bronze in the 16+ age group.  Maddie Burton came 7th in the 15 year olds final, Hannah Lambert finished 7th in the 14 year old catagory, and Izzy Mercer finished off a strong showing with a closely fought 4th place. Fern Sneddon rounded off a great night winning the 11 year old S6 category.

At the start of day two, we saw the boys participate in the 100m breaststroke, and the women swim the 200m backstroke. Thomas Leman got the ball rolling, winning the 100m breaststroke, closely followed by Andre Strydom in 6th place in the 15 year old category. In the women's 200 backstroke, Izzy Mercer won a silver medal in the 12 year old age group, Izzy Hillsdon finished 7th in the 14 year age group closely followed by Hannah Lambert in 8th place.

In session 8, we saw Izzy Hillsdon in the final of the 100m backstroke doing a personal best time of 1:13.58. Izzy Mercer was up next, finishing 6th in her final. Thomas Leman led the way in the 15 year old age group winning by 4 seconds! Also swiming in the 15 year old age group was Andre Strydom who came 5th in the same final.

Coach Simon commented on the weekend's swimming,"It was great to see a lot of person best times again during week two. The athletes are training hard, so its great to see their grit and determination to achieve their PBs. It will be exciting when they rest up, at the end of the season, and swim really fast."