Lewis and Allen shine for the Barracudas

BEAU SEJOUR Barracudas Swimming Club have shone at the opening two rounds of the Hampshire County Championships held at Waterlooville. This is a huge event spread over three weekends with no fewer than 26 clubs taking part and more than 3,800 swims.

Aside from Jeremy Osborne, Joshua Lewis performed extremely well to place second overall in the 11-years' category with a Bagcats points total of 1,677.

He achieved individual wins in the 200m freestyle, 50m backstroke and 200m IM as well as second in the 200m backstroke and 200m breaststroke and third in the 400m IM and 50m freestyle.

Continuing his winning performance from the opening weekend and placing third overall in the 13-years' section was Matthew Allen.

He placed second in no fewer than eight events and third in a further two. Showing that he can sprint and compete over the longer distances, he continues to look a real prospect for the future.

Under the Bagcats system, all swimmers finishing in the top 15 overall received an award.

The youngest Barracuda to troop to the rostrum was Lotte Parfit who placed fourth in the nine-years' section overall.

Showing a great deal of maturity, she swam some technically sound races, her best performance coming in the 50m butterfly in which she recorded a personal-best time of 44.20. Further personal-bests came in the 50m back and 200m IM, backstroke and breaststroke, in which each time she placed third in the age group.

In the 10-years' age group, David Hall placed sixth overall with some huge personal best times especially in the 200m events, finishing third in the freestyle and backstroke. In the same age group, Joe Ogier came ninth overall, again with some huge drops in time.

Placing ninth overall in a field of 39 competitors in the 11-years' age group was Victoria Parfit. Her best swims were the 100m and 200m breaststroke where she finished second and third respectively. Her final total was 2,597 points.

Edward and James Dickinson also made it to the rostrum, the latter placing ninth in the 14-years' class and Edward 12th in the year below. Both boys showed great determination and posted some excellent times.

Katie Salmon came second in the 50m and 100m breaststroke and also in the 50m freestyle, while Gemma Nicolle swam a lifetime-best in the 100m butterfly to take third in this event. The girls finished in 26th and 24th overall respectively in the 13-years' section.

To compete at this level all the swimmers had to meet tough qualifying standards.

Also representing the Barracudas were Elizabeth Charlton, Kelsey Russell, Jacob Cherry, Jamie Salmon, George Moss and Cody Butcher who all finished with a host of personal-best times between them.

On the opening weekend, Allen produced the most outstanding performance to place second overall in his age group with a PB of 18-06.95.

He then went on to score maximum points in the 100m individual medley with his technically sound performance in all four swimming disciplines giving him a two-second margin on his nearest rival.

Lewis came very close to winning the 400m freestyle but was pipped to the post by Aaron Liddell of Portsmouth Northsea by a mere three-hundredths of a second.

After this disappointment, Lewis had to concede defeat a second time when Liddell finished ahead in the 100m individual medley to take the title.

Guernsey Swimming Club sent four juniors to the event and between them they swam 35 events and chalked up 23 personal-bests.

Luke Winberg, nine, was the star with seven first places and he finished overall top of his age-group.

Matthew Butt and Matthew Girard also had punishing schedules.

Butt swam in 13 events, nine of which brought PBs and a succession of top-10 placings. His best finishes were third in the 50 butterfly and 50 breaststroke.

Girard produced two PBs from his eight swins, one of them a 15sec. improvement in the gruelling 1,500m.

Sophie Lythgoe, 10, set three personal bests from five events.

The island's top seniors will compete in Southamp-ton this weekend.