Butt in class of his own

MATT BUTT totally annihilated Ben Lowndes' Guernsey Swimming Club Championship 400m individual medley record which has stood since 1999. Turning at the ends of the first 100m butterfly in under 70 seconds, he was well on his way to setting a new mark of 5-09.20, a full 15 seconds inside the previous record.

Butt's time in winning the 13 years and under was his second national qualifying time for an event which is 10 months away. The improving Adam Norman claimed the silver and Luke Winberg was third.

In the 14 years and over, Lowndes was first with Tom Hamon and Ryan Dawe battling it out for the silver medal. Hamon and Dawe were even throughout the whole race, with the former just having the final sprint to finish half-a-second in front of Dawe.

In the 14-years-and-over girls, Christine Hume had a comfortable win recording a time of 5-31.64.

In the 13-and-under girls, Heather Chapman and Lorna Castle continued to battle for their share of the trophies. Throughout the race they were stroke for stroke and it was only at the start of the freestyle last leg that the former put in a strong 50m to leave Castle and maintain the lead over the last 50m.

Butt continued his record-breaking run when winning the 13-years-and-under 400m freestyle.

He erased another Lowndes record by a whole 16 seconds.

Butt swam in the lane next to Lowndes and maintained the pace during the first 200m.

Lowndes' experience gave him the edge and he finished only five seconds ahead of the much younger Butt.

In the 14-years-and-over boys' masters swimmer Paul Mason had an excellent swim, finishing second to Lowndes with Ryan Dawe claiming the bronze medal.

In the 13 years and under, Butt was a clear winner with Winberg second and Norman third.

Norman had an excellent swim, recording a new personal best by 53 seconds.

There were a total of 16 boys in this age group, with some of the younger ones swimming the distance for the first time. Nine-year-olds Jay Mason and Marco Petralia paced the 16-length race well to finish strongly.

In the 14-years-and-over girls Sam Herridge took the opportunity to gauge her race fitness. The triathlete who still trains regularly with the squad swam a very impressive 4-41.52.

Jo Laine swam into second place in 4-48.86, recording a Hampshire qualifying time. Laine's time was one of nine Hampshire qualifying times.

In the 13-years-and-under girls 400m freestyle, Castle and Chapman had their usual battle.

Castle went out very strong over the first 50 metres and then it was Chapman who took the pace until the last 100 metres where the former posted faster split times to eventually win in 5-30.48, Chapman was second in 5-31.27 and Ella Snell the winner of the bronze medal.