Games duo show class with new island records
COMMONWEALTH GAMES picks Tom Hollingsworth and Jonathan Le Noury set new island long-course records competing for Beau Sejour Barracudas at the inaugural ASA Open and Junior championships of the south east region in Aldershot.
COMMONWEALTH GAMES picks Tom Hollingsworth and Jonathan Le Noury set new island long-course records competing for Beau Sejour Barracudas at the inaugural ASA Open and Junior championships of the south east region in Aldershot. Now that the Amateur Swimming Association's five districts have been divided into eight regions, the group were faced with tough opposition coming from top class swimmers drawn from 40 clubs in the area.
Other exceptional performances included the Barracudas' men's 4 x 100m freestyle relay team of Ian Hubert, Tom Hollingsworth, Jonathon Le Noury and Jeremy Osborne, who recorded a time of 3-38.64 to win from Wycombe District, with City of Southampton finishing in third position.
The team also placed third in the 4 x 100m individual medley relay. This success, together with a series of superb performance in the individual events, earned the Barracudas men the top club award.
The obvious depth and strength of the Barracuda men were also highlighted by the individual achievements of the four relay members who used the event as an assessment of current form as well as to gain valuable experience competing in a long-course facility.
Hollingsworth, who reached six finals, claimed the men's 200m butterfly championship title in a personal best of 2-14.47.
He also placed second in the 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley and third in the 50m and 100m backstroke events in addition to setting five national youth qualifying times.
Continuing his excellent form, 15-year-old Osborne not only took the junior championship title in the 16 years and under age group in the 100m freestyle, but also placed second in the men's open section with a time of 55.31, with world-potential squad member, 19-year-old Ben Hutchinson of Crawley, taking gold.
Reaching three finals, Osborne also won junior silver in the 50m freestyle (eighth open) and junior bronze in the 200m freestyle (fourth open). He also recorded three national youth qualifying times.
Freestyle specialist Le Noury performed at an exceptionally high standard throughout the weekend.
His first success came in the men's 400m freestyle when in a head-to-head clash with James Stockdale of Portsmouth Northsea, he was denied gold by just 0.3 of a second.
However, he had the consolation of it being a personal best effort of 4-11.73 which was also a national qualifying time.
After placing fifth in the final of the 200m freestyle in another lifetime best of 2-01.09, he then took up the challenge of a gruelling 1,500m freestyle swim which he completed in a time of 17-04.22 to take third place.
Other outstanding performances in the men's open section came from Hubert who reached the final in the 100m and 50m freestyle events, placing fourth and sixth respectively in PBs.
A host of personal best times came from Ross Yeates, James Dickinson, Matthew Allen, Jacob Cherry and Joshua Lewis, with distance specialists Dickinson and Allen taking seventh and eighth place respectively in the junior 1,500m freestyle.
Commendable performances and further personal bests came from the group of Barracuda girls who included Jenny Salmon, Rachael Le Page, Gemma Nicolle, Zoe Elliott, Anna Le Poidevin and Victoria Parfit.
Other Barracudas in action but competing for opposition clubs in the regionals were the UK-based students, Gail Strobridge and Alexander Beaton.
Strobridge (City of Southa-mpton) reached the final in seven events placing second in the 200m individual medley, 200m butterfly and 400 individual medley and third in the 200m breaststroke.
In the western region the Millfield-based Beaton was in the final of the 100m butterfly and won a junior silver - his time of 1-01.08 placing him fourth overall in the men's open.
