Nine-year-olds tackle their first 100m IM

THE first Guernsey Swimming Club championship of the year took place with many participants moving into a new age group to tackle the 100m individual medley. In the 11-and-under age group, it was an opportunity for some nine-year-olds to swim this event for the first time.

Of the girls, Ellie Ogier was first, a full 12 seconds ahead of silver medallist Chloe Le Tissier, who in turn finished four seconds ahead of nine-year-old Leah Winberg. There were 11 entries in this category and all but one swimmer clocked a personal best. Megan Airley was the most improved, recording an impressive improvement of 19 seconds.

Luke Winberg was first of the boys, Aaron Mahieu second and Pierce Gregory third. The winner was only three-tenths-of-a-second outside the record for this event, set by Gregory Zimmerman in 1996.

The most-improved swimmer in this category was Jay Mason, who improved on his previous best by 16 seconds.

In the girls' 12-13 age group, Elisha Benstead and Sophie Lythgoe battled it out for the gold. The latter, who was swimming in this group for the first time, was just pipped to the finish by Benstead, who recorded a time of 1-25.47 to Lythgoe's 1-25.58.

Amelia Ingrouille claimed the bronze in this category and recorded an improvement in her personal best time by 13 seconds. All five entries in this category clocked personal-best times.

In the 12-13 boys, it was another close result, although the two swimmers involved were in separate heats.

Brandon Ferbrache won gold in 1-27.70, only marginally ahead of Daniel Brittain, who registered a time of 1-27.83.

Daniel Airley won the bronze in the category, in which all nine entries recorded personal-best times. Alex Corbet was the most improved, swimming a full 17 seconds faster than his previous best.

Lorna Castle and Heather Chapman continued where they left off last season, battling it out for the honours. Now swimming in the 14-15-year age group, Chapman won gold, Castle silver and Olivia Judge the bronze.

In the 14-15-year-old boys, Matt Butt was a clear winner, with Matt Girard and Alex Ford fighting for the silver. Ford, the breaststroke specialist, had a good swim but it was freestyle specialist Girard who had the strength over the final length and finished two-tenths of a second ahead of him.

In the girls' 16-and-over, Sophie Castle had an excellent start and made the most of the underwater transition from the start to first stroke. She came up first, almost half-a-body-length ahead of Christine Hume and Jo Laine.

Hume showed her strength in the breaststroke length and gained a lead, which she maintained over the final front crawl length. Castle was second and Laine third.

In the final category, the 16-and-over boys, Ben Lowndes was first while Tom Hamon and Craig Angell provided the spectators with another close finish.

Both turned together at the end of the breaststroke length but it was Hamon's strong and positive touch at the end which gave him the edge over the more relaxed approach to the finish from Angell.

This category gave the masters an opportunity to test their fitness, with Tim Lowe finishing fourth and Paul Mason fifth.