Lewis retains his age group title thanks to final swim

JUNIOR Beau Sejour Barracudas performed superbly at the Hampshire County Championships. Having met the tough qualifying standards to compete at this level, the Barracudas certainly made their mark, with top opposition coming from no fewer than 22 clubs from within the county.

Thirteen-year-old Joshua Lewis retained his title as Hampshire Bagcats champion in his age group with an excellent total of 2,374 points.

It was not until the last event that he rose to the top of the table ahead of James Mundell, of Havant and Waterlooville.

Remaining focused throughout and with some extremely mature performances, Lewis achieved wins in 100m and 200m freestyle and 200m and 400m individual medley.

He competed in no fewer than 12 events, placing in the top three in all of them, but it was the 50m freestyle that clinched the title for him as he clocked 28.14sec. to earn 563 points.

Also gaining a rostrum place was nine-year-old Harry Parfit, who placed second overall in his first county championships.

Despite a nervous start in the 200m freestyle, Parfit swam well throughout the weekend with individual wins in the 200m IM and 200m backstroke and second places in the 200m freestyle and 50m backstroke to score 737 points.

His performance in the 200m backstroke as he swam alongside much older opposition looked extremely positive for the future.

The Barracudas are also now proud to have another Hampshire county record holder in their ranks in 10-year-old Miles Munro, who placed first in the 50m freestyle in a superb time of 32.04sec.

He also secured excellent wins in 50m butterfly and breaststroke as well as placing second in the 50m backstroke.

Proving that he is not just a sprinter, Munro was fourth overall in his age group with 1,255 points and swam lifetime bests in all his 200m events.

In the 11-year age group, Lotte Parfit placed sixth overall.

Her best swim came in the 200m backstroke where she swam a lifetime best by nearly four seconds to take second in 2-38.27.

That technically sound swim was inside the national qualifying time for 11-year-olds, but an unfortunate date of birth means that she needs to drop another three seconds on this event to qualify as a 12-year-old for the nationals.

Parfit placed third in the 50m backstroke and 200m freestyle, improving on the 200m freestyle by over six seconds.

She also took part in the distance weekend of the championships seven days previously and swam a lifetime best in the 400m freestyle by over 20 seconds.

Under the British age groups category system, all swimmers finishing in the top 15 overall receive an award.

Oliver Nightingale, 11, confirmed his improving form by placing seventh overall with excellent individual third placings in the 200m freestyle and backstroke, both in lifetime bests and well inside his target for the regional championships.

The 12-year group saw three Barracudas march to the podium.

David Hall placed seventh with 2,252 points. His best events were the 50m freestyle and backstroke and 200m freestyle where he placed third. His 200m freestyle time was a lifetime best by over five seconds.

Luke Belton was 12th, with his breaststroke events continuing to shine. Lifetime bests in no fewer than seven events made this an extremely successful weekend for him as he amassed 2,039 points.

Joe Ogier placed 15th, swimming no fewer than nine lifetime bests. He was second in the 50m butterfly and fourth in the 400m individual medley, where he lopped over 12 seconds off his entered time.

In the 13-year age group, Victoria Parfit placed eighth.

In a tough category where the girls from premium club Portsmouth Northsea dominated, she did well to secure individual placings in the 200m breaststroke, where she was second, taking third in the 50m and 100m breaststroke.

A lifetime best in the 200m freestyle and placing in the top six in nine events ensured an excellent points total of 3,315.

Twelve-year-olds Cody Butcher and George Moss were a credit to the team, just missing out on the final presentations. They scored 2,580 and 1,910 respectively, as well as a host of personal-best times, and both showed promise in distance freestyle.

Fourteen-year-old Sam Frank gained two lifetime-best performances in the 200m and 100m freestyle to his credit.

With qualification times for the district championships in June as their next goal, the Barracudas managed to secure a host of South-East Region times with many close to their ultimate target, the nationals.

Competing in the first weekend of the championships, 15-year-old Matthew Allen had a superb swim placing second in his age group in the 800m freestyle and third overall in the open section in a time of 9-17.39.