Eight-title star Lowndes defies logic

IT WAS with a grin but also a firm tone that Jo Winberg emphasised 'one hour a week training is not what I advocate'. But Ben Lowndes is no ordinary swimmer and although his other commitments mean that the Island Games gold medallist is restricted to minimal time in the pool during the week, he continues to add more titles to his very impressive CV.

The Guernsey Swimming Club head coach finds it both amusing and frustrating the way Lowndes boasts in his cheeky manner how he keeps placing first in big events.

'How does he do it? He has just got natural talent. Even with very little training he has come here and is swimming a programme of 10 or 11 events,' was Winberg's assessment of her club's star senior halfway through the weekend's Island Championships, hosted by the GSC and sponsored by Foresters' Health Care.

By that stage the 21-year-old had added five more overall titles to his ever-growing list. Lowndes ended the weekend with eight.

He did, though, have to bow to his Island and Commonwealth Games teammate, Jeremy Osborne, who reigned supreme in the freestyle events up to 200m.

The towering 17-year-old Beau Sejour Barracuda needed to produce a record-breaking performance in both the 50m and 100m events, clocking 24.45 and 52.42sec. respectively, to touch ahead of Lowndes.

In the female events, university student Jo Laine was similarly dominant in the backstroke, winning all three overall titles, but it was Robyn Le Friec who led the way with seven gold medals.

That haul was made up of all four freestyle titles and a clean sweep in the butterfly, including a new 100m record of 1-06.29.

However, despite fine performances by the established names, the weekend was more about the stars of the future and some of those shined very brightly.

As Barracudas coach Alison Frankland explained: 'We are having to build up again, but they are coming through. They are all working hard to achieve their goals.'

Victoria Parfit has already tasted Island Games action but is still only 14 and yet she now has six island overall titles to her name.

'On the first evening Victoria broke two of Gail Strobridge's age group records for 14-year-olds - in the 200m breaststroke and the 100m IM - so that is obviously a promising sign,' said Frankland.

Another of her young charges, James Jurkiewicz, proved his potential in the backstroke with two overall titles, which had his coach describing him as 'a star of the future'.

Even further down the age groups, it is hard to believe Kristina Neves is still only 11.

The Guernsey Swimming Club member has already achieved an awful lot in her career and it speaks volumes that, because of the entry times, she continually swam in the final heat of events alongside girls who, in some cases, were almost double her age.

Neves won her age-group trophy and set four new records, all by a substantial margin.

'Last year she had a full quota of national qualifying times, but she was too young to attend - that is an incredible achievement by anyone's standards - and she continues to improve,' said Winberg.

'I would have been worried if she had stagnated at such an early age, but I have no such concerns because she is still reeling off PBs.'

The equivalent age-group male trophy went to 14-year-old Barracuda Joshua Lewis, who emphasised his all-round ability with the 200m IM overall title.

His clubmate Cody Butcher and the GSC's Pierce Gregory also both enjoyed a trophy winning meet for their excellent displays throughout the disciplines.

But the coaches were encouraged not just by those who walked away with medals and titles.

'With some of our senior stars such as Jonathon Le Noury and Ian Hubert away, we can really focus on the next batch because these are our Island and Commonwealth Games swimmers of the future,' said Frankland.

'These championships were moved to follow the competition ladder so that the calendar now goes Guernsey, Channel Islands, county, regional and national - it is a progression.'

Frankland's counterpart at the GSC is also in a very positive frame of mind looking ahead long-term.

'I am really pleased with how things are progressing. We will never have a high number compared to the Barracudas, but we have got quality to come through in our ranks,' Winberg said.

'It has been hard work. I took over just before 2003 and it has taken a long time but it is coming to fruition now.

'The PBs are coming thick and fast. In some of the 50m events we have seniors coming in with two-second PBs, which is amazing over such a short distance.'