Chadwick fifth in UK 60m final

Chadwick missed his own Guernsey record by the finest of margins as he sped to a 6.69sec. clocking in the 60m final at the UK Indoor Championships in Birmingham. After a significantly better start than his British Universities and Colleges Sport Championships winning run the week before, he finished fifth and 0.13sec. behind a triumphant Adam Thomas of Bracknell AC.

Guernsey Athletics Club development officer Tom Druce, the man Chadwick has surpassed as the island’s 60m king, was one of many impressed spectators.

‘Obviously it’s amazing to see a Guernsey athlete in a sprint final of that quality and doing that well,’ he said.

‘I do not think, when you look at the history of the club, we have ever had people of this standard in the [short] sprint events.’

Chadwick’s best remains 6.68 from the BUCS Championships final, but both his Birmingham final and semi (6.72) showed valuable consistency within a tenth of the World Indoors qualifying time (6.63).

While 60m running is a means to an end for 200m specialist Chadwick, Druce continues to rave about the Loughborough University student’s potential over the indoor straight.

‘If he can put his start from Saturday with the back end of BUCS the week before, there’s quite a decent performance there,’ he said with some understatement.

Abi Galpin again showed solidly and posted 7.52 for third in her heat and a semi-final place.

But the Bath University student, who has missed some training recently due to injury, could not find her best in the semi and clocked 7.54 for sixth.