Wheeler wins a national silver
ORIANA WHEELER has returned from the English National Championships with an amazing silver medal in the 17-and-over age group for her performance in the 400m individual medley.
Placing first in her heat and smashing her personal best time by six seconds to record 5-12.77, the Beau Sejour Barracuda emerged as top seed for the finals.
She had an excellent start and held the lead on the fly leg and into the first 50m of the backstroke.
The lead then changed between the top few swimmers, with Wheeler eventually producing a magnificent freestyle leg to take silver in another lifetime best of 5-10.12.
To qualify for this event, only 20 swimmers in England are invited to compete based on British rankings.
Wheeler was one of the youngest competing and it was her first experience in this age group at national level.
Two weeks earlier she had also qualified for the British Championships held at Ponds Forge International Pool in Sheffield. Again, an enormous achievement with only the top swimmers across each event invited based on British rankings.
Wheeler produced a personal best in the heats of 2-24.30 and went through to the final 10 where she posted another PB of 2-24.11, coming seventh overall in the final.
Delighted with her performances, she is now aiming for selection at the National Winter Championships in December and the Guernsey 2023 NatWest International Island Games.
