Head Coaches Report

The swimmers of Exeter City Swimming club finished the 2008 Devon championships on a high with their most prolific medal collecting weekend of the year. 18 swimmers amassed a total of 40 top-6 final places, with 22 of them coming in the form of a medal.
 
Swim of the weekend must surely go to Maria Griss, 13, who produced a magnificent second 100m in the girl's age group 200m freestyle to just take the touch from teammate Hannah Schulz with times of 2:11.74 & 2:11.88 respectively - times which propel them to 16th & 17th in the country for the event. Hannah was to turn the tables in the 200m IM leading from the start to be well clear at the end in clinching the gold medal with a time of 2:28.07, and Maria finished just outside the medals in 4th place.
 
Annie Tinsley, 15, was to collect Exeter's only other gold medal with a storming swim in the 15yr age group finishing well clear of the opposition in a pb time of 2:11.12. Annie picked up one of only four Exeter open championship final places with her swim in the 200 freestyle, and she also swam to a 4th placed finish in her age group 200m IM.
 
Sally Whybra, 14, had a superb weekend of racing that netted her two silver and one bronze age group medals, and gave her her first championship top-6 placing of the year with a 6th place in the 200m butterfly. Silver came from a pb 2:31.55 in the 200m IM and from a seasons pb 2:26.87 in the 200m butterfly - an event where she pushed the eventual winner all the way to the finish. Her bronze came from another pb, this time in the 200m freestyle.
 
10yr-old Ed Jackson put on his competitive hat for an excellent duo of swims in which he collected silvers for both. He swam to huge pb's in both the 200m IM and the 200m freestyle with times of 3:01.86 & 2:35.75 respectively.
 
Georgie Cotterill, 9, showed she will be a force to be reckoned with in Devon in years to come with a stellar display in all three of her events during the weekend. A silver came in the form of the 200m IM, and in the 200m butterfly she was only 3sec outside of the old Devon age group record in picking up the bronze, and she added to her haul with another bronze medal finish this time in the 200m freestyle.
 
Laura Shears, 12, left her push for the line a little too late in the 200m freestyle and had to settle for the silver in a Western qualifying time of 2:18.48, and she added to her 2008 medal collection with a 3rd place finish in the 200m IM.
 
Alex Wooldridge, 17, once again broke into the championship finals, this time with a pb of 2:16.11 in the 200m IM for 5th place and with a pb of 2:02.34 in the 200m freestyle for 6th place. In the 16/over age group he made the podium in the 200m IM in which he picked up the silver, and he followed that swim with another pb in the final of the 200m freestyle recording a time of 2:02.01 for 4th place.
 
Tom Wadeley-Jones, 12, who was coming off a week of illness, produced pb's in both of his swims - in the 100m backstroke his time of 1:11.95 was good enough for the silver, and in the 200m freestyle he broke the 2:20 barrier for the first time in placing 4th.
 
10yr-old Adele Shire has been something of a revelation this year in her age group. Having been off the radar last year she has produced an array of medal winning performances this year and amassed 10 Western qualifying times in the process. She added two bronze medals to her collection with thirds in the 200m butterfly and 200m IM events, and also picked up a 5th placed finish in a closely fought 200m freestyle final.
 
Maria Graney, 15, has been through an interrupted recent background with illness & exam commitments, yet showed her sprinting prowess with 3rd place finishes in the 50m freestyle & 50m butterfly events, and followed those up with a 5th place in the 200m IM.
 
Sam Jackson, 13, made the podium with a 3rd placed finish for the 200m IM in the highly competitive 13yr-age group, as did Becca Hitt, 14, who picked up her bronze in the 50m breaststroke.
 
Other swimmers to reach finals were 11yr-old Sammie Gray who finished 4th in the 200m butterfly, Harriet Stevens, 14, 4th in the 50m breaststroke, 14yr old Liam Spruce with 5th place finishes in the 200m freestyle + 200m IM + 50m butterfly and 6th place in the 50m freestyle, Ed Linnington, 10, who made his first Devon final this year with a 6th place finish in the 200m Im, and Louise McGowan, 15, placed 6th in the 200m freestyle.
 
Exeter coach Jon Randall was pleased with the city swimmers' results ' following our recent pool problems where we lost quite a lot of background training, we produced some quality swims this weekend and it seems as though we may be getting back on track. Especially pleasing were the results of our younger swimmers who have progressed well since the start of the season under the direction of coach Paul Jackson. '  

 

Links

Devon County ASA

ASA SouthWest

British Swimming