Eight PBs for Deepings at East Midlands Regional Championships
24 Apr 2023
Four swimmers represented Deepings Swimming Club at the first weekend of the East Midlands Regional Long Course Championships in Corby, including two debutants.
Oliver Clarke, James Cash, Oliver Shepherd and Lottie Jenkinson posted some fast times and combined for eight personal bests in the 50-metre Olympic-size pool, but fell just short of making the finals in the age group competition.
James Cash qualified for four races in the 13yrs age group. He was in outstanding form and achieved long course personal bests in each race.
First up was one of the toughest events in swimming, the 400 individual medley, where James wiped seven seconds off his previous best to finish an excellent seventh, in 5:53.09.
In his second race, the 200m butterfly, James swam a three-second PB to finish 11th in 2:56.05.
He then dropped his 50m backstroke PB by almost one second to finish 20th in 36.11 and ended the weekend with a four-second PB in the 200m freestyle to touch home in 2:27.50 for 22nd place.
Oliver Shepherd also competed in the 400IM, finishing 18th in the 14yrs age group in a time just outside his PB. In the 200m butterfly, he took one second off his previous best to come 13th in 2:56.56.
Making his first appearance at the regional champs was Oliver Clarke.
Doubling up in the 100m and 200m breaststroke, the 10-year-old achieved a nine-second PB of 1:42.68 in the shorter event to finish 25th and was less than second off his best time in the 200m race to come 23rd in the combined 11/12yrs age group.
Lottie Jenkinson was the girls’ sole representative and, like Oliver, was making her debut at regional level. She took to the blocks in the 50m freestyle and 200m butterfly in the 13yrs age group and swam lifetime bests in both.
A blistering swim in the 50m freestyle resulted in a 1.5-second PB of 31.83 and 29th place, but Lottie saved her best performance for the gruelling 200m butterfly.
Despite inhaling water halfway through the race, Lottie held on bravely and dug in deep for the final 25 metres to slice an impressive 13 seconds off her long course PB. She touched home in 2:16.73 for 16th place.
Sam Peeroo, Deepings Swimming Club head coach, said: “We had some great swims over the weekend. The level of competition was very high, but our swimmers coped with the pressure and came away with some excellent long course personal bests.”
The action moves to Moorways Sports Village in Derby next weekend with the youth swimmers, where club captain Jacob Briers will be competing in the 15yrs age group, before returning to Corby over May 13/14 for the conclusion of the age group events.