Seven PBs for Deepings at final weekend of regional champs
15 May 2023
Four swimmers represented Deepings Swimming Club at the final weekend of the East Midlands Regional Championships.
James Cash, Oliver Shepherd, Jack Bell and Mieke McDonald competed in eight races at the 50m long course Corby International Pool and achieved a near clean sweep of seven new personal bests.
James achieved three top 20 finishes with three PBs in the 13yrs age group. His best result came in the 200m backstroke, where he narrowly missed the final with a 10th place finish in the heats after swimming a five-second personal best of 2:40.17.
In the 400m freestyle, James knocked five seconds off his previous best to come 12th in 5:00.38. He completed an outstanding championship with a new best time in the 100m backstroke of 1:17.39, despite slipping on his turn, finishing 19th.
Oliver Shepherd had a superb swim in the 14yrs 100m butterfly to slice nine seconds off his best time, achieved in the same pool just two months earlier, to touch the wall in 1:12.67. He took that form into the 400m freestyle with a four second PB of 5:07.80, to record his highest placing of 20th.
In his final race, the 200m individual medley, Oliver missed setting another PB by just half a second but it was still another impressive performance to complete an excellent weekend.
Making their debuts at regional level were Jack Bell and Mieke McDonald and both showed fearlessness against tough competition to smash their personal bests.
In the 200m backstroke, Jack took three seconds off his entry time to set a new benchmark of 2:41.53, finishing 30th in the 14yrs age group, while Mieke, competing in the girls 13yrs age group, swam a four-second PB in the 100m butterfly of 1:24.80.
Sam Peeroo, Deepings Swimming Club head coach, said: “We had an excellent weekend with everyone swimming their socks off to achieve new PBs. The hard work they’ve been doing in training has paid off and they should all be very proud of their efforts.”