Monson

Week 3 Kent Championships Report

7th February 2017

Week 3 Kent Championships Report

RTW Monson went into week three of the Kent County Championships in a period of heavy training and turned out some fantastic swims. Out of 56 swims throughout the weekend, we had 47 personal bests (84%), and some real eye opening swims.

Sessions 9 went off with some breakout swims. Jemimah Berkeley had the breakout swim of the session in the 100m breaststroke, dominating her age group and winning in a time of 1:15.17. This time ranks Jemimah in the top 3 in the country! Anna Leman finished in a close 2nd place in the 14 years age group, and Maddie Burton rounded out our finalists with a strong 5th place. The boys' 200m backstroke also had a great showing with Andre Strydrom winning silver, and Kody Bradbury and Reuben Edwards finishing 4th and 5th in the 14 years age group.

Session 10 saw our boys swim the 100m backstroke, where Reuben Edwards continued to shine, finishing 5th in the final. Andre Strydom also put in a strong performance grabbing a bronze medal in the 15 years age group with a time of 1:06.57. Our girls were up next in the 200m breaststroke, where Jemimah Berkeley continued her strong showing by winning her age group by ten seconds! Anna Leman was up next, coming in 3rd in the 14 years age group, followed up with Maddie Burton, putting in another strong performance, finishing 2nd in the 15 years age group.

On Sunday we started where we left off. Izzy Mercer and Hannah Lambert both won their age group, and both, at this time, are ranked in the top 25 in Great Britain. Mia Burns came second in the 15 years age group, also posting a top 25 time in Great Britain. Also in the 15 year age group category Maddie Burton continued to show she was a great all rounder with a 4th place finish in the final. In the same session the boys swam the 200m freestyle. Kody Bradbury and Andre Strydom both finished 5th in their age groups, in one of the toughest races at the meet.

In the last session of the day we saw the boys swim the 100m freestyle, and the girls swim the 200m butterfly. In our first final we saw Reuben Edwards finish 8th, going  1:01.64. Up next we had Andre Strydom, who finished just outside the medals with a hard fought 4th place. Izzy Mercer came in 8th in her age group, followed by Emilia Vorster who also finished 8th, and Hannah Lambert came in just outside the medals with a 4th place finish. The 15 year old age group had two strong performances. Maddie Burton finished in 4th place, but stealing the show was Mia Burns who won the event by 4 seconds, winning the event, and also posting a top 25 time in Great Britain.

A special shout out goes to Emilia Vorster who had the most entertaining race of the weekend. Finishing joint 8th, Emilia had to participate in a swim off for the final. Even though she narrowly lost by 0.20 seconds, she put put in an unbelievable performance, coming from 3 meters behind at the half way mark, to almost winning the race, showing real strength of character.

Coach Simon said afterwards,"What a weekend for Monson. We had several top times in the country, some real gritty racing, and to top it all off, a great team atmosphere, from swimmers, helpers and the parents. There were some really special swims this weekend, and a lot of coaches have been commenting on how strong we look. It's exciting that we are going top times in the county unrested, so stay tuned... "

Next weekend we will be at the Aquatics Centre in London for some sprinting fun!


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