Bognor swimmers have splashing good start to season

Samuel Hawkins (12) is becoming a seasoned competitor in these meets, which pit the best swimmers from across Sussex against each other.

In most events, he managed to improve his personal best times. Furthermore, he was able to secure first-place swims in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke races.

In the 200m backstroke, he smashed his personal best, reducing his time by more than seven seconds against a very competitive field of swimmers. Hawkins also managed second place in the 200m individual medley, where the children swim one or two lengths of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and front crawl, and improved times in three further events.

Henry Hayter, in his first Sussex event, competed admirably, coming third in both the 50m backstroke and the 200m breaststroke races. He was able to smash his personal best in the 200m breaststroke final by an incredible 30 seconds. However, he left his best to the 50m breaststroke, where he finished with a top-of-the-podium finish, winning by a margin of nearly three seconds, a significant margin over such a short distance.

Daisy Donoghue, ten, who was also in her first development meet, came a very credible second in the 50m backstroke, removing nearly three seconds from her personal best and beating three of the higher seeds in her age group. She also managed to reduce her personal best by seven seconds in the 100m individual medley.

Emily Guiry took a break from her triathlon training to compete for the club in the girls’ 13-and-over events. She was able to win the 100m freestyle event and came second in the 200m individual medley, being beaten by the favourite.

The Spinks sisters, Georgia (11) and Olivia (9), continued their progress with excellent wins across different events and distances. Olivia won both the 100m and 200m medleys as well as the 50m and 200m fly races.

To end a successful meet, she also won the 200m freestyle and came second in the 50m freestyle. In some of the races, she was up to half a length ahead of the other swimmers.

Meanwhile, Georgia was first in the 11-and-over 100m individual medley and the 200m breaststroke. She came second in the 200m individual medley, beating Edie Parker from Brighton by less than a second and reducing her personal best by just under seven seconds.

Finally, she finished second in the 50m backstroke and was able to improve her times in other events such as the 100m butterfly.

Anna Turner, 16, competed in three events, coming second in the 50m backstroke final and second in the 100m medley, along with an improved time for her 100m backstroke.

In all, 15 children competed - with a number of them missing out on medals but improving their personal bests.

The Bognor club are looking for new recruits to swim in league events as well as individually in the development meets. If anyone aged from three to 99 would like to join, whether they are competent swimmers or beginners, please see www.brsc.co.uk for details.