Ed Walsh is National Champion

Posted: Monday 4th August 2008

and Devon and Alex win National medals

6 Camden Swiss Cottage club swimmers excelled at the GB Youth Nationals in Sheffield, returning with 2 golds, a silver and a bronze.

b>GREAT CLUB POINTS

In the Male top club competition, Camden Swiss Cottage finished 10th in Great Britain with 48 points. Included in that top 10 were 'Ireland' and two Scottish clubs (Warrender and Stirling), making Camden the 7th English team, well ahead of City squads from of Birmingham, Leeds, Cardiff, Manchester and local rivals Staines, Barnet, Harrow and Ealing.

ED WINS 50m AND 100 m FREE

Edward Walsh (18) became National Champion for the first time in the Mens 17/18 50m and 100m freestyle. In his 100m heat, Ed was ranked 1st of the 139 competitors in a best of 51.66 seconds. He continued his dominance in the semi with 51.65 and in the final he pulled out all the stops to finish ahead of his closest rivals, Ross Douglas and Jonathan Grieg (both from Stirling in Scotland), with an outstanding lifetime best of 51.43. In addition to his gold medal, Ed was also presented with a beautiful traditional trophy, engraved with the names of many Olympic swimmers of the past.

In the 50m, Ed was again in 1st place from 126 entrants in the heat (23.55), then slipped to 3rd with a semi final performance of 23.68, just behind Patrick Clemence (Haselmere) and Alex Garnett (Staines) who swam 23.65 and 23.67 (that’s how close the 50m can be), but he managed to hold his nerve in the final with a best ever performance of 23.23, leaving the same two rivals in his wake.

DEVON'S 1st NATIONAL SWIM BRINGS A SILVER

Devon Robins (15), the only girl representing Camden at the Youth Championships, was in her first National competition, having qualified at the 11th hour in May. She astonished everyone in her 100m butterfly heat, setting the fastest time produced by any girl in the 14/15 age group with a best of almost 2 seconds (1.03.42). She was lying in 5th place after a semi swim of 1.03.95, but came back in the final to win silver in a new PB of 1.03.11. She also did well to finish 7th in the 200m IM in another PB of 2.25.29.

ALEX MACKAY WINS BRONZE

Alex Mackay (16) won bronze in 1500m freestyle in 16.08.12. He was 4th in 800m free in a good PB of 8.24.53 and finished 7th in 400m free in another PB of 4.04.21. He was unfortunately disqualified in 400m IM, in which he touched in 2nd place. His heat time of 4.35.32 now stands as his current best. Alex also competed in 200m free and made the semi final.

FELIX IS GB'S FASTEST 15 YEAR OLD

Felix Samuels has recently turned 15 and had a tough task of competing in the 15/16 age group, which pitted him against some opponents who are almost 17 years old. He swam a brilliant 100m free to finish 9th in 53.41, a best of over 2 seconds. He was the fastest 15 year old in Great Britain in this event. In 50m he placed 7th in 24.45. He also swam 200m free in a long course best of 2.02.53 and 100m fly.

HARRY AND JOEL SET BESTS TOO

Harry Needs (16) competed in 5 events and achieved 8th place in 100m fly in 58.71 (after a strong semi in 58.03). He was 12th in 200m breaststroke in a PB of 2.31.07, 14th in 200m IM, 16th in 100m back (setting a best of 1.01.71) and also competed in 200m back in which he equalled his previous best time.

Joel Sands (15) swam in his first National Championships and achieved an impressive PB in 800m free of 8.51.51, which ranked him as 13th 15 year old in the Country.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR 2008 NATIONAL SWIMMERS

who have taken part in Age Groups, Youth Championships and British Olympic Trials in Sheffield and in Open Championships in Liverpool

Kelly Hookway, Devon Robins, Kyla Steenhart

Laura Hobbs, Ensger Kotterink, Bogac Ayan

Alex Peake, Alex Burgess, Ed Graham

Felix Samuels, Joel Sands, Harry Needs

Ed Walsh and Alex Mackay

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