Swimming

Some of British Swimming’s brightest prospects have been selected to compete at the European Junior and World Junior Swimming Championships as a combined group of 58 athletes. A team of 37 athletes will compete at the LEN European Junior event in Netanya, Israel from 28 June to 2 July while a team of 21 has been selected to compete at the FINA World Junior Championships from 23 to 28 August in the US city of Indianapolis.

The selections come off the back of the British Swimming Championships in Sheffield last week and British Swimming Head of Elite Development Tim Jones, who will lead the teams to Israel and the US and with his eye firmly on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, commented, “Our ethos was to be inclusive rather than exclusive as we think it’s right to cast the net a little bit wider with the juniors who could be a significant force for us in three years’ time in Tokyo.”

The British team selected for the World Junior Championships will be spearheaded by three reigning European Junior Champions in Freya Anderson, Taz Pugh and Emily Large and will include Jacob Peters of Poole SC, one of only two swimmers to be selected from the ASA SouthWest region. The British Swimming team selected for the European Junior Championships in Israel will include Jasmine McCrea, also of Poole SC, and who is one of seven selected from the region. Congratulations to both!

This year’s British Swimming Championships in Sheffield has resulted in three long-standing Dorset County long-course records being broken, together with a host of new records set and two Junior medals won.

Poole’s Jasmine McCrea was on record-breaking form. Having erased the record for 100m Butterfly held since 2002 by Alex Savage (Ferndown) with a time of 1:02.46 in the heats, Jasmine went on to smash it again in the Junior Final with a time of 1:01.74, finishing in fifth place. In the 50m Butterfly, Jasmine’s heat time of 27.93 set a new Dorset Junior Record only to be surpassed in the Junior Final with a time of 27.55, and which also broke the Senior Record held by Alex Savage (Ferndown) since 2005. Jasmine’s 50m Butterfly time was also enough to earn her a silver medal in that event.

The Dorset Junior 50m Freestyle record held by Amelia Maughan (BDSC) since 2009 was also taken with Jasmine finishing fourth in the Junior Final with a time of 26.52 and, finally, a heat time of 2:22.31 in the heats of the 200m Individual Medley gave her a new Junior Record in that event.

Jacob Peters also set new Dorset Senior Records in every Butterfly event with times of 24.76 (50m heats), 55.05 (100m heats) and 2:00.65 in the 200m Junior Final which also earned him a gold medal to bring home.

Plans for the England Programmes Pathway for regions have now been published and will focus on the development of the 12 years age group (age as at 31 December 2017) and development of Level 2 coaches. Like the County initiative there will be three one-day camps which, in the ASA South West, will be held on 16 July, 22 October and 3 December at Oxley Leisure Centre in Sherborne, Dorset.

A total of 36 swimmers will be selected using long-course ASA Rankings from 1 January 2017 to the day following the final ASASW Age Groups Championships. For further information on the selection process click Pathway Swimmer Selection Policy (002).

A meeting to provide further information on the programme is to be held for parents of 12 year old swimmers, as well as those competing for the first time at regional championships, on 21 May at Millfield. The meeting is free of charge and no booking is necessary.

This year’s ASA National Winter Nationals has resulted in two historic Dorset County short-course records being broken, together with a further four new records set and two Junior medals won.

Poole’s Fiona Hardie and Jasmine McCrea rewrote Dorset history for both the Senior and Junior Female 100m Butterfly with Fiona setting a time of 1:00.74 in the B final (chipping just 0.01 sec from the heat time) and erasing a record of 1:01.33 set by Alex Savage (Ferndown) in 2003, while Jasmine’s heat time of 1:01.31 surpassed 1:02.27 set 22 years ago by Sam Greenep (Ferndown) in 1994.

Jasmine’s 100m Butterfly time was enough to move from being ranked ninth to the silver medal position in the Juniors, having already achieved a well-earned Junior gold in the 50m Butterfly. Ranked fourth in the Juniors, Jasmine turned into the second length of the heats in that event in an impressive 12.6 seconds, and touched in 27.68. Enough to crown her National Junior Champion, be the only Junior to reach the Finals and lower her own Dorset County Junior Record in both heats and final.

Jacob Peters also successfully lowered his own 50m Butterfly County Record in both heats and finals with times of 24.58 and 24.53 respectively, finishing in fifth place in the B Final of that event and achieving National eighth in the final of the 200m Butterfly and first place in the B Final of 100m Butterfly.