Sunderland’s Aquatic Centre hosted both the Age Group and the Youth/Senior Championships with two 25m pools in operation simultaneously – quite a spectacle in itself. The two day event attracted the finest swimmers in the north east and produced some memorable results, particularly for the City of Sunderland club. COSASC finished the championships with 22 individual medals and seven relay medals and numerous club records.
Freya Rayner, 17, had a magnificent weekend winning five individual medals in the sprint events and breaking four club records. Freya finished 1st in the 50m backstroke setting a new club age group club record and the All Time club record with a time of 28.33 seconds. Freya won a second gold medal in the 50m freestyle with a time of 25.60 seconds. Winning a hat trick of silver medals, Freya finished second in the 100m freestyle with a time of 56.28 seconds, second in the 100m backstroke in 1:01.99 minutes and second in the 50m butterfly in 27.83 seconds. These were all new age group club records and All Time club records.
Adam Taylor, 19, won 4 medals: two gold and two silvers. Adam won gold in the in the 100m backstroke in 55.70 and in the 100m butterfly in 54.86 seconds. His silver medals were won in the 50m butterfly in 24.59 seconds and in the 50m backstroke with a time of 25.64 seconds.
Rachel Taylor, 15, set new club Age Group and All Time records in each of the three breaststroke events which won her a gold, silver and bronze medal. In the 100m breaststroke, Rachel finished 3rd in the senior event and 1st in the youth event with a time of 1.11.84. In the 200m event, Rachel finished 3rd in the senior event and 2nd in the youth event with a time of 2:33.70 and completed her medal haul with 3rd place in the 50m youth competition with a time of 33.79 seconds.
Matthew Wylie, 19, swimming in the S9 category, won a gold medal in the 50m freestyle with a time of 26.42seconds. In the 100m freestyle, Matt finished second in 58.32 seconds – a new PB.
A very strong swim in the 800m freestyle saw Amy Henshaw, 16, finish first in the senior age group to win a gold medal. Her time of 9:00.95 minutes was a huge PB of more than 20 seconds – a great achievement.
Jonathan Carlisle, 23, finished first in the heat and final of the 200m backstroke with a time of 1:56.65 minutes – an All Time club record. He also claimed an All Time club record for the 100m backstroke with a time of 54.09 seconds.
Winning both the heat and final of the 50m freestyle, Kieran Peart, 18, swum the same fast time in both! His time of 23.38 seconds was an age group club record and a qualifying time for the ASA National Winter Meet. Kieran finished 8th in the final of the 100m freestyle in 52.73 seconds.
S14 swimmer, Gareth Orr, 22, won a gold medal in the 50m butterfly with a time of 32.51 seconds – a new PB.
Emma Cassell, 17 and Lucy Ellis, 18, each won a silver medal. Emma finished second in the 200m butterfly with a time of 2:16.25. This broke the Age Group club record and the All Time record. Emma also finished 5th in the finals of the 100m butterfly in 1:02.60 and in the 100m freestyle in 57.67 seconds. The 100m butterfly was also an age group and All Time club record. Lucy won a silver medal in the 400m freestyle, finishing in a time of 4:17.62.
Swimming in the Age Group Championships, Blanka Kelecsenyi, 13, made her debut for the club in style, winning a silver and bronze medal. Blanka finished second in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:16.07 seconds and third in the 50m breaststroke in 35.35 seconds. These times both broke the club record for the 13 year old age group. Blanka finished 5th in the 200m breaststroke.
Alexandra Clements, 16, Anya Sordy, 16, Mason Jaques, 17, and Joshua Campbell, 18, all qualified for finals. Alexandra was 4th in the 50m backstroke in 30.05 seconds, a 2 second PB and was 6th in the 100m backstroke with a time of 1:05.19 minutes, another PB. Anya finished 6th in the 200m butterfly in 2:21.95 minutes – a PB of almost 5 seconds. Mason finished 6th in the 100m backstroke final in 58.02 seconds – a new PB. Joshua qualified for the 200m breaststroke final with a time of 2:34.62 minutes.
COSASC’s A teams dominated the relay events winning four out of the six events, finishing second in two more while the B team won a bronze medal.
The men’s 400m medley A team (Jonathan Carlisle, Kieran Peart, Adam Taylor, Mason Jaques, finished first in 3:52.61, while the B team (Jay Manners, Jack Bridge, Joseph Pomfret, Joshua Campbell) finished 5th in 4:15.42 minutes.
The men’s 800m freestyle A team (Joseph Pomfret, Mason Jaques, Kieran Peart and Adam Taylor) won gold in a time of 7:43.29. Joseph’s first leg split of 1:58.67 was an age group club record.
The men’s 400m freestyle A team (Jonny Carlisle, Adam Taylor, Kieran Peart, Mason Jaques) were second in 3:32.62 and the B Team (Jay Manners, Matthew Wylie, Joseph Pomfret and Joshua Campbell) were 5th in 3:46.02.
The women’s 400m freestyle A team (Emma Cassell, Lucy Ellis, Jodi Bunker, Freya Rayner) were first in a time of 3:52.15 while the B team (Rachel Taylor, Alexandra Clements, Elizabeth Clements, Anya Sordy) were 5th and the C team (Amy Henshaw, Ana Lazar, Blanka Kelecsenyi, Maria Birchall) finished 7th.
The women’s 800m freestyle team finished 1st in 8:24.89 minutes (Lucy Ellis, Emma Cassell, Jodi Bunker, Freya Rayner). The B team (Amy Henshaw, Anya Sordy, Elizabeth Clements, Rachel Taylor) finished in third in 8:48.84 and the C team were 5th (Alexandra Clements, Ana Lazar, Maria Birchall, Blanka Kelecsenyi) in 9:23.63 minutes.
The women’s 400m medley A team (Freya Rayner, Rachel Taylor, Emma Cassell, Lucy Ellis) were second in 4:17.37 while the B Team were 4th (Alexandra Clements, Blanka Kelecsenyi, Jodi Bunker, Elizabeth Clements).
Callum Walker, 17, Adam Boxall, 15, Lara Greggs, 13 and Caitlin Cambrook, 12 completed the club’s NER squad.
This championship proved highly successful for the club, winning 22 medals, setting 24 new club records and numerous PBs.