British Summer Championships 2018

A huge thank you to the coaching team for their tireless hard work and for taking the time to send these reports each day to keep us informed of the pupils' successes.

Day 1

Day 1 of the British Summer Championships in Sheffield saw James Hart start proceedings with a life time best in the 400m Freestyle (fs), Honey Osrin also improved her 200m fs. The 100m male Breaststrokers got 100% Personal Bests (PBs) in the heats. Tom Beagley, Liam Davis and Morgan Newman made their coaches very proud. Liam qualified for the 17/18yrs and open final, achieving 8th place. Honey Osrin swam an outstanding 2’04 in the 200m fs and came 4^th. Laura Stephens won the 400m Individual Medley (im) with an impressive 8 second PB and got the first medal of the week.

Gold Medal: Laura Stephens 19+yrs 400m im.

Personal Bests: James Hart 400m fs, 50m Backstroke (bk), Honey Osrin 200m fs, Ra’eez Warley 50m bk, Liam Davis 100m Breaststroke (bst), Lucia Grant 50m bst, Tom Beagley 100m bst, Morgan Newman 100m bst, Laura Stephens 400m im.

Day 2

Day 2 was another hotly contested day. The heats in the morning produced some nice PBs. The boys 200m Butterfly showed some great performances over this really difficult event, making it look effortless and leaving us all with a lot to look forward to later in the day. The women’s 50m Butterfly, 200m Breaststroke and 100m Backstroke were exciting to watch, with many making the finals and proving that the hard work they’ve put in for the entire season really does pay off.

The finals resulted in a total of 4 medals from 3 swimmers and many PBs.

Gold Medals: Honey Osrin 15yrs 100m bk, James Hart 13/14 yrs 200m Butterfly.

Bronze Medals: Laura Stephens 19+yrs 100bk and 50m Butterfly.

Personal Bests: James Hart 200m fly and 100m bk, Ben Fannon 50m bst, Oriana Noel 50m fly, Morgan Newman 50m bst, Tegan Drew 100m bk, Laura Stephens 100m bk, Honey Osrin 100m bk.

Day 3

As the third day began the sun was shining and the anticipation was high. The heats proved a great platform for the finals. The swimmers used the heats to work further on the racing process, focusing on what they were asked to do and delivering it well in their races. The girls took to the water after the completion of the individual races and were ready to race as a team in the 4x 200m freestyle relay. They did well, strong on the take over and working well as a team, narrowly missing out on a place in the final. A good effort by all.

The finals were a pleasure to watch with some great results. Honey Osrin swam well in her 50m Freestyle, showing what a diverse swimmer she is and that following the training programme set by the coach and making the right lifestyle choices really does pay off.  Laura Stephens did well in her 200m Butterfly final. Although she didn’t get the time she wanted, she paced it extremely well and she significantly improved her last 50m split.

The Coaching Staff couldn’t help but feel the buzz, being only half way through the Championships and hearing the commentator say ‘here comes Plymouth, really strong in these championships’ which made everyone proud to be part of the team. 

Gold Medal: Laura Stephens 19+yrs 200m Butterfly.

Bronze Medal: Honey Osrin 15yrs 50m fs.

Personal Best: Honey Osrin 50m, David Miller 400m im.

Day 4

Day 4 saw a fantastic 8 pupils make their finals: Liam Davis, Tom Beagley, Duru Tanir, James Watson, Tegan Drew and Laura Stephens. The Men’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Teams narrowly missed out on their finals, but gave an impressive performance.

Gold Medal: Honey Osrin 200m bk.

Silver Medal: James Hart 100m Butterfly.

Personal Bests: Liam Davis 200m bst, Honey Osrin 200m Backstroke, James Hart 100m Butterfly, Laura Stephens 200m bk, Batuhan Paker 4 x 200m Freestyle Team (relay).

Day 5

Day 5 kicked off with the women’s 400m Freestyle, Laura Stephens representing the team and getting the first final spot of the day. The next event was the men’s 200m Individual Medley, such a great race to watch as swimmers have to master all 4 strokes. James Hart narrowly missed out on the final by a split second. The women’s 200m Individual Medley was next up, Honey and Laura looked comfortable in their respective races making it through to the afternoon finals. The 50m freestyle heats went well for James Watson, who had a swim off immediately after his 4x 100m relay, winning that swim and producing a PB to go with it. Tegan Drew made the 50m Backstroke final in very good fashion. Next came the 4x 100m freestyle relays, two of the boy’s teams making the final and the girl’s team fighting hard right to the end as well.

This afternoon for the finals those who weren’t competing turned up to support and cheer on their team mates. The finals were so exciting and each swim produced a PB.  First of all, in the 200 IM Honey Osrin won Gold, taking nearly 2 seconds off her PB. Laura Stephens also took over 2 seconds off her PB to get Bronze. Our last individual final of the day was Tegan Drew, already the fastest 17-year-old in the 100m Backstroke from her earlier performance this week, she proved herself as one of the fastest British swimmers over 50m as well.  A new PB for Tegan but more importantly a glowing smile from a great swimmer.  The boys relay finals were up next and against stiff competition the 16yrs missed out on a medal by a fingertip, but a great team race nonetheless.

Gold Medal: Honey Osrin 15 yrs 200m im.

Silver Medals: Tegan Drew 17/18yrs 50m bk.

Bronze Medal: Laura Stephens 19+yrs 200m im.

Personal Bests: James Watson 50m fs, Tegan Drew 50m bk, Laura Stephens 200m im, Honey Osrin 200m im.

Day 6

The 2018 British Summer Championships drew to a close, and the swimmers picked up 6 medals on the last day of competition – an incredible achievement. Starting off was James Hart who fought to 4th place in the 200m Freestyle, obtaining another PB. Lana Broekhoven swam a lifetime best in the 100m Breaststroke to achieve an amazing silver medal, an exhilarating race that came down to the wire. Next up was Hubert Gdaniec (200m Backstroke), who managed to finish in 4th place after being seeded 9th for the final. His underwater skills were phenomenal. Ra’eez Warley (200m Backstroke) added another second to his 2-second PB from the heats, swimming a well-paced race to finish in 5th place. Next to hit the water was Duru Tanir and Laura Stephens in the women’s 100m Butterfly. Duru finished in joint 2nd place after an extremely strong swim, breaking her PB in the process. Laura Stephens added another gold medal to her victory earlier in the week.

Continuing with Butterfly, James Hart and James Watson stepped up for the men’s 50m. James swam in his second final of the evening, posting another PB and missing out on a medal by only a couple of tenths of a second. Reid Jones swam a solid race just outside his PB in order to finish 7th, and James Watson finished in 6th place after a strong swim, slightly outside the PB he set in the heats this morning.

Finally, the week was rounded off with the 4x 100m Medley Relays. Firstly, the women’s 14-16yrs team swam an incredible race, with Honey Osrin, Lana Broekhoven and Duru Tanir getting us off to a great start, swimming on or very close to their PBs. Oriana Noel took to the pool with a second or two lead, knowing that Ellesmere College had a strong freestyler following her. Without looking back, Oriana put herself on the line for her teammates and swam a great final leg, holding on with great technique in order to win the gold! After such a great effort from our girls, the men’s 14-16yrs relay didn’t disappoint, winning the silver medal, holding onto the place by just 0.01 of a second!

Congratulations to all swimmers, and a huge thank you to Gary Pepperell for his help this week. Gary is the last one to see our swimmers before they head to the call room, and his professionalism during the week has ensured that our swimmers hit the water in the best possible frame of mind.

Gold Medals: Women’s 14-16yrs 4x 100m Medley Relay: Honey Osrin, Lana Broekhoven, Duru Tanir, Oriana Noel and Laura Stephens 100m Butterfly.

Silver Medals: Lana Broekhoven 100m bst, Men’s 14-16yrs 4x 100m Medley Relay, Duru Tanir 100m Butterfly.

Personal Bests: Hubert Gdaniec 200m bk and 200m im, James Hart 200m fs and 50m Butterfly, Duru Tanir 100m Butterfly, Lana Broekhoven 100m bst, Lucia Grant 100m bst, Ra’eez Warley 200m bk, James Watson 50m Butterfly.