Thompson ‘pleased’ with win and Pope picks up gold in Boys 3k races

Isaac Thompson of Tigers Jersey took the 14 Years title and Stockport Metro’s Finlay Pope was crowned 15 Years national champion in the Boys 3k races.

The pair had to ‘go for it’ and were able to hold on to their leads, earning the right to stand on the top of the podium in their respective events.

Thompson tops off ‘a good year’

The Tigers Jersey swimmer recently won the 1500m Freestyle and 200m Backstroke events at the Speedo British Summer Championships.

This time around he took to the open water in the Boys 14 Years 3k race, but the result stayed the same – another gold medal to add to the collection.

Thompson finished in 37:18.360 and joining him on the podium was silver medallist Elliot Lawton (37:37.453) of City of Coventry and bronze medallist Thomas Jennings (37:44.183) of Portsmouth Northsea.

The young swimmer explained that he was ‘really pleased’ with the result.

He said: “It feels great to win the gold medal at a National Championships so I’m really pleased with today.

“The race went well, I was happy because I managed to get out quick and make a gap and in the last lap I just had to hold on and make sure they didn’t catch me.

“The whole year has gone really well for me, two golds at the British Championships and a win today, it’s been a good year.”

Pope gets the medal he was after

Stockport Metro’s Pope revealed he was ‘surprised’ to take the win in the Boys 15 Years 3k race.

He set a time of 36:14.930 to finish ahead of Wycombe District’s Samuel Williams, who took silver in 36:26.107.

Securing the bronze medal in 36:26.727 was Tigers Jersey’s Samuel Sterry.

Pope explained that he hadn’t stepped onto the podium during his time at the Speedo British Summer Championships and the Speedo National Summer Meet, despite a number of personal best times.

Now, he has the medal he was after.

On his win, Pope said: “I was quite surprised, I swam at both English and British and I made the finals but I never medalled so to win here was really surprising and I’m happy that I’ve done it.

“British and English did go well for me, I set a number of personal bests, but now I’ve got that medal that I was after.

“To be honest I got to a point where I was like ‘I’m just going to go for it’. I did that and it paid off. Winning today is the best way to end the season.”

Full results for the 3k races can be found here.

Pictures: Will Johnston Photography