Cooper and Wells continue medal rush in Sheffield

James Cooper of Romford bagged yet another medal in the 200m IM while Nathan Wells of Norfolk sits top of the medal table after winning his third gold of the competition.

Cooper won his fourth medal of the championships, holding on to his early lead to take gold in the Men’s 12/13yrs 200m IM posting a time of 2:18.22 for a four second PB.

A strong second half of the race saw Bournemouth Collegiate’s Finnian Trehane put pressure on the Romford Town swimmer and take silver in 2:18.89. James Newman (City of Leicester) rounded out the top three winning bronze in 2:21.40.

“It feels amazing to be high in the medal table right now,” said Cooper. “I really wasn’t expecting to do that well. I train eight sessions a week and it’s paying off, but I prefer competition to training.”

Nothing separated Leo Karski and Joshua Harris heading into the final 10 metres of the 14yrs 200m IM but it was Boldmere’s Karski who edged ahead to take gold on the touch in a time of 2:17.44. Nova Centurion’s Harris was second in 2:17.67 with Bournemouth College’s Christian Tai holding on for third in 2:19.15.

Sutton and Cheam’s Michael Rees found an extra burst of energy in the final 15 metres of the 15yrs 200m IM to take victory in 2:13.17. A strong breaststroke leg from Gregory Butler saw the City of Derby swimmer move through the field to touch second in 2:15.25 while Bromley’s Alexander Ireland took bronze in 2:16.48. All three swimmers swam new PBs.

West Norfolk’s Wells turned to the afterburners over the final 50 metres of the 16/17yrs 200m IM to pull away from the rest of the field and take his third gold of the competition in 2:08.46.

Only 0.01 seconds separated Sedgefield’s Matthew Bradley and City of Derby’s Ryan Reader who finished second (2:10.80) and third (2:10.81) respectively.

In the 18yrs+ 200m IM, Ellesmere College’s Hayden Griffiths topped the podium after storming through the field over the breaststroke leg of the race, extending this lead to over a body length by the final touch (2:07.30), taking a second IM gold. Mount Kelly’s Reece Worth took silver in 2:08.53 while Thanet Swim’s Ben Evans touched the wall in 2:09.50 for bronze.

Harvey and Reeson on top in MC 100m Free

Grace Harvey (S7) lowered the lifetime best she posted in this morning’s heats to take gold in the Women’s MC 100m Freestyle. The Hoddesdon swimmer touched the wall in 1:16.56 (702 BDP). Richmond Dale’s Lily MacLeod (S13) took silver in 1:06.53 (690 BDP), while Orion’s Megan Ritcher, who won gold in the 100m Backstroke, took bronze in 1:10.20 (659 BDP).

All the early mornings are paying off as is all the training, I really wasn’t expecting to take two golds. – Grace Harvey

In the men’s event, gold went to Cokermouth’s Luke Reeson (S9) in a time of 1:01.59 (696 BDP) with Preston’s Jack Bridge (S10) taking silver in 59.05 (639 BDP) and Nova Cenurion’s Benjamin Foulston posting a time of 59.78 (616 BDP) for bronze.

Women’s 100m Freestyle

In the women’s 12/13yrs 100m Freestyle there was a clean sweep of lifetime bests for our medallists as all three swimmers went under the elusive one minute mark for the first time. Mount Kelly’s Kaylee Dekker took gold in 59.68, while the second step on the podium was shared by Royal Wolverhampton’s Alicia Dingle and Shrewsbury’s Onioluwa Taiwo who both touched the wall in 59.99.

Hartlepool’s Katie Laybourn was the only swimmer under the minute mark in the 14yrs 100m Freestyle, winning gold, her second medal in the competition, in 59.01. Mount Kelly’s Lauren Hession took silver on the touch in 1:00.04 with Chelsea and Westminster SC swimmer Zoe Smith third in 1:00.36.

In the 15yrs 100m Freestyle, Lucy Farmer went out fast and was able to hold onto her early lead in the final metres of the race. The City of Milton Keynes swimmer posted a time of 58.97 to take gold just ahead of Plymouth Leander’s Imogen McCalman, who came back strong in the last 25 metres to take silver in 59.26. City of Liverpool’s Emily Spencer rounded out the top three, touching in 59.51.

There was an incredibly close race for gold in the 16/17yrs 100m Freestyle. City of Sunderland’s Freya Rayner was first to the wall, taking victory in 57.54, while City of Leicester’s Emily Crane and Guilford City’s Georgia Smith took silver (57.69) and bronze (58.04) respectively.

City of Coventry’s Leah Gowing and City of Milton Keynes’ Isobel Jones shared the top of the podium in the 18yrs+ 100m Freestyle after touching in perfect sync in a time of 58.53. Bronze went to Guilford City’s Dannielle Bean who touched the wall in 58.86, all swimmers beating their QTs.

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