Maisie Macartney takes freestyle double for England East

Maisie Macartney won two individual races on the first day of swimming at the School Games 2017 at Loughborough University.

England North were the best performing team on the day, finishing with 129 points. England Central and England South claimed 123 points each, while Macartney’s England East were fourth on 121.

Macartney took titles in both the 200m Freestyle and 800m Freestyle, showing her aptitude for the stroke. She reached the European Junior Open Water Championships podium earlier this summer with 5km Mixed Relay bronze in Marseille.

The 15-year old’s first gold medal came in the 200m, in which she beat Scotland South East’s Iona Macleod to the touch. Macartney clocked 2:08.35 for the title. Second place went to Macleod with 2:09.45, and third to Alice Thickett of England North.

Macartney’s second title was won in the 800m Free. There was almost nothing separating Macartney and Alisha Hawkins of England North at the final turn, but Macartney edged in front down the final 50m.

She touched in 9:12.53 for the win. Second went to Hawkins in 9:12.68 and Naimh Hofland of England Central made it an all English podium. She claimed the final spot in 9:13.68.

Jackson clinches 100m Butterfly gold

Abby Jackson of England South and Caitlin Hubbard of England Central battled for the title in the 100m Fly, both swimmers determined to take the points for their teams.

There was less than a tenth of a second between them at the wall, with Jackson just pipping Hubbard to the post. Jackson topped the podium in 1:04.16, and Hubbard took the second spot with a time of 1:04.22.

It was an English gold in the boys’ event too, with Matthew Richards taking the title for England Central. Richards swam 57.73 to take the win.

Gold for Kelman-Johns in MC 100m Breaststroke

There was a podium double for England in the boys’ MC 100m Breaststroke event. George Kelman-Johns of England South was the eventual victor, beating Jack Milne of Scotland SE and Benjamin Grainger of England North to the wall.

S14 swimmer Kelman-Johns was just over a tenth of a second ahead of Scotland’s Milne, claiming the title with 607 BDP (1:18.33). Milne, also S14, took silver with 605 BDP (1:18.42) and S9 swimmer Grainger followed up for bronze with 454 BDP (1:23.24).

Relay double for England East

England East took the titles in both the boys’ and girls’ 4x100m Freestyle Relay finals.

The girls were over a second and a half faster than their Irish and Welsh counterparts, taking the win in a time of 3:56.80.

The boys’ event was much tenser than the girls’, with the top three places less than a second apart. England East took the win in 3:38.30. Second place went to Scotland SE (3:38.83) and third to England South in 3:38.97.

  • Click here to see full results from the School Games day one swimming events.
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