Titans Wrap Up County Championships
Last Sunday’s closing ceremony of the 2011 Shropshire County Swimming Championships, held at Market Drayton, drew to a conclusion two weekends of intense competition.
Less than three years since setting up the Ellesmere College Titans Swimming Programme - Titan swimmers have quite literally taken the 2011 Shropshire County Championships by storm – smashing an all time British Age Group record; being awarded 2 overall best boy and girl trophies; breaking ten all time County Championship records; and winning 26 individual gold, 35 silver and 26 bronze medals – a magnificent 15% increase on last year.
Swimming against the very best swimmers from all over the County, Titan swimmers recorded a total of 158 Personal Best times and broke 29 Titan Club Records. Titan swimmers now hold a total of 22 County Championship records.
Hector Pardoe, age 9, led the way in the boy’s 9/u age category winning gold and breaking existing County Championship records in all 6 events. In the 400m freestyle he recorded the fastest short course time ever recorded in Britain by a 9 year old – taking more than 7 seconds off the previous record in 4:56.81. In both the 200m backstroke and 200m freestyle he came within a breath of destroying the existing British age group records but in the end had to settle for the second fastest times in history.
In the 9 year old girls category Kate Haworth won three gold and three silver medals - smashing 2 County Championship records along the way.
Poppy Evans, age 17, established a new Championship record and won the gold medal in the girls 200m breaststroke Open age category in a time 2:42.54.
In the 13/u boys category Alfie Pardoe won the overall Best Boy trophy having won 6 Gold, 3 Silver and 3 bronze medals.
Championship Record
Not to be outdone in the breaststroke stakes Darren Mew, age 31, then returned to competitive swimming for the first time in many months in the Men’s Open 100m breaststroke winning the gold medal and recording a new championship record in a time of 1:03.72
Further medals were won for the Titans by the following swimmers: Alfie Pardoe age 13, Michael Doyle age 11, Sam Holland age 14, jimmy Kershaw age 14, Ellie Hutchings age 10, Elliot Hughes age 14, David Main age 18, Luc Jarzynski age 12, Beatrice Roberts age 13, Llawen Rossell-Smith age 14, Poppy Evans age 17, Luke Parker age 11 and James Norman age 19
Other Titan swimmers in action over the weekend included Sarala Chaterjee (age 9), Rosie Holland (age 9), Jack Bacon (age 12), Ellie Russell (age 10), Shannon Davies (age 10), Elinor Haworth (age 10), Sunetra Chaterjee (age 11), Lucy Rowland age 13, Anouska Gwilliam (age 13), Tom Lloyd (age 13),Anais Carson-Mee (age 10), Amy Latham (age 13), Shannon Davies (age 10) and Lauren Bond (aged 13).
Titans Head Coach Jon Pardoe commented “what has been achieved by these young swimmers is a truly inspirational tale of ambition, hard work and determination - a triumph of effort and clear evidence that if you have the right positive mindset virtually anything can be achieved.”
To celebrate their remarkable success, Titan swimmers were whisked away at the end of the final day of competition on Sunday 13th March to a celebration dinner in Shawbury where they were given the full red carpet treatment.