SWIMMERS from Kelly College excelled at the recent British Olympic Trials in Sheffield, with 31 personal best times being achieved and what director of swimming Robin Brew said was 'Kelly's finest performance for more than a decade'. Four new European and British Disability records were also set and three swimmers have been selected so far for the Paralympic Team. One has been selected for the GB European Junior Open Water Championship team and two new Kelly senior records were set. Jeff Hill, who crossed from junior to senior last term, set a new personal best of 15.55.81 in the 1500m freestyle and made the Olympic Trials 'A' final, finishing in 7th place. His 25 second improvement earned him the selection onto the European Junior championship team in July. Louise Watkin set six new personal bests, four European and British records and qualified for the Paralympics in the 50, 100 and 400m freestyle, 100m breaststroke and 200m individual medley. She won a silver medal in the multi discipline 200m individual medley. Jenny Oldham set two personal bests in the 100 and 200m backstroke and made the great leap forward to make the Olympic Trials 'B' final, gaining valuable experience and also ranking her in the top ten in Great Britain for the senior women's 100m backstroke event. Lauren Steadman set three personal bests and qualified for the Paralympics in the 50 and 100m freestyle, which were fiercely contended. Lauren felt she could have gone faster so hopes are high for Beijing. Claire Cashmore equalled her personal bests in the 50 and 100m freestyle and qualified for the Paralympic team in the latter, despite possibly having post-viral fatigue. Claire will be back in action at the second Paralympic trials in Sheffield, where she will be hoping to add the 200m individual medley, 100m backstroke, the 50m freestyle and 100m butterfly to her events in Beijing. Paul Sutherland set two personal bests and one new Kelly record in the 100m breaststroke, the latter having been in existence since 1985. Paul is now just outside the top 16 senior male swimmers in the country. Danny Brown produced two very good races, setting personal bests in both. In the 200m breaststroke he split 69 seconds at the 100m mark and led his heat from the start, winning comfortably. David Hill had some great races and set two personal bests in his four races. He will be trying to beat the Paralympic qualifying time of 65.13 seconds in the 100m backstroke in three weeks' time, having narrowly missed out this time. Sarah Timms produced a grand total of four personal bests out of five races. In her main event, the 50m butterfly, she was fourth overall. Vicky Cadge produced a personal best in the heats of the 100m backstroke, where she was seeded against some very fast competition. Cameron Brodie was competing in his first major event against a world class field and did a great job in some of his key events, remaining the fastest 100m butterfly swimmer in his age group. Jan Langton had a great week, gaining a bronze medal in the 50m butterfly and achieving a clean sweep of personal bests in her five events. Robin Brew, the Kelly director of swimming, thanked everyone who had made it possible for the swimmers and coaching staff to compete and operate at this level, saying it was the college's best performance for more than a decade.
