The British Summer Nationals 2015 at Sheffield ended on 2 August with Dorset swimmers bringing home nine British Nationals medals – three gold, four silver and two bronze – and with a total of 22 Dorset County Long Course Records having been broken (9 Senior, 13 Junior). Competitors at the British Summer Nationals are ranked nationally 1 to 24 in their age group and event. Dorset clubs with swimmers competing were Bournemouth Collegiate SC, Poole SC and Tornadoes of South Dorset. Below, l-r, are Dorset clubs medal winners Beth Aitchison (BCS), Jacob Peters (Poole) and Alice Tai (BCS).
Day 6:
Alice Tai and Beth Aitchison (both BCS) finished the last day of the British Summer Nationals 2015 with medal winning swims. In the MC 100m Butterfly, Alice finished first in the heats with a time of 1:08.35 and race home to a gold medal with a PB time of 1:07.00 in the final. Beth went into the final of the 17/18 years 100m Breaststroke in third place, and gained a silver medal in the final with a PB of 1:09.35, which also improved her existing Dorset Senior Long Course Record. In the 19 years 50m Freestyle Fiona Hardie (Poole) finished in tenth place in both heats and finals with times of 26.86 and 26.90 respectively.
Day 5:
Qualifying in sixth place for the 19/overs final of the 50m Backstroke in a time of 30.46, Jenny Scott (Tornadoes) improved her existing Dorset Senior Long Course Record in the heats and then again broke that record with a time of 30.39 in the final, finishing in seventh place overall. In the 15 years age group in the heats of the same event, Harriet Perfect’s (Poole) time of 31.06 earned her a new Dorset Junior Long Course Record, breaking a record previously held by Jessica Brown (Ferndown) since 1999.
Day 4:
Beth Aitchison (BCS) qualified in first place in the heats of the 50m Breaststroke, going on to win the gold medal in the 17/18 years final and break her existing Dorset Senior Long Course Record with a time of 31.16. In the 15 years 200m Backstroke, Harriet Perfect (Poole) broke Senior and Junior County records in both heats and finals by finishing third in the heats with a time of 2:17.92 and fifth in the final with a time of 2:17.30, taking a Dorset Junior Long Course Record that had been held by Jessica Brown (Ferndown) since 1999. Jacob Peters was again on fine form by finishing in first place of the heats of the 15 years 50m Butterfly with a time of 25.79 and improving his time to 25.61 in the final to win a silver medal, with both times breaking the Dorset Junior Long Course Record that had been held by Seth Chappels (Ferndown) since 1998. Alice Tai (BCS) achieved third place in the heats of the MC 50m Freestyle with a time of 30.09, finishing in fourth place in the final with a time of 29.79.
Day 3:
After finishing in fifth place in the heats of the MC 100m Freestyle, a time of 1:03.2 in the final secured Alice Tai (BCS) a silver medal while Beth Aitchison (BCS) qualified in sixth place in the heats of the 200m Breaststroke to win a bronze medal in the final with a time of 2:31.95. Jacob Peters (Poole) qualified for two finals in today’s programme, finishing in first place with PBs in both heats and final of the 200m Butterfly and finishing in seventh place in both heats and final of the 50m Backstroke, PB’ing in the final. Jacob’s 200m Butterfly time of 2:05.70 knocked over three seconds from his Dorset Junior Long Course Record while his time of 28.36 for 50m Backstroke also broke his existing Dorset Junior Long Course Record.
Day 2:
In the heats of the Multi-Disability 100m Backstroke Alice Tai (BCS) qualified in fourth place to win a place in the final, holding on to that placing in the final with a time of 1:08.69. In the 15 years age group, Harriet Perfect (Poole) finished in tenth place in both heats and final of the 100m Backstroke with a heat time of 1:05.87, breaking her existing Dorset Senior and Junior Long Course Records in that event.
Day 1:
Beth Aitchison (BCS) qualified in first place for the final of the 17/18 years 200m Individual Medley, breaking her existing Dorset Senior Long Course Record. Jacob Peters (Poole) also qualified in first place for the 100m Butterfly 15 years’ age group final, breaking the Dorset Junior Long Course Record held by Nathan Theodoris since 2011. In the 13/14 years age group, Jasmine McCrea (Poole) qualified third for the finals of the 50m Butterfly, improving her entry ranking by 12 places and breaking the Dorset Junior Long Course Record held by Leanne Studley since 2003. In the final of the 200m Individual Medley, Beth’s time of 2:15.81 was a second faster than the heat swim, earning her a bronze medal and a further improved County Record. In the 100m Butterfly final, Jacob’s time of 56.59 was also a second faster than his heat swim, earning him a silver medal as well as an improved County Record. Jasmine swam a second PB of the day in the final of the 50m Butterfly with a time of 28.93, earning her sixth place and a further improvement on her new County Record.