The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Sadie stars with a fine bronze medal
Sadie Hunter won a superb bronze medal in the 200m butterfly as Deepings Swimming Club came away from the final weekend of the East Midland Regional Championships with four finalists and numerous personal bests.
Hunter was joined at the international pool in Ponds Forge, Sheffield, by Holly Leggott, Millie Herrick and Jacob Briers, with the squad contesting 12 events between them against the best swimmers from clubs across Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
Her standout performance came on the first day as she swept into the 14yrs 200m butterfly final as the third fastest qualifier, with a new long course personal best.
In the final, Hunter got off to a storming start and maintained her pace to touch the pads in third place.
Her time of 2:36.86 was almost two seconds quicker than the heats and set a new Deepings club record.
Hunter also made the 100m butterfly final where she finished seventh with a new best time of 1:11.50.
She also had an excellent swim in the 100m backstroke, swimming another long course PB of 1:16.03 to finish 12th overall.
Jacob Briers bounced back from illness earlier in the week to compete in five events in the 14yrs age group, achieving four personal bests and reaching two finals.
His best result came in the 200m breaststroke final, where he came ninth, while in the 200m butterfly final he finished 10th with a new long course PB of 2:46.91.
Briers finished 11th in the 100m breaststroke, just one place off making the final, and 16th in both the 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley. All three were swum in new long course PBs.
Backstroke specialist Holly Leggott raced in the 17/ over 100m and 200m events, showing impressive underwater skills off the start and turns to post a pair of strong results.
Completing the regional championships squad was Millie Herrick, who competed in the 15yrs age group.
Having only recently returned from illness, she overcame a lack of training over the past couple of weeks to record two excellent swims in the 100m and 200m freestyle. Her highest finish came in the 100m event, where she came 16th out of 51 in a time of 1:04.27, less than two-tenths off her long course PB. In the 200m freestyle, she finished 19th.
Deepings SC head coach Lynn Chapman said: “The team should be proud of their achievements in reaching the regional championships.
"Everyone performed to the best of their abilities, and I was delighted with their attitude and application of skills across all their races.”
Results in full
Sadie Hunter (14yrs) – 100m butterfly: 1:11.50 – 7th, 200m butterfly: 2:36.86 – bronze medal, 100m backstroke: 1:16.03 – 12th.
Jacob Briers (14yrs) – 100m butterfly: 1:12.46 – 16th, 200m butterfly: 2:46.91 – 10th, 100m breaststroke: 1:22.28 – 11th, 200m breaststroke: 3:04.74 – 9th, 200IM: 2:44.21 – 16th.
Millie Herrick (15yrs) – 100m freestyle: 1:04.27 – 16th, 200m freestyle: 2:23.60 – 19th.
Holly Leggott (17/O) – 100m backstroke: 1:09.19 – 23rd, 200m backstroke: 2:33.34 – 18th.