JERSEY Swimming Club took five swimmers to Guernsey last weekend to compete in a Level 3 competition, Barracudas 33rd Oak Open Meet 2023, which was for swimmers nine years and older.
For three JSC swimmers, this was their first time competing off Island at a bigger competition.
Dorian Lesczyznski had a very successful weekend and gained personal best times in all the events he entered. The 11-year-old smashed his 200m breaststroke record by 17 seconds, 400m freestyle by 15 seconds, 100m freestyle by 14 seconds, 100m individual medley by nine seconds and, in the three others, he took up to six seconds off his PBs.
Samuel Noel, competing in the 12-13 years age group, also had a good weekend by taking ten seconds off his 100m and 200m breaststroke personal bests. He also brought down the times in his other events.
James Baglin, 14, had a very busy time entering 12 events. He took ten seconds off his 200m individual medley and managed PBs in most of his other events.
Senior swimmer Robin Carnegie was up against the best swimmers in the Channel Islands, who are taking part in the Island Games. Carnegie held his own and finished with three personal best times.
Rebecca Hardy-Bishop, who trains with not only the competitive squad but also in JSC Masters sessions, proved her determination to compete with the best on the islands and had a fantastic weekend. She falls into the disability category as an S13 which is for swimmers who are most sighted but are considered blind according to the IBSA B3. They have a visual field of less than 20 degrees radius. Hardy-Bishop achieved a PB in five of her events and went on to break the south-east region record for S13 swimmers in the 100m backstroke, which has stood for the past five years. At the end of the meet, she took top girl award for 16 years and over, the first disabled swimmer to take the top award for a meet in the Channel Islands.
