CALLIGO Tigers have firmly made their presence felt in the opening three days of the Aquatics GB Summer Championships in Sheffield, already clocking a tally of four British national age group titles, one bronze and three top ten finalists at the time of print.
Isaac Thompson was set to line up for the 16 years 400m individual medley final and Filip Nowacki and Sam Sterry in the same race for the 17 years age group yesterday evening.
Tigers Coach Nathan Jegou praised his swimmers: “It’s been a really good return of performances over the first three days.
“Sam [Sterry] has had a tough programme and has backed up his swims superbly and Filip [Nowacki] has kept his form from a few weeks ago.
“Isaac [Thompson] swam really well and it was pleasing to see him in finals where we probably didn’t expect to see him make.
“However, we are only halfway through these British Champs and hopefully the athletes can keep performances up.”
Sam Sterry would lead the way early.
He claimed a superb British age group title in the men’s 17 years 1500m, becoming the club’s open record holder and the second fastest Jersey Swimmer of all time.
His time of 15mins 45.72secs took over 20 seconds off his previous best, before following that up with an impressive Island record in the men’s 200m freestyle, going 1min 52.86secs to claim a surprise bronze medal.
Not satisfied with that, he became a double 17 years national title holder the following day with a big lifetime best to claim the men’s 800m freestyle by over six seconds and break both the club’s open and age record. He became the second fastest Jersey swimmer in the process.
Filip Nowacki continued his incredible form from the European Junior meet earlier this month, by swimming a personal best in the men’s 17 years 100m breaststroke, breaking his own Island record in the process and claiming his first British title of the week, before returning to the pool on day three to dominate the men’s 17 years 50m breaststroke for his second title.
Hannah Sterry, aged just 15, finished in an impressive eighth place in the ladies 1500m freestyle.
The performance meant she became the first female swimmer to break the 18-minute barrier since 2011.
In the process, she smashed the age group club record, for her best ever finish at the level and a positive sign of things to come over the next two weeks.
Teammate Clara Ginnis would also dip under the 18-minute barrier in the very next heat.
Ginnis placed 16th in the 17 years age bracket, also breaking her age group club record and join a small band of Jersey female athletes to achieve that mark.
Tom Sterry made his debut at this level and swam a strong race to move up two places on his entry to claim a fantastic 14th place in the men’s 15 years 1500m freestyle.
Elsewhere, Thompson swam a personal best to finish inside the top 16 in the men’s 50m backstroke in the opening two days, before continuing his hot streak on day three.
He would claim personal best times in both the 200m butterfly and 100m backstroke to finish sixth and fifth respectively in the men’s 16 years finals.
Meanwhile, Megan Hansford swam a solid race in the ladies 100m backstroke – producing one of her top five times in the event.
