This Is Guernsey

Record breaker Kristina Neves.

KRISTINA NEVES continues to set new standards at all levels.

Competing in 17 events at the Hampshire County Championships, the Guernsey Swimming Club starlet was first in 16 of them, placing second only in the 50m breaststroke.

Neves set new championship best performances in four events – the 50m and 100m butterfly and freestyle.  Her outstanding overall performance saw her win the 11-year girls’ category.

Clubmates Nicole Hewlett and Luke Winberg both found themselves in sixth place overall in the 12-year-old girls’ and boys’ category respectively.

Breaststroke specialist Hewlett finished second in both the 50m and 100m events and third in the 200m.

Winberg’s highest placing was second in the 50m butterfly.

Competing at Hampshire County level for the first time, there were excellent performances from Alexander Batiste, Leah Winberg and Annabelle Goubert.

Batiste finished eighth overall with a highest placing of second in the 50m freestyle.

Few points separated Winberg and Goubert in the overall placing.

Goubert, who is a very good technical swimmer, had her highest placing in the 50m breaststroke where she finished fifth.

Winberg’s highest placing was fourth in the 400m freestyle swum in the first weekend of the championships in Aldershot’s 50m pool (the second weekend being in Waterlooville in a 25m one).

Overall Winberg was 11th and Goubert 12th in the girls’ 10-year-old category.

James Hewlett had his best performances during the first weekend.

Hewlett, who is very strong over the distance events, placed third in the 1500m freestyle and sixth in the 800m freestyle.

There were good individual swims from Alexander Batiste, Pierce Gregory, Alex Butt, Ellie Ogier and Marco Petralia, who all finished just outside the top 15 in their respective age groups.

During the first weekend, the GSC entered a relay team in the girls’ 11-and-under medley and freestyle events.

The team comprising Courtney Chapman, Winberg, Butt and Neves made the final in both events.

A faulty take over in the freestyle relay final saw them disqualified.

The swimmers then got back in the pool and finished just outside the medals in fourth place in the medley.

Article posted on 26th March, 2008 - 2.29pm