North-East swimmers will be attempting to gain selection to the British team for the Sydney Olympic games in September, and also win national titles, when the combined Olympic trials and national championships start at Sheffield on Tuesday and end the following Sunday.
Only three have already booked their places in the team by clocking the fast times set to pre-qualify. They are Sue Rolph (Newcastle), 100m freestyle; Alison Sheppard (Scotland), 50m freestyle; and Paul Palmer (Bath), 200m and 400m freestyle.
Newcastle provides the fastest three qualifiers for the women's 200m individual medley at the trials in Sue Rolph, Joanne Park and Sarah Whewell. Rolph is also seeded second to Sheppard in the 50m freestyle, and Park has the fifth quickest entry time in the 100m butterfly, for which Richmond's Nicola Jackson (Derwentside) is in pole position with former York club member Caroline Foote (Hull) in the third spot. Foote heads the qualifiers in the 50m.
In addition, Jackson is sixth in the 100m freestyle and fifth in the 200m. Her former Derwentside clubmate Vicki Horner (Stockport) is third in the 200m and 400m freestyle and fifth in the 800m.
Newcastle also has Chris Cook lying third in the 100m breaststroke and fourth in the 50m; Julie Fort, sixth 50m backstroke and ninth 100m; Lee Wardell, fourth 400m individual medley; with Darren Wigg fifth and David Straughan ninth. Wigg is also sixth in the 200m individual medley with ex-York member Michael Cole (Edinburgh) second in the 200m and sixth in the 400m.
A number of local competitors won races at the B grade Grand Prix series gala at Leeds, including Helen Muscroft (Billingham) with a hat-trick in the girls 16 and over 50m butterfly, 200m backstroke and freestyle. Clubmate Johny French, 12-13 50m and 100m backstroke; Peter Riddle, 14-15 200m backstroke and freestyle; and Dan Fawkes, 16 and over 50m breaststroke and butterfly scored doubles.
Darlington's Emily Saxby, 10-11 50m and 200m breaststroke, also had a double first. Other Darlington winners were: Jordan Roger-Smith, 12-13 200m freestyle, and Lewis Fletcher, 10-11 200m breaststroke. Greg Dixon (Billingham), 12-13 50m breaststroke, dead heated for first place.
Eston had two winners in Adam Simms, 12-13 100m freestyle, and Robert Coupar, 16 and over 200m freestyle. Ruth Derwent (Stokesley), 10-11 200m backstroke, and Adam Lister (Northallerton) 10-11 50m freestyle, also won.
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