Ponds Forge in Sheffield had the pleasure of hosting the BUCS Short Course Swimming Championships on the 13–15 November 2015. It soon became the scene of a flurry of new World, British, Scottish and BUCS records.
The first record of the day fell to Toby Robinson, of Loughborough University, in the brutal 1500m freestyle. Toby finished in a BUCS record time of 14:45.74 as he was awarded a gold medal as the heat declared winner. A phenomenal effort from the extremely talented lad.
University of East London’s Aimee Wilmott, who’s talents are well-known in the BUCS community having recently been crowned BUCS Sportswoman of the Year, again impressed as she dominated the 800m freestyle with a very respectable time of 8:29.62, enough to be crowned as the heat declared winner. Having already tasted victory Aimee was far from finished. She broke the second BUCS record of the weekend in the 400m individual medley discipline, smashing the previous record by a phenomenal five seconds, with a time of 4:31.77. Her medal collection didn’t stop there as she collected silver in both the 400m freestyle and 200m butterfly, finishing in 4:08.11 and 2:10.79 respectively, before collecting bronze in the 200m freestyle with a time of 1:57.57. A very successful weekend for an immensely talented swimmer.
University of Stirling’s Craig Benson was another who impressed the noisy spectators. In the 200m breaststroke, Craig raced to victory with a BUCS record time of 2.06.12. He confirmed his dominance in the discipline in the 100m race with a race-winning time of 58.26. Craig, unsurprisingly, won the 50m breaststroke as well, with a unbelievable time of 26.84 a new Scottish and BUCS Short Course record.
University of Stirling proved to very commanding throughout the whole weekend. Perhaps inspired by the impressive feat of fellow student Craig Benson, Cameron Brodie helped himself to three gold medals – 200m Butterfly (1:55.49), 200m individual medley (1:57.77) and the 400m individual medley (4:12.84). Duncan Scott, joined Craig in breaking the Scottish national and BUCS Short Course record in the 100m freestyle with an extraordinary time of 47.78. Danielle Joyce was the pick of the bunch as she posted a 30.20 in the women’s 50m backstroke, setting a new World Record in the process. This means that Danielle Joyce is now the quickest deaf woman in the world in her favourite event, quite some feat. Stirling’s medal collection grew even larger when Peter Davis stood on the top step of the podium after achieving the gold medal in the men’s multi-classification 100m freestyle, posting a time of 1.05.51.
For all of Stirling’s excellent results, they lost out in the overall team award to Loughborough who showed utter consistency throughout the whole event. The aforementioned Tony Robisnon was one of many Loughborough students who guided them to the pinnacle, as was Jocelyn Ulyett, who set a BUCS record (2.24.72) as she clinched gold in the 200m breaststroke. In both the team relays, Loughborough males saw off stiff competition in the form of the University of Edinburgh and the University of Stirling to add more golds to their tally.
The records continue to tumble with Northumbria University’s finest disability athletes. Harriet Lee set an astonishing British record in the 50m breastroke (SB9, 36.84). Claire Cashmore was determined not to be out-done by her teammate and set a World record herself in the same event (SB8, 36.91). The set was completed once Takayuki Suzuki had collected three gold medals in the multi-classification events, which consisted of 200m freestyle (3.06.19), 50m backstroke (50.09) and 50m breastroke (51.05).
New records
– Aimee Wilmott, University of East London, Women’s 400m Individual Medley (4:31.77) – BUCS record.
– Benjamin Proud, University of St Mark & St John, Men’s 50m Freestyle (21.40) – BUCS record.
– Claire Cashmore, Northumbria University 50m Breastroke (SB8, 36.91) – World, British (subject to ratification) & BUCS record.
– Craig Benson, University of Stirling, Men’s 50m Breastroke (26.84) – Scottish and BUCS record.
– Craig Benson, University of Stirling, Men’s 100m Breastroke (58.26) – BUCS record.
– Craig Benson, University of Stirling, Men’s 200m Breaststoke (2.06.12) – BUCS record.
– Danielle Joyce, University of Stirling, Women’s 50m Backstroke (30.20) – Deaf World, British (subject to ratification) and BUCS record.
– Duncan Scott, University of Stirling, Men’s 100m Freestyle (47.78) – Scottish and BUCS record.
– Harriet Lee, Northumbria University 50m Breastroke (SB9, 36.84) – British (subject to ratification) & BUCS record.
– James Hollis, Loughborough University 100m Backstroke (S10, 1.04.57) – British (subject to ratification) & BUCS record.
– Jocelyn Ulyett, Loughborough University, Women’s 200m Breastroke (2.24.72) – BUCS record.
– Kathryn Johnstone, University of Edinburgh, Women’s 100m Breastroke (1.06.54) – BUCS record.
– Lyndon Longhorne, Northumbria University 200m Individual Medley (S4, 3.49.52) – British (subject to ratification) & BUCS record.
– Toby Robinson, Loughborough University, Men’s 1500m Freestyle (14:45.74) – BUCS record.
– University of Edinburgh, Women’s 4X50 Medley Relay (1.50.81) – Scottish and BUCS record.
All images courtesy of British Universities & College Sport (BUCS)
