Magnificent seven records are broken

Lauren Alff powered her way to a pair of Hastings Seagull club records which had stood since 2002

JJ Choron set the ball rolling in the first event of the night, the boys’ 100m backstroke. Choron set a new best time of 1:01.40 in the 16/17 age group.

Lauren Alff, 13, then broke the girls’ 100m backstroke record for her age group with a time of 1:12.82 and later also broke the girls’ 100m IM record (age 12/13) with a new best of 1:14.42. Both these records had stood since 2002.

Megan Alsop was the next record breaker with a time of 1:06.09 in the girls’ 18 and over 100m backstroke.

The other three records were broken in the 100m IM. William Saldana, 13, set a new record in his age group with a time of 1:11.26, beating the previous time set in 2000. Andy Paige, 15, set a new record in the boys’ 14/15 age group of 1:04.50 - a record last set in 2006. Jodie Shoesmith followed suit in the girls’ age 16/17 100m IM, setting a new best time of 1:09.68.

An amazing 110 PBs were achieved by the 93 swimmers that took part.

Other championship winners on the night were Andy Paige and Callum Pearson in the boys’ 100m backstroke for their respective age groups, and David Maule in the boys’ nine and under 25m breaststroke and 100m IM.

Cameron Upton won the boys’ 11&u 50m freestyle, and Dominic Harvey won the boys’ age 10/11 100m IM. Choron and Tom Parris won their respective age group 100m IM events, as did Sam Batchelor.

In the girls’ section, Megan Hawkesley and Imogen Scott-Carter won two events, and Elisha Paige was also successful. Hannah Keen won the ladies’ 100m IM.