The opening sessions of the 2024 Isle of Man Swimming Championships at the NSC were filled with standout performances across all age groups.
Kieran Watterson stormed the 800m freestyle to claim the first gold medal, finishing in an impressive nine minutes 20.84 seconds, some 20s ahead of 13-year-old Ed Pearson who secured silver.
Jacob Craine completed the podium, clinching bronze with a gutsy swim of 9m 50.93s.
Lauren Dennett dominated the female event (and was second fastest overall), finishing in a rapid 9:28.35.
Zoe Neuwirt followed with a strong 10:04.44 to edge out clubmate Holly McEvoy, who clocked 10:06.63 in a closely-fought race.
The other event considered a distance swim in the meet was the 400m individual medley (IM), although its toughness does not deter the younger swimmers from taking it on - with 13-year-old Carter Kneale taking the win from Douglas clubmates Eli Birchenough (12) and Rory Teare (11).
Top-30 British age-group ranked backstroker Libby Curphey demonstrated her class in the open 200m backstroke, securing the gold medal in an impressive 2:22.06 ahead of clubmate Kaya Reynolds.
The latter narrowly edged out both Evelyn King of Ramseian and Peel’s Georgina Ford in a closely-contested battle for the remaining podium spots.
Oscar Garczynski had an impressive swim in the 11-and-under 100m butterfly, claiming victory with an impressive 1:37.86. He finished ahead of Billy Robertson from Ramseian and Douglas swimmer Joe Wardle who put in a strong swim at just 10 years old.
The 12/13 age group was a hard-fought battle between three talented and hard-working swimmers. Carter Kneale emerged victorious with a time of 1:09.39, narrowly edging out Oscar Maddrell, while Ed Pearson claimed bronze.
Jack Marshall claimed gold in the 14/15 category, clocking 1:09.01 to outpace Douglas team-mates Tom Clague and Harvey Barrow who took silver and bronze respectively.
The senior race saw Connor Mealin return to form following a stubborn injury, delivering a blistering 1:04.52 to take the win, while there was an impressive performance from 57-year-old Robert Frize who produced a speedy 1.13.79.
The girls' sprint 50m freestyle produced exciting contests and standout performances across the age groups.
In the 11-and-under category, Hailey Henrico triumphed in a super-close race, edging out her Douglas team-mate Megan Williamson by just 0.3 seconds. Henrico clocked 33.04 to Williamson’s 33.34, with newcomer Issy Kermeen-Quirk taking the bronze in 34.67. The event featured a superb entry of 28 swimmers.
There was only name destined for the gold in the 12-13s, with Olivia Wiliamson going sub 29 seconds for the first time to clock 28.92. Julia Jacobs and Lily Walkingshaw followed with strong performances (31.29 and 31.60 respectively) to secure silver and bronze.
Lauren Dennett claimed victory in the 14-15 age group with a swift 28.28, finishing ahead of Libby Curphey who clocked 28.57 and Zoe Neuwirt who touched in 29.00 to secure third.
In the 16-and-over category, guest swimmer Amelia Hardy won gold with a speedy 27.16. Chloe Batty of Peel Swimming Club followed closely behind, only the tiniest of margins outside her lifetime best in 27.55 to take silver, while Ellie Johnson earned bronze with a solid 29.11.
Oscar Garczynski took his second gold of the day in the 100m individual medley (IM), clocking 1:26.07. He finished ahead of Henry Mackenzie, who earned silver with a sub-1:30 swim, and Thomas McEvoy in bronze.
In the 12-13 age group, Carter Kneale won again, claiming victory with a solid 1:09.39. He was followed by Jacob Garczynski (1:11.52) and Oscar Maddrell (bronze), all three making significant improvements on their heat times.
In the super final Kieran Watterson clocked 1:02.55 for the 16-and-over gold, with 14-year-old Jamie Farnan impressive in 1:04.36 for overall silver and Oliver Dowty in bronze in 1:06.66, just edging out Josh Hollamby on the touch.
Farnan was also the 14-15 victor ahead of Dowty in silver and Jack Marshall in bronze, while Dylan Larrosa and Jacob Craine claimed 16-and-over silver and bronze respectively.
In the women’s 200IM, there was an exciting duel between Curphey and Neuwirt, with Curphey just edging it in 2:34.15 ahead of Neuwirt’s 2:35.04, while 13-year-old Olivia Williamson put in an impressive final 50m free to touch in 2:44.34 and claim bronze.
The 200m freestyle featured the 2024 championships debut of Joel Watterson whose usual textbook technique saw him clock the two fastest times of the day, finishing with a winning time of 1:51.66 in the final and 1:52.46 in the heats.
His cousin, Kieran Watterson, took silver with a time of 2:00.16, while Zack Bellhouse secured the bronze in 2:04.96.
This event saw a large and competitive field, with special mentions going to nine-year-olds Oliver Maddrell of Ramseian and Joey Rogers of Douglas, along with 10-year-old Douglas clubmate Joe Wardle.
Hailey Henrico earned her second gold medal of the championships, winning the 11-and-under 100m butterfly.
In the 12-13 age group, Olivia Williamson was once again in a league of her own, clocking a new lifetime best of 1:19.67 to secure gold. The battle for silver was a close one, with Peel’s Elizabeth Taylor edging out Jorja Hedley of Southern by a fingertip to take second place.
The 14-15 age group saw an exciting battle between Island Games swimmers Libby Curphey and Lauren Dennett. Curphey emerged victorious with a time of 1:11.23, narrowly beating Dennett, who finished in 1:11.77. Sophie Christian clocked an impressive personal best of 1:18.09 to claim bronze.
Curphey and Dennett were the top two swimmers overall, taking first and second place in the Super final, with Tilly Bird-McGowan third and 16-and-over gold medallist in 1:14.70. Ellie Johnson took the 16-and-over silver, with Megan Cowley in bronze.
The open/male 50m breaststroke was the final individual event of the first day proper of the championships.
Oscar Garczynski claimed his third gold of the day in the 11-and-under category, clocking an impressive 42.50s, finishing four seconds ahead of silver medallist Thomas McEvoy, with Henry Mackenzie in bronze.
In the 12-13 age group, older brother Jacob Garczynski took gold with a rapid 33.81, narrowly faster than his heat time of 33.59, which placed him 13th in the British rankings. Eli Birchenough claimed silver, and Callum Leslie took bronze.
Jamie Farnan claimed the gold in the 14-15 age group with a blistering time of 32.86, finishing ahead of Josh Hollamby who took silver and Harvey Barrow who secured the bronze.
In the 16-and-over and super final, Harry Robinson delivered an exceptional breaststroke performance, clocking 30 seconds dead to win gold. Jacob Brookes took silver with a time of 31.55, while Zack Bellhouse rounded out the podium with bronze in 31.84.
The girls’ 200-metre medley relay for secondary schools brought the morning session to a close, with St Ninian’s High School claiming the gold followed by QEII in silver and Castle Rushen High School securing bronze.
The evening session wrapped up in spectacular fashion with two thrilling relay events that kept the crowd on their feet.
In the women’s 200m freestyle relay, Peel dominated to claim gold, with Southern finishing in silver and Ramseian earning the bronze.
In the men’s event, Southern emerged victorious, while Douglas A narrowly beat their B team to secure the silver.
- Reports on the remainder of the Isle of Man Championships will be featured in future editions.
VANESSA CHRISTIAN