Records-galore for star Poynter (From Bournemouth Echo)

Records-galore for star Poynter

5:50pm Wednesday 11th February 2009 in

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JOE Poynter became a one-man record machine as the 2009 Dorset County Championships got under way at Littledown.

In the course of one weekend, the Bournemouth Dolphins 14-year-old set five county records, four championship records and two age group best times (CBTs) – seven of them in a single race.

Poynter’s magnificent seven were set in a 1500m freestyle in which he lapped the entire field to finish more than one-and-a-half minutes ahead of his nearest challenger, Ferndown’s Sean Heppell.

His time of 16min 3.64sec knocked 29 seconds off Seth Chappels’s Dorset senior record from 2004 and 34 seconds off friend and team-mate Martin Littlefair’s county junior record as well as setting senior and junior championship records and a CBT.

Later it was revealed that Poynter had passed the 800m mark in 8:28.82 – a split which slashed 21 seconds off Littlefair’s county senior and junior records.

Poynter was equally commanding in the 400m individual medley, finishing 37 seconds ahead in 4:40.86 This time lowered Chris Campbell’s Dorset junior record by four seconds and was only 0.14sec outside Chappels’ senior standard.

It also broke the senior and junior championship records and the CBT.

Littlefair, 15, also had a fine weekend. Although he lost three of his county records to Poynter, he also acquired one with a heat time of 1:54.61 in the 200m freestyle.

This toppled the Dorset junior mark held by Chappels since 1998.

Littlefair went on to become Dorset senior and junior champion in the 200 and 800m freestyle (8:37.32) and junior champion in the 100m individual medley, 100m breaststroke and a 50m freestyle in which fellow Dolphins Jack Thorpe and Jay Olenicz took the junior silver and bronze.

Less than 0.2sec covered the first three in the breaststroke with Dolphins’ Scott Denham taking the senior gold in 1:10.29 from Dominic Macdonald (Ferndown, 1:10.41) and junior champion Littlefair (1:10.48).

Ferndown’s Craig Freeman was the weekend’s only other county record-breaker.

His heat time of 59.35 in the 100m backstroke broke a Dorset senior record set by Poole’s Keith Tyler in a national masters event in 2006.

But he pulled out of the final to concentrate on the 200m freestyle after setting a senior championship record of 1:54.54 in the heats of that.

He was five seconds short of that time in the final, however, which dropped him to third behind Littlefair and Poynter.

Freeman’s withdrawal from the backstroke enabled team-mate Chris Campbell to win his third senior title of the weekend in 1:00.26.

Earlier, he took the 100m medley and 200m butterfly, setting a 17/o CBTs in both (2:11.52 and 59.93).

Bournemouth’s Jay Olenicz won the junior backstroke in 1:03.59.

Dolphins’ Will Harrison kept first Campbell and then Freeman at bay to win the men’s 50m butterfly and freestyle in 26.00 and 23.95.

In the girls’ events, 12-year-old Amelia Maughan gave another glimpse of her immense potential as she became senior and junior 50m freestyle champion in 27.62 – the only time under 28sec.

She also led a Dolphins’ medal hat-trick in the junior 200m freestyle from Danni Shrosbree and Lottie McRae.

This was 13-year-old McRae’s first Dorset championships since her move from Plymouth and she led a one-two in the 200m butterfly, winning the senior and junior titles from 2:31.27 with Tess Carter taking both silver medals.

She also took the junior gold in the 400m medley and was beaten to the senior title only by Ferndown’s Fran Hughes.

Hughes also led an Otters hat-trick in the 100m medley from junior champion Naomi Vides and Fiona Hardie.

The first two positions were reversed in the 100m breaststroke with Vides winning in 1:14.20 from Hughes (1:14.42) and Dolphins’ Shrosbree.

Ferndown’s Zoe Watson won the senior 200m and 800m freestyle (2:05.57 and 9:09.35) while team-mates Cathy Close and Ellie Beckwith respectively won the senior and junior 100m backstroke.

Dolphins’ captain Danielle Francis finished one-and-a-half minutes ahead in a 1500m freestyle (17:18.64) in which three of the six championship medals went to Seagulls swimmers, Sophie Duffell taking the senior bronze and junior silver, Sarah Crisp the junior bronze.

Crisp was also third junior in the 100m breaststroke while team-mate Izzy Frampton took the junior bronze in the 200m butterfly.

Declan Callahan was Poole’s leading championship medallist with double silver in the 800m freestyle, senior and junior bronze in the 400m medley and junior silver in the 50m butterfly.

Team-mate Sarah Meaker took bronze in the 50m freestyle (28.05).

Medals after two days: Bournemouth Dolphins gold 70, silver 47, bronze 48, total 165; Ferndown 44, 53, 36, 133; Tornadoes of S Dorset 28, 18, 19, 65; Seagulls 13, 15, 22, 50; W Dorset 7, 11, 5, 23; Poole 7, 9, 14, 30; Weymouth 2, 3, 1, 6; N Dorset Turbos 0, 0, 2, 2; Clayesmore 0, 0, 1, 1; Wareham 0, 0, 0, 0; Bridport 0, 0, 0, 0.

Points (from first eight places): Ferndown 1182, Dolphins 1143, Seagulls 688, Tornadoes 596, Poole 382, W Dorset 310, Weymouth 72, N Dorset Turbos 37, Wareham 37, Clayesmore 34, Bridport Barracudas 9.