Double smash for star Campbell (From Bournemouth Echo)

Double smash for star Campbell

6:11pm Wednesday 24th February 2010 in

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CHRIS Campbell crashed through a Dorset record in what may be his last county championships – just hours after being involved in a different kind of crash.

The 18-year-old Ferndown Otters swimmer was involved in a minor shunt at Christchurch while driving home from the first day of the championships.

“Fortunately no-one was injured but it wasn’t exactly perfect preparation,” he said.

Imperfect or not, Campbell was back at Littledown the following day to become the first Dorset man to swim 100m backstroke in less than 59 seconds.

His winning time of 58.58 knocked 0.77sec off the senior Dorset short-course record, held by fellow Otter Craig Freeman.

“I don’t know where that came from. I was aiming to go under 60 seconds for the first time so would have been happy with 59.99,” he said.

“But as I turned at 50m, I could see I was ahead and thought I would really go for it.”

It was the only county record set during the first two days of the championships and it was also a competition best time (CBT) for the senior and 17-and-over age group categories.

Campbell, who hopes to be studying medicine at university by the time next year’s championships start, also became Dorset champion in the 50 and 200m butterfly (26.10 and 2:09.98) and the 50m freestyle (24.34).

Three of his times qualified him for the national championships and the 200m fly time also broke the age group CBT.

Bournemouth Dolphins’ 16-year-old Martin Littlefair – second to Campbell in the backstroke – came within a second of Seth Chappels’s county record from 2004, when he won the 200m freestyle in 1:54.41.

But the time did break the senior and 16yrs CBTs.

Team-mate Harry Thorpe won the junior title in 2:01.62.

Fellow Dolphins Courtney Rowan, 13, and Lottie McRae, 14, were both in sparkling form.

Rowan set CBTs in the 13yrs 100m backstroke (1:08.03) and 50m butterfly (30.33).

She was also crowned Dorset senior, junior and age group champion in the 50m freestyle in 27.97, which was also a national qualifying time (NQT), and the 50m butterfly.

McRae also set two age group CBTs and two NQTs on her way to two senior, five junior and five age group titles.

The records came in the 200m butterfly (2:22.37), in which she became senior and junior champion, and the 100m backstroke in which she won the junior gold and senior silver in 1:06.52.

McRae was also senior and junior champion in the 400m individual medley (5:04.06) and junior champion in the 200 and 800m freestyle.

The only girls to beat McRae all weekend were Ferndown’s senior swimmers Zoe Watson and Cathy Close.

Watson was six seconds ahead in the 200m freestyle in 2:05.49, which was also an NQT, and 20 and 24 seconds clear of Close and McRae in the 800m free (9:05.90).

Close, meanwhile, became county champion in the 100m backstroke, her specialist stroke, in 1:06.08.

Dolphins’ Jay Olenicz set CBTs and NQTs to become Dorset junior champion in the 14yrs 50m freestyle (25.30) and 100m backstroke (1:00.66).

Poole’s Daniel Monk and Madison Kemp joined in the record-breaking, respectively setting CBTs in the 12yrs boys’ 1500m freestyle (19:07.71) and the 11yrs girls’ 200m butterfly (2:44.25).

So did Christchurch and New Milton Seagulls’ Christian Tai in the 9yrs 200m butterfly (3:18.08) and Peter Griffiths in the 12yrs 800m freestyle (9:27.81), Ferndown’s Jazmine Hepburn in the 12yrs 1500m freestyle (19:39.52), Dolphins’ Daniel Speers in the 12yrs 100m breaststroke (1:17.07) and Tornadoes’ Thomas John in the 14yrs 100m breast (1:11.78).

Dolphins’ Tess Carter secured a hat-trick of senior, junior and 14yrs titles in the 1500m freestyle and a full set of silver medals behind team-mate McRae in the 200m butterfly in which she too was inside the age group CBT (2:25.85).

Ferndown’s former national age group champion Naomi Vides won a trio of titles in the 100m breaststroke in 1:13.00, while Dolphins’ Scott Denham won the men’s title in 1:08.46.

• Ferndown’s Tasha Morey and Littledown Masters’ James Gilfillan clocked the fastest times in all age groups in the Dorset masters distance championships at Littledown.

Morey won the 35-39yrs 800 and 1500m freestyle in 10:38.63 and 20:03.73, Gilfillan the men’s 30-34yrs events in 10:16.78 and 19:11.21.