Swimming Young Langrell sets record

Press, 25 January 1988, Page 24

Swimming Young Langrell sets record

A Canterbury girls 15 years record in the 400 m freestyle yesterday morning by Phiilippa Langrell (Wharenui) was the highlight of three sessions of swimming at the Canterbury championships at Queen Elizabeth II Park over the week-end.

Langrell, regarded as a butterfly specialist, won the national 200 m title last year but has been swimming good times in middle and long distance freestyle events this season. She won the girls 15, 16 and 17 years 400 m freestyle in 4min 27.605. Langrell was chased throughout the race by her Wharenui club-mate, Linda Robinson, and she helped push Langrell under the old record of 4min 29.1 s set by Rochelle Inkster, nine years ago.

The win was Langrell’s second title of the week-end. Earlier she had won the open 50m freestyle, a new event, in 28.445, just to prove that she has sprinting as well as staying ability. The championships have not produced outstanding times because the leading swimmers have either just completed exhausting tours of Australia, or are about to

embark on a tour. The top Wharenui and Avon Aquatic swimmers returned last week from the Queensland and Victorian championships respectively and a group of New Brighton swimmers leaves today to swim at the New South Wales championships. All the squads have continued with training sessions during the championships and their next assault on the Canterbury records list will be at the New Zealand agegroup championships at Papakura from February 18 to 21.

Anna Simcic (Avon Aquatics) won the girls 15, 16 and 17 years 100 m backstroke in the respectable time of Imin 6.585. Not surprisingly, it was outside her best time of Imin 5.68 s recorded when she won the Victorian title two weeks ago. Robinson swam a comfortable race in the girls 15, 16 and 17 years 200 m individual medley to win her only title of the week-end. She had to settle for the silver medal in three other events in the agegroup. Michael Bouwmeester (Wharenui) continued to dominate the open men’s

events. He won three of the six titles decided on Saturday and yesterday morning with success in the 50m freestyle and 200 m backstroke and butterfly events. Grant Forbes (Christchurch) won the other three titles, including his specialist event, the 100 m breaststroke, in Imin 9.53 s — five seconds outside the Olympic qualifying time he has his sights set on in the next couple of months.

Dallas Hibbs (New Brighton) dominated the boys 13 and 14 years events. He won all five decided over the three sessions and should perform well at the New South Wales championships this week.

His younger brother, Sean, performed just as well in the 11 and 12 years section winning all four titles, and a third brother, Daniel, won a silver medal in the 400 m freestyle in the same age group. Nicola West (Wharenui) was the outstanding competitor in the girls 11 and 12 years section. She was untroubled to win the five titles decided in the age group, several in excellent times.