2019 City of Sunderland ASC – New Year Meet
- Friday, January 18th – Sunday, January 20th
- Sunderland Aquatic Center
- SwimSwam Meet Preview
- Meet Site
- Results
The 2019 City of Sunderland Amateur Swim Club New Year Meet wrapped up over the weekend, with the competition representing the first long course meters competition of the year for most of the participating swimmers. Below are highlights of the open competition, which spanned ages 10/11 through 16+.
15-year-old Milly Boulding of Burough of Kirlees Swimming Club rocked wins across both the girls’ 200m free and 400m free for her age group, winning decisively in each race. In the 200m free, Boulding stopped the clock at 2:07.31 to win by over 7 seconds, while in the 400m free her winning time of 4:25.86 represented the only racer of the field to delve under 4:41 territory.
The teen’s 200m free time was just off her own personal best, which stands at the 2:07.19 punched at last year’s British Summer Championships. The same case was true for her 400m, where her time in Sunderland was just off her own career-fastest of 4:25.40 set at last year’s North East Region Championships. As for her 400m free effort, Boulding now ranks among the top 30 junior swimmers in the world.
18-year-old Sophie Smith of St. Thomas also picked up wins across the 200m and 400m freestyle events, registering winning efforts of 2:03.28 and 4:22.83, respectively. Behind her in the 200m free was 18-year-old Newcastle swimmer Emily Large. Large, World Junior champion in the 200m fly, hit the wall at 2:05.88 for silver.
Smith also logged the only sub-27 second time in the women’s 16+ 50m free sprint, collecting gold in 26.85. And, the St. Thomas star wasn’t finished, earning yet another gold in the 100m freestyle. Her time of 57.26 represented the only mark under 58 among the age group’s field.
Large did take the women’s 100m fly decisively, clocking 1:00.04 to win by 2 seconds. That mark situates Large just outside the top 25 senior swimmer performances in the world this LCM season.
Swim Ireland’s Maria Godden did damage across the backstroke events, sweeping the 50m, 100m and 200m comfortably. The 17-year-old took the shortest sprint in 29.89, the 100m in 1:03.73 and the 200m distance in 2:18.02 to complete the trifecta. She now ranks within the top 20 junior performers in the world across the 3 events.
Sheffield’s Annabelle Wilkinson was another multiple event winner, as the 14-year-old raced her way to her age category’s podium in the 200m IM in 2:29.22, while also winning the 50m back in 31.76.
Irish racer Michael Hewitt was the men’s 50m fly winner in 25.18, while Sheffield’s Thomas Wilkinson wrapped up the men’s 200m breaststroke win in the only sub-2:50 time of the field in 2:46.55.
14-year-old Matthew Cairns of Durham City raced his way to gold in the 200m fly in 2:20.42, while Swim Ireland’s Eoin Corby hit a winning 100m breaststroke time for 16+ of 1:03.20. With little 2019 racing data inputted in the FINA database at this point, Cairns is now the top-ranked 14-year-old 200m flyer in the world.