Event:
32eme International Grand Prix Arena Des Girondins De Bordeaux
Venue:
Piscine JUDAÏQUE (50m)
Date:
Vendredi 8, Samedi 9 et Dimanche 10 février 2008
Grand Prix Arena Des Girondins De Bordeaux
Swindon Dolphin teamed
up with French Club, Girondins de Bordeaux, for the first time, to compete in the
International Grand Prix Arena Des Girondins De Bordeaux over the weekend at the Judaique
Swimming Complex. Invited by Club President, Messieur
Jean Boiteux – France’s only ever male Olympic swimming gold medallist
– the four Dolphins were able to get in valuable long course preparation before the
Olympic Trials in eight weeks time, in this prestigious international competition
which attracted considerable French national media coverage and boasted an all-star
field of world record holders, and Olympic & World Championship medallists.
Chief Coach,
Andi
Manley, lead the way in the pool qualifying
for his 15th consecutive National Championships with outstanding performances
in the 50m and 100m freestyle. He clocked
24.85 and 53.78 respectively to claim a top 15 place in both swims and also finished
13th in the 100m butterfly.
Mark Tanner, competing
in his first ever international meet, hit season best times in the 50m butterfly and
in the 100m freestyle in which he was matched up against the 2007 World Championship
medallist, Julien Sicot.
Chris Jones and Cathal
Westman brought home the medals in the breaststroke events. British
Champion, Jones collected a 50m
bronze medal and had 2 fourth place finishes in the Senior Championships while Westman took
all 3 breaststroke golds in the Junior Championships.
French Champion and
Olympic & World bronze medallist, Hughes Dubuscq, secured
the 3 senior breaststroke events with Jones finding
himself in the next lane as Dubuscq raced
to the fastest 100m breaststroke time in the world this year – 60.84 seconds. Jones said
afterwards that “it was the quickest race I’ve been in to date and I was pleased that
I was competitive”.
Westman, also experiencing
his first international meet, enjoyed the celebrity of signing some autographs for
local young swimmers but was more excited about been kissed on both cheeks by the
ladies presenting the medals on the podium.
On Sunday evening,
the Dolphin quartet joined forces to represent
in the 4X50m medley relay. Tanner led
off with a personal best in the backstroke, Jones followed
with a blistering breaststroke, Westman dipped
under 30 seconds for the first time in the fly and Manley anchored
the team home in style to a respectable fourth place behind teams from
,
and the winners – the Greek National Team.
Jones, who also swam
in December’s Dutch Open Swim Cup in
, was “delighted with the high standard of the competition” which gave him “another
chance to race against top class opposition”. He
added “this was a great opportunity for Swindon Dolphins to build links with a foreign
team and we look forward to hosting them later in the year”.
>
50m Brs – Dubuscq (1st) with Jones (3rd)
Source: Swindon Dolphin Press Team
