St Albans
Godridge makes a splash
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| David Godridge |
St Columba's School pupil David Godridge confirmed his huge promise by re-writing the record books at the recent British Championships and Olympic Trials in Manchester.
Rubbing shoulders with the top swimmers in the country, the 14-year-old produced a lifetime's best performance in the Men's 100m Freestyle, finishing in 53.89 - making him the fastest 14-year-old in Britain and breaking a four-year-old Herts County Junior 100m Freestyle Long Course record.
The performance was only enough to see the Hemel Hempstead resident 50th position in the heats but he now has four years to knock just under seven seconds of his best time to make the British Team for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
"The objective of attending the British Championships and Olympic Trials was to expose David to the highest level of competition pressure that Britain can offer," said Watford Swimming Club coach Terry Davies, father of Olympic medalist Sharon.
"David has a great physical ability to perform at a very high level, but the mental pressures can be devastating. David was fully focussed for event and was raring to go. The two days of training in the competition pool alongside the very best swimmers in Britain raised David's confidence in order for him to perform at his very best. A race time of below 54 seconds was our goal."
Godridge also took part in the 50m Men's Freestyle. He was slow off the blocks but still managed to clock a personal best time of 25.03secs long course. The time saw him finish joint 47th in the heats, 2.74 seconds behind eventual winner Mark Foster.
Godridge now switches his attention to the National Championships in July, an event that will see him compete in a minimum of five events.
9:31am Tuesday 29th April 2008
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