Swimming: 28th Sacos-sponsored Schools Age Group Championships-Four-gold medallists and record breakers light up championships |19 October 2009

Youth, sports and culture principal secretary Denis Rose, and Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association president Antonio Gopal  were among the guests at the championships which Seychelles Swimming Association chairman Mervyn Austin described as an “important competition”.

“These schools championships give the young swimmers the opportunity to display their talents as some of them will represent Seychelles in the next Indian Ocean Islands Games here in 2011,” he said in his opening speech before wishing all the competitors good luck.

Swimmers from state and private schools from Mahe and Praslin competed in 49 finals after earning their tickets through the heats held on September 23-24 (on Mahe) and September 26 (on Praslin).

They took part in a maximum three individual events of the four strokes – freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly – and swam for their school’s relay teams.

Competitors in the 7-9 and 10-11 age categories swam in the 25m pool and were awarded points for their individual efforts: first place (8 points), second place (6), third place (4), fourth place (3), fifth place (2) and sixth place (1).

Swimmers in the 12-13, 14-15 and 16 years and over categories competed in the Olympic-size 50m pool. The eight finalists were awarded points as follows: first place (10 points), second place (8), third place (6), fourth place (5), fifth place (4), sixth place (3), seventh place (2) and eighth place (1). Record breakers got bonus points for their schools.

The four-time gold medallists were Hayden Ah-Wan (boys’ 7-9 years), Anisha Payet (girls’ 10-11 years), Luc Bonnelame (boys’ 10-11 years), Adam Viktora (boys’ 12-13 years), Aurelie Fanchette (girls’ 12-13 years) and Shane Mangroo (boys’ 16 years+).

Independent School’s Ah-Wan’s victories came in the 50m freestyle, 25m breaststroke, 25m backstroke and 4x25m freestyle relay.

Competing in the girls’ 10-11 years category, International School Seychelles’ swimmer Payet touched the wall first in the 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 50m butterfly, and 4x50m freestyle relay.

In the same age category, male swimmer Bonnelame of the Independent School won the 50m freestyle, 50m breaststroke, 50m butterfly and 4x50m freestyle relay.

ISS’ Adam Viktora triumphed in the 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 50m butterfly and 4x50m freestyle relay in the boys’ 12-13 years category.

Viktora’s schoolmate Aurelie Fanchette took victories in the 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 50m butterfly and 4x50m freestyle relay in the girls’ 12-13 years category.

In the boys’ 16 years+ division, Belonie School’s Shane Mangroo was first in the 100m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 50m butterfly and 4x50m freestyle relay.

There were two wins each for Martina Chionni (ISS, girls’ 7-9), Ryan Govinden (Belonie, boys’ 14-15), Amina Ward-Horner (ISS, girls’ 14-15) and Victoria Floyd (ISS, girls’ 16 years+).

Five records were shattered by Anisha Payet (girls’ 10-11 50m butterfly in 37.59 seconds), ISS’ girls’ 10-11 4x50m freestyle relay team (2:26.64), Adam Viktora (boys’ 12-13 50m freestyle in 27.37 seconds and 50m butterfly in 29.78 seconds) and ISS’ boys 12-13 4x50m freestyle relay team (2:12.92) during the four-hour championships.

ISS drops shields

Compared to the last two years – 2007 and 2008 – when it made a clean sweep of all the 10 shields, ISS won six shields this time, dropping two to the Independent School and one to Belonie Secondary School. It also shared one shield with the Independent School.

It triumphed in six age categories: girls’ 7-9 years with 70 points, girls’ 10-11 years with 91 points, boys’ 12-13 years with 76 points, girls’ 12-13 years with 85 points, girls’ 14-15 years with 77 points, and girls’ 16 years and over with 74 points.

The ISS finished joint first with the Independent School in the boys’ 7-9 years division with 41 points, and they will hold the shield for six months each.

The Independent School won the boys’ 10-11 years with 60 points, and boys’ 14-15 years with 50 points, while Belonie Secondary School’s triumph came in the boys’ 16 years and over category with 68 points.
Jane Joubert of Sacos presented the shields to the winning teams.

The winners

Boys’ 7-9 50m freestyle Hayden Ah-Wan (Independent, 39.06 seconds), girls’ 7-9 50m freestyle Martina Ceccato (ISS, 41.36 seconds), boys’ 7-9 25m breaststroke Hayden Ah-Wan (Independent, 26.25 seconds), girls’ 7-9 25m breaststroke Martina Chionni (ISS, 25.45 seconds), boys’ 7-9 25m backstroke Hayden Ah-Wan (Independent, 23.70 seconds), girls’ 7-9 25m backstroke Chloe Gladstone (Independent, 22.54 seconds), boys’ 7-9 25m butterfly Kaylan Leiss (ISS, 23.24 seconds), girls’ 7-9 25m butterfly Martina Chionni (ISS, 22.63 seconds), boys’ 7-9 4x25m freestyle relay (Independent, 1:19.38), girls 7-9 4x25m freestyle (ISS, 1:21.39)

Boys’ 10-11 50m freestyle Luc Bonnelame (Independent, 35.61 seconds), girls’ 10-11 50m freestyle Anisha Payet (ISS, 33.25 seconds), boys’ 10-11 50m breaststroke Luc Bonnelame (Independent, 50.49 seconds), girls’ 10-11 50m breaststroke Maria Marzochi (ISS, 44.81 seconds), boys’ 10-11 50m backstroke Anthony Gendron (Independent, 50.26 seconds), girls’ 10-11 50m backstroke Anisha Payet (ISS, 39.57 seconds), boys’ 10-11 50m butterfly Luc Bonnelame (Independent, 43.37 seconds), girls’ 10-11 50m butterfly Anisha Payet (ISS, 37.59 seconds for a new record), boys’ 10-11 4x50m freestyle relay (Independent, 2:40.83), girls 10-11 4x50m freestyle (ISS, 2:26.64 for a new record)

Boys’ 12-13 50m freestyle Adam Viktora (ISS, 27.37 seconds for a new record), girls’ 12-13 50m freestyle Aurelie Fanchette (ISS, 31.80 seconds for a new record), boys’ 12-13 50m breaststroke Samuel Mancienne (Independent, 38.74 seconds), girls’ 12-13 50m breaststroke Clara Omath (Plaisance Primary, 42.50 seconds), boys’ 12-13 50m backstroke Adam Viktora (ISS, 35.10 seconds), girls’ 12-13 50m backstroke Aurelie Fanchette (ISS, 38.63 seconds), boys’ 12-13 50m butterfly Adam Viktora (ISS, 29.78 seconds for a new record), girls’ 12-13 50m butterfly Aurelie Fanchette (ISS, 36.89 seconds), boys’ 12-13 4x50m freestyle relay (ISS, 2:12.92 for a new record), girls 10-11 4x50m freestyle (ISS, 2:22.38)

Boys’ 14-15 50m freestyle Mathias Bonne (ISS, 27.82 seconds), girls’ 14-15 50m freestyle Amina Ward-Horner (ISS, 32.64 seconds), boys’ 14-15 50m breaststroke Dwayne Didon  (Independent, 36.87 seconds), girls’ 14-15 50m breaststroke Stephanie Wong (Belonie, 47.48 seconds), boys’ 14-15 50m backstroke Ryan Govinden (Belonie, 35.17 seconds), girls’ 14-15 50m backstroke Amina Ward-Horner (ISS, 42.23 seconds), boys’ 14-15 50m butterfly Ryan Govinden (Belonie, 30.79 seconds), girls’ 14-15 50m butterfly Aurelie D’Offay (ISS, 43.65 seconds), boys’ 14-15 4x50m freestyle relay (Independent, 2:06.86), girls 14-15 4x50m freestyle (ISS, 2:31.83)

Boys’ 16 years+ 50m freestyle Shane Mangroo (Belonie, 58.78 seconds), girls’ 16 years+ 50m freestyle Victoria Floyd (ISS, 1:31.90), boys’ 16 years+ 50m breaststroke Ron Roucou (Independent, 34.69 seconds), girls’ 16 years+ 50m breaststroke Rachel Pool (ISS, 49.47 seconds), boys’ 16 years+ 50m backstroke Shane Mangroo (Belonie, 31.69 seconds), girls’ 16 years+ 50m backstroke Victoria Floyd (ISS, 48.28 seconds), boys’ 16 years+ 50m butterfly Shane Mangroo (Belonie, 28.44 seconds), boys’ 16 years+ 4x50m freestyle relay (Belonie, 1:56.50), girls 16 years+ 4x50m freestyle (ISS, 2:48.24).

G. G.