Gearey bags silver in first aquathon outing
14 Jul 2012
Gearey bags silver in first aquathon outing
William Gearey (9), from Harvington, one of several rising stars from Pershore Swimming Club, secured an impressive second place over the weekend at Pied Piper Aquathon at Sandford Parks Lido in Cheltenham. The event, running for its third year, was billed as a super sprint for the 9-10 year old age group, comprising a 100m swim and 1300m run,
Competing in his first junior aquathlon, Gearey faced tough conditions with heavy rain and blustery conditions as well as a field comprising several strong county swimmers from Cheltenham and the Gloucestershire region.
Gearey took it out hard on the 100m swim, exiting the water in first place with a strong time of 1.21 minutes and leading out of the transition place in first place.
On the run, Gearey was soon over taken by rival James Findlay on the first leg of the 1300m run. Despite Gearey chasing hard on the run, Findlay managed to hold off his challenge to take first place.
Findlay, who swims for Cheltenham SC, maintained his lead ahead of
Gearey to the finish, crossing the line in a time of 7 minutes and 6
seconds. Gearey finished strongly on the
run, crossing the line just behind Findlay
in a time of 7 minutes 17 seconds and ahead of the third placed runner who
finished just five seconds behind Gearey with 7 minutes 22 seconds.
Tim Gearey