Barcelona inspires teenage swim stars Rosie Hughes and Sophie Rittenhouse
Thursday, 2nd February 2012
Published: 2 February, 2012
by STEVE BARNETT
A TOP trio from Camden Swiss Cottage Swimming Club have returned from Barcelona after representing London at the Catalonian International Winter Open Meet at the weekend.
Rosie Hughes, Sophie Rittenhouse and Bogac Ayhan followed in the footsteps of some great Olympic swimmers – like Barcelona’s own World and European champion Mireia Belmonte Garcia – when they competed in the famous Terrassa 50m long-course pool.
Rosie, from Primrose Hill, has developed into one of the strongest backstroke sprinters in the south of England.
The highly-rated 17-year-old achieved her best result in the Ladies Open 50m backstroke with a perfect progression through three rounds of competition. In her morning heat she recorded a time of 30.78 seconds, followed by a semi-final swim of 30.24.
She then sealed a creditable fifth place finish in the final with a lifetime best time of 30.02.
Rosie also qualified for the ‘A’ final in the 100m backstroke, where she touched home in sixth in a scorching 1.04.85, only 0.21 seconds off her previous personal best. In a busy meet Rosie also improved her 50m butterfly to 31.22, qualified for the ‘B’ final in the 200m backstroke and competed in the 50m and 100m freestyle.
She capped off an impressive weekend by helping London’s 4x100m freestyle team to fourth place.
Team-mate Sophie, who lives in South End Green, achieved the seventh fastest time overall as she won the 200m backstroke ‘B’ final in 2.24.74.
The 16-year-old also qualified for the ‘A’ final in the 100m backstroke and swam an impressive long-course personal best of 30.68 in the 50m butterfly.
Meanwhile Bogac gained plenty of pool practice as he competed in the 50m and 100m butterfly, the 50m and 100m backstroke, the 50m freestyle and the 200m individual medley.
The experience will prove invaluable for the 18-year-old, who is currently in training for the British championships and Olympic trials in March.
The weekend saw Bogac achieve sixth place in the Men’s Open 100m backstroke ‘A’ final, and make the finals of the 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley in the ‘B’ events.
Bogac was also selected to race for London in a series of relay races.
