PLYMOUTH Leander’s Cameron Vearncombe produced some eye-catching performances at the joint Para-Swimming World Series and British Para-Swimming Meet in Aberdeen.
Vearncombe won four British finals and produced times that would have put him at the top end of the fields in the World Series events.
His displays in Scotland are likely to have pushed his claims to follow S14 club team-mate Reece Dunn into the Great Britain para-swimming squad.
Mount Kelly swimmers Seb Williams, Leo McCrea and Alex Hobbs and Devonport Royal’s Abigail Daly also impressed at the meeting in Aberdeen.
S14 swimmer Vearncombe, who has progressed through Caradon and Devonport Royal swimming clubs, got the meeting off to a sensational start by clocking 2:17.40 in the British final of the 200m IM. That was the fastest time by a Brit and would have been good enough for second in the World Series final ahead of Paralympian Louis Lawlor.
He then backed that up with wins in the national 100m breaststroke final (1:10.82), 200m freestyle final (2:04.18) and 100m butterfly final (1:00.36). His times and multi-class points in those events would have all been good enough for top five finishes in the World Series finals.
Mount Kelly’s Williams, a S6 category swimmer, won the British 50m butterfly final in 37.72 seconds. He also came third in the national 50m freestyle final in 35.10 seconds and in the 400m national final (5:58.28) and was sixth in the strong British multi-class 100m breaststroke final (1:43.56) and 200m IM final (3:18.73).
Paralympian S6 swimmer McCrea, representing Switzerland, won silver in the World Series 50m butterfly final in 39.26 seconds. He also just missed out on a medal in the World Series 50m freestyle final, finishing fourth in 32.93 seconds, which was just 0.09 of a second behind former Mount Kelly Paralympian Will Perry, who took bronze. McCrea was also 12th in the multi-class World Series 100m freestyle in 1:12.52.
Mount Kelly S7 team-mate Hobbs reached the British 100m backstroke and 400m freestyle finals.
Meanwhile, Devonport Royal’s Daly, an S14 competitor, reached four British finals and claimed a top three finish in the women’s 200m freestyle with a 2:48.15 swim. She only missed second place by 0.11 of a second and one multi-class point. She also reached the finals of the 200m IM, 100m butterfly and 100m breaststroke.
Leander’s Paralympic champion Reece Dunn did not compete in Scotland.
Brilliant racing in Aberdeen from Seb, Alex and Leo at the @Para_swimming World Series incorporating the @britishswimming Para Champs. Multiple best times, finals and medals throughout the meet. Thanks to @Joely_Knight for all his coaching support #MKFamily #BleedMK pic.twitter.com/olPH12v2HP
— Mount Kelly Swimming (@MountKellySwim) February 21, 2022
5 events over 4 days, 4 finals 3 season's bests, 1 3rd place (missing 2nd place by 1 BPP) thank you @Sw_EngParaSwim for having faith in her. Thank you joel from @MountKellySwim for supporting her. @APRaceClinics thank you for boosting her moral before #aberdeen2022 pic.twitter.com/0GCeDjGvrZ
— jan daly (@jandaly10) February 20, 2022