Geoffrey Herkes clinches Men 100m breaststroke gold: Day one – 2012 NSW Metropolitan Championships
Geoffrey Herkes of BAQU clinched the title of Long Course 100m breaststroke discipline in Men 14 Year Olds group on foremost day of the 2012 New South Wales (NSW) Metropolitan Championships at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on Saturday, March 3.
The 14-year-old Herkes experienced strong contest from Joshua Simat of TRGR and his team-member, Nicholas Chang during the double lap event but with his promising efforts, he cemented his place on the medal rostrum for gold medal.
Simat had a considerably quicker start that provided him competitive edge over his challengers in the first lap of the swim. With his quickest response to the start, Simat went full throttle towards the finishing end and tapped the wall with an effort of
33.14 seconds.
He was trailed by Herkes, who stayed just 0.08 seconds away from him in the first half and submitted a second fastest time of 33.22 seconds. His teammate, Chang stayed considerably slower in the opening lap of the event as he reported a time of 34.57 seconds.
The crowd witnessed commendable efforts of Herkes in the second lap as he upset Simat by proving his mettle for the crown of the event. Herkes sprinted his way towards the finishing end for gold medal and hit the wall with the timing of 1 minute and 10.45
seconds.
With his laudable efforts, he remained just 0.14 seconds slower from the mark of former titleholder, Atawhai Veitch of NEPN, who captured the same with an effort of 1 minute and 10.31 seconds.
The gold medallist was followed by Simat, who remained 0.16 seconds apart and stepped on the victory stand for silver medal by reporting a time of 1 minute and 10.61 seconds.
The second position holder was chased by Chang, who enhanced his pace in the second half of the event and seized third finest spot of the race by producing an incredible 1 minute and 11.86 seconds for bronze medal.
In addition, Herkes was overjoyed with his title claiming effort in the breaststroke discipline and articulated his desire of representing Australia at the elite levels of international swimming.
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