Craig Watson continues to make a huge splash in the pool, with his latest achievement seeing him become the Victorian record-holder in the male 14-year-old 200m backstroke. Picture: Luke Plummer.By Marc McGowan
BERWICK swim star Craig Watson is making a habit of smashing his personal bests these days.
And when the 14-year-old Casey Tiger Shark does it, he inevitably goes close to the state record.
This time he went a step further.
Watson travelled to the New South Wales Short Course Age Championships with the Victorian Target 2010 Squad this month and left a lasting reminder of his talent.
While still in heavy training, the year nine Berwick Secondary College student competed in seven events and won two silver medals in the 100-metre and 200m backstroke and a bronze medal in the 200m individual medley.
Watson also narrowly missed another medal, finishing fourth in the 200m freestyle.
But his 200m backstroke result came with extra lustre as he trumped Mornington Peninsula swimmer Shane Gagliardi’s 2006 Victorian male 14-year-old record of 2:06.59.
Watson touched in 2:05.97, which was an astounding time considering he had set a two-second personal best of 2:08.19 only weeks earlier at the Victorian Short Course Open Championships.
“I was pretty surprised, actually. I wasn’t really expecting to go that fast,” he said.
“Getting down to that time is pretty big with me going up against the bigger boys and knowing I can go that bit faster, which is always good.”
The Australian Short Course Open Championships await the teenage prodigy this week and he will be able to swim in front of friends and family, with the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre hosting the meet.
Tiger Sharks head coach Ben Hiddlestone was thrilled with his young protege’s performance, but tempered his prospects for the national competition.
“It was an awesome swim by Craig. He’s starting to really polish up and show what a class athlete he is,” he said.
“He’s still 14 and you don’t all of a sudden become a 17 or 18-year-old – my expectations haven’t changed at all.
“It would be ridiculous to put pressure on a 14-year-old guy in his first time at Australian open level.”
Hiddlestone believes Watson has untapped potential over the longer backstroke distance and preferred not to predict upcoming times, but the athlete himself has a goal in mind.
“I’m looking to get down to 2:04.00 at the state age championships (next month),” Watson said.
“I need to improve on my speed into the turns and off the wall.
“I’m also looking to try and get some more speed (at the front of my race because my) second half is pretty strong.”
Team-mate Trent Lindsey, 15, also competed for the Victorian Target 2010 Squad at the NSW Short Course Age Championships, but his seven-week battle with a virus prevented him from achieving his usually stellar results.
Lindsey’s best placing was 10th in the 100m freestyle, which was a far cry from his magnificent efforts at April’s Australian Long Course Age Championships, when he came fourth in the 200m freestyle and sixth in the 400m freestyle.
Brad York, 17, is the only other Tiger Shark to qualify for this week’s Australian Short Course Open Championships.
“Brad is balancing his final semester of VCE and is keeping up eight sessions a week,” Hiddlestone said.
“He’s swimming good times in training, but we’re not tapering him through this because Brad is still aiming at state age short course.
“It’d be unfair of me to expect anything more than for him to get some PBs and gain experience.”
