Trackspeed1 kicked off the new summer season in style with personal bests and championship records that now suggest there could be some very significant personal breakthroughs this year!Competing in the various County Championship meetings around the south, the leading individual performance came from 16-year-old Frederica Foster (pictured), whose lifetime best of 40.2 seconds over 300m, also shattered the existing Kent Championships record, at Ashford. She ran the same time in both heat and final, and ended runaway winner in both.
It was an especially remarkable performance, as she attends Alleyn's School in Dulwich, which had been closed all week due to an outbreak of swine flu. She, along with all the other pupils at the school, had been forced to take a course of the tamiflu antedote all week, which does not come without some side effects.
Also at the same meeting was Trackspeed1 junior 400m athlete from Blackheath and Bromley Harriers, Alex Blair. He put a solid winter's training to good use with a personal best on his first outing of the year, taking silver in 50.79s, which means he has now set lifetime best marks both indoors and out in the space of three months.
Phillip Doorgachurn has been working toward 200/400m training this last few months, but opted to put his basic speed to the test in the Surrey Championships at Kings Meadow. He took fourth in the 100m in 10.87s, after finishing second in the 200m clocking 22.06s, marking one of his fastest openings to any season. Four times Midland Champion Laura Langowski (pictured with medal alongside Phil) took silver in the Surrey 400m with a less satisfying performance born of a nasty virus she failed to shake off during the week.
Meanwhile, in the Sussex Championships, held at Crawley, Savannah Echel-Thomson was praying that problems with shin soreness of late would not prevent her from doing herself justice in the 200 and 400m. It didn't, as she cruised to easy wins in the Junior Women's 400m clocking 57.0 seconds, and 25.3s in the 200m to claim double gold.
It was as if the lines of communication were open across the Atlantic, because the three athletes now nearing some sort of fitness in Florida also produced some alarmingly fast times in the squad's domestic time trials at Disney.
Set Osho put a ragged start to the trip well and truly behind him by abandoning the treatment table (pictured) as he stormed to the equivalent of a lifetime's best 46.8s over 400m - his
second outing over the distance within 2 hours, amid 90-degree heat, while training partner Ryan Thomas also produced highly creditable 48.4 and 48.5 runs.
In the shorter events, and running solo, James Ellington produced a 15.8s 150m, 10.43s 100m, and 6.72 60m, the latter being described by leading USA sprints coach, Brooks Johnson, as "technically off the scale", and "virtual perfection".
Johnson, who is also the training consultant for Trackspeed1, was hugely impressed with Set Osho, describing him as "world class potential with just a few details to iron out technically".
Trackspeed1 coach John Powell was delighted with all the results: "We have experienced an exceptionally tough winter with the weather really hindering training for the first time in many years. We've had injuries that have not been short term, and it has been very frustrating at times. But things certainly seem to be coming together now, and that is great."
All the TS1 performances at the counties will be updated in the next 24 hours on this website's rankings page. The athletes in Florida return to the UK on Saturday May 16, and most will open their competitive account at the Bedford International Games on May 31st.
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