Source: www.guardian.co.tt
Story by: Nigel Simon
National swimmer and inaugural Youth Olympic Games gold medallist, Christian-Paul Homer was in good form on the weekend as he claimed four gold medals, all in personal best times at the Sheffield Premier Long Course Meet. The three day meet which was held at the Ponds Forge International Sports Complex, Sheffield, England, ended on Sunday. First up for Homer, the First Citizens Sports Foundation “Male Youth Athlete of the Year, was the 100 metres backstroke boys’ Open final on Friday night. Homer won in 57.49 seconds followed by Michael Gregory (58.08) and Braxston Timm (59.72). In the morning heats, Homer was the fastest qualifier in 57.75 seconds.
Second was Michael Gregory (58.42) followed by Anthony O’Driscoll (59.30) and Braxston Timm (59.93).
Next up for the England-based Homer was the 50 metres freestyle where he scorched the field to claim gold in 23.86 while Alex Garnett took silver in 23.99 and Levi Lucas, bronze in 24.13. Homer had topped the heats in 23.66 while Gregory (23.94), Garnett (23.99) and Lucas (24.20) were the other top qualifiers.
On Saturday he also made light work of the field in the 50m butterfly and stopped the clock in 25.11 seconds in the final. Second home was Anstis Ralph (25.63) while Alex Wooldridge took bronze in 26.01.
Earlier in the heats, Homer touched the wall first in 25.21 while Ralph and Wooldrifge were joint second in 26.13 and Joe French Wooldridge, fourth in 26.28. His final golden swim came on Sunday night in the 100m butterfly in 55.19 seconds well ahead of French (56.47) and Siroos Saeed (57.27). Once again, Homer was also the fastest in the morning heats in 55.86 while French (56.94), Saeed (57.70) and Lewis Coleman (57.89) completed the top four qualifiers.