On Saturday 25^th July 2009. Charlotte Newman and senior coach Barry Thomas travelled to the ASA National Age Group Championships at Ponds Forge in Sheffield. Charlotte had reached the qualifying for the 12 year old girls 100 metre backstroke. There would only be 27 girls who reached this standard from across the country, competing in this prestigious event. Charlotte went in the first heat and swam an excellent race, following the race plan exactly. She set a 2 second personal best time of 1:11:60, narrowly missing out on a place in the final by .5 of a second. An excellent result, following a great season for Charlotte. A big thank you to everyone for the cards and words of support. A special thank you to Barry and Hannah Thomas for being there on the day.