The Spartan statistician has been hard-pressed to keep up with the frequent record breaking over the last few years – by the throwers that is.  Whilst most of the track and other field records have stood still (partly, it has to be said, due to more rigorous scrutiny than in previous years) our throwers have continuously pushed back the boundaries.  But this one is rather special.

In his first outdoor competition of the season on the 1st May Zane Duquemin – still only 19 – threw the senior discus 54.93m at Bedford in the British Universities and Colleges Sports.  This increased by almost two metres the Spartan (and indeed Island) mark set by Tony Satchwell 27 years ago!  More remarkably the discus throws were downwind – expert throwers prefer a breeze half into the throw from the right to enable the discus to use the aerodynamics to float it on.

Though anyone watching the throws training group over the winter won’t be surprised.  Zane pretty much dedicates his free time to throwing and it is done with purpose and expert guidance.  The throw lifts him into 5th place overall in the UK senior rankings in these early days of the season.  For good measure he topped his shot PB with 17.01m to lie 4th in the rankings.

Expect to see even greater things in the months to come.