page revision date: 24th September 2008

John throws himself into Welsh vest

John Stowell is a very promising young athlete with Pembrokeshire Harriers who set out as a shot putter, took on the discus and has recently showed his prowess in throwing the hammer.
He has made big strides in all three events to such a degree that he is already won the Welsh Club Championship in all three and is the proud holder of a Welsh vest after representing his county in the Celtic Games.

‘Sir’ started him off

He started out in athletics when he began at Sir Thomas Picton School and received every encouragement from Mr Meredith Richards, showing real potential at the shot, moving on to the discus and slowly learning the intricacies of the discus spin before trying the even more technically difficult hammer throw.
But it is all working out very nicely because John receives specialist coaching from Simon Roach in the shot at Haverfordwest on a Tuesday evening and travels up to Carmarthen on Thursday nights so that Richard Griffiths can guide him in the other two disciplines. It means a fair bit of travel but it is evidently paying off because his throws are increasing in length.
“My shot putting has gone from just over ten metres to 12.52 metres and my discus has improved from just over 30 metres to around 35 metres. I’m chuffed with that but best of all is the hammer since that has risen to 32 metres after I had been at 25 metres for quite a while. I’m doing some weight training but mainly working on my speed and it is beginning to pay off.”

Walking for points

What is nice to report is the fact that John really enjoys being part of the Pembrokeshire Harriers and will do anything he can to help them do well. In their last meeting, the popular Gerald Codd Memorial Event, at the STP School track, he shone in all three throwing disciplines but also took part in the walk so that he could pick up valuable points for his club!

Rugby involvement

As well as his athletics, John is also a very keen rugby player and really enjoys playing second row for STP at his age level and for Haverfordwest RFC, where he is coached by David Llewellin and Jim Fryer. He’s already been chosen for the Pembrokeshire Schools under 15’s squad where he is looked after by Kim Norkett, Phil Viol and sometimes Kenny Davies. Someone else who has given him total sport in both sports is his mum Connie, who transports him to venues and also goes to watch him take part.

County success

Back on the athletics front, John won the County Sports in the year seven shot and was third in the Dyfed Sports in the discus, winning both in year eight at both county and three-county levels. In year nine he won all three competitions in both championships as he added the hammer event to his list of events and went even further by winning the hammer in the Welsh Schools Championships at Brecon, throwing 32 metres from a standing throw.
Since then he has started to throw the hammer with one spin, working gradually towards the 3.5 spins needed at the top level. John knows that it will take time but he is ready for the hard work and lots of practice it will involve.

Welsh clubs champ

John also took part in the Welsh Club Championships against other clubs as far afield as Swansea, Carmarthen, Wrexham, Vale of Glamorgan, Bridgend and Cardiff – and was thrilled to be selected for the Celtic Games, which took place at Grangemouth, Sterling in Scotland. It was the biggest event he has ever been in and came a creditable fourth since he was taking on boys more than a year older than he was.
He was immensely proud to don his Welsh vest and track suit and was awarded a trophy to mark his participation – and there is no doubt that it will be the first recognition of many if the modest young man named John Stowell can maintain his level of commitment to Preseli Harriers and Welsh athletics in terms of the throwing events.