RTSC Gala Reports

Saturday 16th/Sunday 17th October - 5th RTSC Licensed Level 3 Open Meet
Southbury Leisure Centre

Romford hosted its annual open meet at the weekend, once again having to travel outside the borough and take advantage of the well equipped facilities of the Southbury Road Leisure Centre at Enfield.

Fears and apprehensions with this being the first real test of the season, were all brushed to one side as there were personal best times being achieved in abundance with many Essex County Age Group qualifying times being achieved and a British record thrown in for good measure too.

Saturday morning saw the girls opening up with the 400 metres Freestyle whilst the boys started the day’s competition with the 400 metres Individual Medley.

Ten year old Jessica Ayling started the ball rolling with a big personal best time in the 10 years 400 metres Freestyle as she claimed 2nd place, whilst Erin Corney went one better recording a five second PB to gain 1st place in the 12 years 400 Freestyle with team mate Holly Hilldrew 3rd.

Stephanie Tomlinson started her weekend off with a big personal best time too as she gained 2nd spot in the 13 years 400 Freestyle with Sophie Ward in 4th place.

Bethany Hall, competing in the 14 years and over category came 1st whilst, Victoria Christmas finished 3rd with Rosie Webber 4th.

In the boys 400 metres Individual Medley ten year olds Billy Harrison and David Brooks gained Essex County qualifying times, as Billy was 2nd and David 4th. Mitchell Wilson was 3rd in the 12 years age group, whilst Jack Ayling came 3rd with Patrick Rourke 4th in the 13 years category.

In the 14 years and over age group Luke Sheridan stormed to a big personal best time to take 1st spot in his 400 Individual Medley.

Next up for the girls was the 200 Individual Medley and Emily Milton, competing in the nine year old girls category continued to accumulate her Essex County times as she was 3rd just behind Martha Merritt who swam well to gain 2nd place.

Jessica Ayling came out on top in winning the 10 years 200 Medley, whilst in the 11 years age group Rebecca Cribb was 3rd with Chloe Thompson in 4th. In the 12 years age group Holly Hilldrew was 3rd, whilst Erin Conry was 4th.

Bethany Moore gained 1st place in the 13 years age group with Sophie Ward 3rd, whilst it proved to be a “one, two, three” in the girls 14 years and over age group as Bethany Hall took another 1st place with Amy Harris 2nd and Victoria Christmas 3rd.

Next event for the boys was the 200 Freestyle and Jude Ward got his first medal of the day as he gained 2nd spot in the nine years age group. Billy Harrison was 2nd and David Brooks 3rd in the ten years category whilst fast improving Ben Davis swam well to take 3rd place for the 12 years.

In the 13 years 200 Freestyle Patrick Rourke swam well to take 2nd place with team mate Jonathan Toolis gaining 4th and there was a 2nd place finish for Harry Coker in the 14 years and over age group.

Next in the schedule of races was the first of the sprint events, the girls 50 metres Freestyle. There were 2nd places for nine year old Emily Milton and ten year old Jessica Ayling whilst Chloe Thompson was 4th in the 11 years age group. Bethany Moore made it a further gold medal as she won the 13 years girls 50 Freestyle.

Nine year old James Cooper romped to first place in the 50 metres Backstroke whilst training partners Joe Lomas and David Brooks were 3rd and 4th respectively in the 10 years 50 metres back. Jacob Smith was 4th in the boys 11 years age group as Joshua Burcombe took 3rd spot in the 12 year category. Thomas Badley and David Slipaitis were 2nd and 3rd respectively in the 13 years boys 50 back whilst Harry Coker took top spot in the 14 years and over.

The 100 metres Backstroke saw Chloe Thompson picking up further medals as she gained 3rd place in the 11 years age group whilst Hannah Binning did likewise in the 12 years. Rosie Webber was 2nd in the 14 years and over 100 Backstroke whilst 13 year old Amy Marren swam to a very good personal best time of 1:15.41 as she won her age group.

Taking the confidence gained from a terrific 100 metres time, Amy took this into the second day of competition to set about achieving a new British Disability 200 metres Backstroke S9 category record. With a great swim she broke the old record by almost 15 seconds setting a new mark of 2:37.99 and achieving 2nd place in her 13 year age group category.

Erin Corney competing strongly throughout the whole weekend came first in the 200 metres Backstroke. In the nine years age group Martha Merritt was 2nd with Emily Milton 4th. Jessica Ayling was 2nd in the 10 years 200 metres Backstroke whilst Rebecca Cribb was 2nd in the 11 years age group with Georgia Milton 4th.

In the boys 100 metres Breaststroke, Billy Harrison was in amongst the medals again in gaining the silver medal, whilst George Foley gained 1st spot in the 14 years and over. There was 4th place finishes for 12 year old Mitchell Wilson and 14 year old Thomas Badley.

In the longer 200 metres Breaststroke the following day, ten year old Billy Harrison was gaining another silver medal with David Brooks in 3rd. Jacob Smith swam well to gain 2nd place in the 11 years category whilst there was 3rd and 4th place finish for 13 year olds Thomas Badley and Jack Ayling.

Tommy Beardsell gained 4th place in the 12 years 200 Breaststroke whilst George Foley won his event in the 14 years and over category.

In the girls 200 metres Butterfly, nine year Martha Merritt swam well to gain 1st place, whilst it was a “one two” for Holly Hilldrew and Erin Corney in the 12 years 200 Butterfly. Sophie Ward won the 13 years age group with Stephanie Tomlinson 3rd and it proved another “one two three” for Rosie Webber, Amy Harris and Victoria Christmas as they battled it out in the 14 years and over age group. This they repeated in the shorter 100 metres Butterfly.

In the 11 years 100 metres Butterfly event, Anna Manning was 3rd and Chloe Thompson 4th whilst Eloise Dietz swam well to come 1st for the 10 years. In the 12 years 100 Butterfly, Erin Corney came 1st with Holly Hilldrew 3rd whilst Sophie Ward was 2nd and Stephanie Tomlinson 3rd for the 13 years age group.

The boys 100 metres Butterfly saw 1st places for Patrick Rourke in the 13 years age group with Jack Ayling 2nd and William Manning 3rd. George Foley was 1st in the 14 years and over age group with Charles Sturley 2nd and James Kidd 4th.

In the longer 200 metres Butterfly, 11 year Daniel Weston gained a good 4th place whilst Mitchell Wilson was 2nd in the 12 years age group. Jack Ayling gained 1st place with William Manning 3rd for the 13 year olds, whilst George Foley, Charles Sturley and James Kidd made it “One, two three” in the 14 years category.

Further medals and personal best times were gained in the 200 metres girls’ Breaststroke. Jessica Ayling won the 10 years age group as Emily Milton was 3rd in the nine years. Holly Hilldrew and Erin Corney were 2nd and 3rd in the 12 year category with Sophie Ward and Mollie Merrit coming 3rd and 4th in the 13 years age group 200 Breaststroke.

In the 100 metres Breaststroke there was nothing to separate Holly Hilldrew and Amy Grimshaw from Hillingon as the pair recorded exactly the same time to gain 2nd place whilst Amy Harris was 3rd in the 14 years and over category..

The boys 200 Backstroke saw nine years olds Jude Ward coming 1st and Lawrie Arrowsmith 2nd . Patrick Rourke gained a further gold medal in winning the 13 years age group with Calum Connelly 3rd. Tommy Beardsell and Zachary Coleman swam well to come 3rd and 4th in the 12 years whilst George Foley made it another win in the 14 years age group.

In the girls 100 metres Freestyle, Bethany Moore won the 13 years age group whilst Georgia Milton was 2nd in the 11 years category. Victoria Christmas was 2nd in the 14 years and over age group.

In the longer 200 metres Freestyle nine year olds Martha Merritt and Emily Milton were 2nd and 3rd, whilst Jessica Ayling was 1st for the ten year olds. eorgia Milton picked up a 3rd place in the 11 years age group whilst Erin Corney won a further event in the 12 years age group. Bethany Moore was 2nd for the 13 year olds whilst Victoria Christmas was 2nd and Rosie Webber 3rd in the 14 years and over.

The boys 200 medley saw David Brooks coming 2nd and Joe Lomas 4th in the 10 years age group whilst Calum Connelly 2nd, Jonathan Toolis 3rd and David Slipaitis was 4th for the 13 year olds. Charles Sturley and James Kidd made it a “one two” in the 14 years and over category.

The long distances on day two proved just as successful as day one with the girls contesting the 400 metres Individual Medley and being particularly on top form.Erin Corney won the 12 years event, Bethany Moore won the 13 years event and Amy Harris won the 14 years and over age group.

In the boys 400 Freestyle Charles Sturley was 1st, James Kidd 2nd and Thomas Benson 3rd for the 14 year and overs. Jack Ayling was 2nd, Thomas Badley 3rd and Sam Hollington 4th in the 13 years age group.Mitchell Wilson was 3rd for the 12 year olds, whilst Billy Harrison and Davis Brooks were 3rd and 4th respectively in the 10 years age group. (Both in County qualifying times. .

There were many more fine performances over the weekend. Well done to all those that competed and to those parents who all played an important role in making this season Open Meet a real success.

Kevin Engstrom