RTSC Gala Reports

Saturday 15th November - Essex League Division 2 - Rochford

With a number of regulars absent from the line up, Romford Town's B Team had to battle hard for their second place finish in the Essex League Division 2 gala at Rochford's Clements Hall pool on Saturday night.

In the early exchanges Romford found wins hard to come by, but made sure that they remained in close contention with a string of runner up places.

Zoey Littlechild was the first to clock up five team points for her 2nd place in the Girls Open 50 meters Butterfly and Jamie Harrington immediately followed suit in the Boys Open event. 12 years old Joshua Rogers was next up and he set a PB time of 36.64 in the Boys U/13 50 metres Backstroke. Gabby Wallace and David Ward were at their best too as they both recorded PB times over 100 metres Breaststroke. Wallace with a time of 1min 26.64secs and Ward with a time of 1min 22.11secs, also finished with 2nd places. In the U/11 age group there were two more 2nd place finishes from Bethany Moore and Sam Allsop in their 50 metres Freestyle swims.

The U/13 Boys Freestyle Relay Team of Joshua Rogers, Conor Toolis, Billy Bass and William Harding put another five points on the board and this was followed by five more from Louise Harrington for her second place in the Girls U/15 100 metres Freestyle. The same U/13 boy’s quartet later added another 2nd place in their Medley Relay event. The Girls U/13 Medley Relay Team of Shara Islam, Lindsay McLachlan, Lily Rose Fancourt and Hannah Coles were also 2nd.

In the U/11 25 metres Butterfly Sophie Ward looked as though she would take Romford's first win of the evening only to be pipped at the post. The wait, however, was soon over as the Girls U/15 Medley Relay Team of Jodie Ward, Gabby Wallace, Louise Harrington and Alex Rose combined strongly to win by more than six seconds. In the Freestyle event Isabell Allsop changed places with Wallace and the girls added another five 2nd place points to the team score board. Coles went on to take 3rd spot in the U/13 50 metres Freestyle.

Harrington was soon back in the pool and was quick to double her's and Romford's winning tally, showing her rivals a clear pair of heels over 50 metres Butterfly. In the boys event David Ward was at his best too in finishing 2nd.

Andrew Ward stepped up to deputise in the Boys Open 100 metres Breaststroke and powered to a PB time of 1min 20.20secs and another valuable runner up place. He and Zoey Littlechild later went on to take 3rd place in their Open 100 metres Backstroke events and Sara Morris was 3rd in the Freestyle.

The U/11 Medley and Freestyle Relay Teams, both comprising Sam Allsop, Conor Houlihan, Oliver Coles and Jonathan Toolis, notched up respective 2nd and 3rd place finishes. Allsop added an individual 3rd over 50 metres Backstroke.

The Boys Open Medley Team of Joshua Rogers, David Ward, Andrew Ward and Jamie Harrington secured 3rd place from their efforts. There were also 3rd place finishes for Lindsay McLachlan and Billy Bass who both contested the U/13 50 metres Breaststroke events.David Ward, Michael Fearon, Joshua Rogers and Conor Toolis were 3rd in both of their Medley and Freestyle Relay swims in the U/15 age group.

The tension mounted and it began to look as though Town were falling off the pace, until they put together four wins and two second places finishes from six consecutive swims, to put them right back in the mix. The Harrington family made it win number three as Louise’s brother Jamie took the honours in the Boys Open 100 metres Freestyle. In the very next event Laura Brooks kept her head and a good pace to take the Girls U/11 50 metres Breaststroke and in a close finish Conor Houlihan was narrowly beaten into 2nd place in the boy’s event. The next two wins came in the U/13 Butterfly events with Lily Rose Fancourt and Conor Toolis wrapping up the respective girls and boys races. Jodie Ward then chipped in with a timely 2nd place in the Girls U/15 100 metres Backstroke.

With only two events remaining, Romford's Boys Open Freestyle Team of Jamie Harrington, Michael Fearon, David Ward and Andrew Ward stormed to victory and a 3rd place finish in the closing Squadron Relay from Sophie Ward, Sam Allsop, Hannah Coles, Joshua Rogers, Louise Harrington, Michael Fearon, Zoey Littlechild and Jamie Harrington proved to be just enough.

Final Scores:

1. Rochford 135
2. Romford Town 110
3. Braintree 108
3. Harwich 108
5. Canvey Island dnc

Well done to all