RTSC Gala Reports

7th/8th March 2008 - Essex County Age Group Championships

RTSC grab another 17 County titles

Romford Town swimmers turned in some outstanding performances last weekend in the third round of this year’s Essex County Age Group Championships at Thurrock’s Blackshots Pool. They amassed 17 new County Titles from their 40 medal haul, with four swimmers between them securing seven new National Qualifying Times and two new Event Best Performance Times.

12 year old Sean Houlihan was in exceptional form as he powered his way to five gold medals from six events. He stamped his mark in his opening swim with a win in the 200 metres IM with a National Qualifying Time of 2mins 28.82secs. Team mates Harry Coker and Joseph Stamp made it a clean sweep of the medals for Romford as they took the respective 2nd and 3rd places. Coker added two more silver medals to his collection as he finished behind Houlihan in both the 100 and 200 metres butterfly events. Likewise Stamp turned in PB performances to take the runner up places behind Houlihan in his 100 metres freestyle and 100 metres backstroke swims. In his last event, the 100 metres backstroke, Houlihan, who set an Event Best Time in the heats, smashed this again by more than a second in the final. His time of 1min 08.01secs also gave him his second NQT. In amongst these swims he added a bronze medal over 400 metres freestyle for good measure, while Stamp went on to take 4th place in the 100 butterfly and 5th in the 400 metres freestyle.

Collecting her first three Essex County titles last time out, 14 years old Kelsey Richards made it seven in all with another four from four events this time round. She left it late in her first swim, the 200 metres freestyle, though a good finish gave her the narrowest of victories. With team mate Sian Aston in the next lane to Richards in the 100 metres breaststroke final, Romford swimmers occupied poll positions. In another close race, Richards gained the upper hand over the closing stages to take the win by half a metre, with Aston battling her way through to the silver. Brimming with confidence, Richards set a blistering pace over the opening butterfly leg of her 400 metres IM, a pace she maintained through to a 6 seconds PB and her first NQT of the season. This was closely followed by an equally impressive swim over 400 metres freestyle and another NQT of 4mins 31.66secs.

Elena Sheridan is another Town swimmer that impresses each time out. From some way down the programme, she posted an early mark over 200 metres freestyle, with a time of 2mins 20.00secs. Whilst a number of rivals tried hard, and came close, Sheridan had done more than enough to take the gold. Like Richards, Sheridan showed how to lead from the front over 400 metres IM, and her time of 5mins 18.24secs was also well inside her NQT. Sheridan rounded off her weekend with her third gold and another NQT in her main event, the 200 metres butterfly. She stamped her authority on this event in the early stages and her win with another NQT of 2mins 28.59 was nearly 12 seconds clear of her 2nd placed rival. There was more to come in the girls 12 years age group as Bethany Hall added another two wins in this category. She dominated the 100 metres breaststroke event leading from start to finish. The result, however, was not as clear cut over 100 metres IM, though Hall produced a spectacular finish to take this title by only 0.03secs, with a time of 1min 14.13secs.

16 years old Daniel Stepton, who had already qualified to this year’s National Championships over 100 metres freestyle, was unlucky to lose out to Waltham Forest's International Daniel Fogg in this event, finishing in second spot with a time of 53.75secs. A PB over 200 metres IM secured him bronze and he set another PB mark over 100 metres butterfly to reach the final, where he finished 5th. The recent increase to his training programme had clearly paid off as he as he wrapped up the 400 metres freestyle event with a winning time of 4mins 09.18, adding another NQT to his collection.

There was a gold medal too for 13 years old Louise Harrington which came after a thrilling finale to her 200 metres butterfly swim. Just off the pace with 25 metres to go she changed up a gear, moving through to snatch victory, and retain her title, in the last couple of strokes. She later added a 5th place over 400 metres freestyle. In the same 400 metres event, 13 years old Harriette Davis stormed through the field to take the silver medal only half a second off of gold with a PB time of 4mins 39.47secs. She had earlier pocket d the silver medal with a PB swim over the 200 metres distance.

In the 15 years old category, Jessica Coles grabbed her first ever breaststroke crown with a commanding swim over 100 metres chalking up a PB time of 1min 18.13secs. A strong breaststroke leg was the backbone of her 400 IM swim, though she had to settle for 2nd spot here, just a second behind the winner. She put in another strong performance to finish 6th in the 400 metres freestyle event.

In the boys 15 years age group, Christopher Stamp came away with two medals from his butterfly events, his best a silver from a powerful 100 metres swim with a PB time of 1min 01.38secs. A more cautious approach to the 200 metres event was still good enough for 3rd place. A PB of 57.44secs over 100 metres freestyle sneaked him into the final where he finished 6th.

James Davis (15) increased his medal tally by two, though this time he added a silver to the three bronze from the last round. With PB’s from each of his weekend’s four events, he opened with 3rd place in the 200 metres IM. His silver came over 400 metres freestyle where his time of 4.18.22secs was six seconds faster than his previous best. Training partner Thomas Toolis also set a PB to take 4th place. Davis finished 4th in the 200 metres butterfly and 5th in the 100 metres breaststroke final while Toolis set another PB to finish 6th over 100 metres butterfly. In the 200 metres butterfly event he was unlucky to be disqualified after a start violation. In the same age group Jake Harrison was also unlucky not to come away with more than a bronze medal from his 100 metres breaststroke swim. Having hit the front at the 75 metres mark, only a misjudgement at the final turn lost him a metre and victory.

There were PBs for 15 year old Nicole Raymond too, in both of her freestyle swims. Her first over 200 metres secured her the silver medal with a time of 2mins 12.10secs. After her first 400 metres swim for nearly a year there will be a few competitors looking over their shoulders as she came close to another medal when finishing 4th.

In the 13 years age group there were medals for Thomas Clark and Alfie Burr. Clark, who had already recorded a PB in the heats of the 100 metres Butterfly, carved another second off in the final to take silver with 1min 09.67secs. He finished just outside of the medals in his 200 metres IM swim. Burr showed that he meant business with a lively 5th place swim in the 400 metres freestyle event before storming through to a seven seconds PB and the bronze over 200 metres butterfly.

16 years old Grant Chandler was not too far from his best with a promising 200 metres butterfly swim that secured him 3rd place in the boys 16+ age group.

There were many more outstanding swims from Romford Town swimmers. Those that finished just outside the medals but collected points towards the overall championship title by reaching the final were:

Sophie Ward	4th - Girls 9 years 200 backstroke
Bethany Moore	5th - Girls 9 years 200 backstroke
Victoria Christmas	6th - Girls 10 years 400 IM
	6th - Girls 10 years 200 IM
Sam Bishop	4th - Boys 10 years 400 freestyle
	4th - Boys 10 years 200 IM
Brock Whiston	6th - Girls 11 years 400 IM
Thomas Johnson	6th - Boys 13 years 100 backstroke
Georgia Hunton Clarke	6th - Girls 16+ years 200 freestyle
Jamie Harrington	6th - Boys 16+ years 400 freestyle
Thomas Ingram	6th - Boys 16+ years 100 butterfly
Billy Tubbs	6th - Boys 16+ years 100 freestyle
	5th - Boys 16+ years 400 freestyle

Well done to everybody. A really great weekend of swimming.

Gary Rogers