RTSC Gala Reports

12th April 2008 - Essex Mini League - Harwich

Town’s youngsters got their 2008 Essex Mini League season off to a good start as they set about defending last year’s title.

Nine year old Sophie Ward got the first points on the board with a good 3rd place in the Girls 11 and under 50m Backstroke event. Tony Bass did even better by winning the Boys event. Town’s next win quickly followed when Toby Mascall and Jonathan Toolis teamed up with debutants Connor Houlihan and Billy Davis to win the Boys 9 years Breaststroke Relay.

In the 10 and under 50m Backstroke events Maddie Webber claimed an excellent 2nd place for the Girls and Sam Allsop made it 3 wins in a row for the Boys. In the 13 and under 100m Freestyle, good swims from, another debutant, Ashley James and Michael Fearon earned 3rd and 2nd place for the Girls and Boys respectively. Martin Butterworth then secured another win for the Boys in the Open 50m Butterfly event.

There were more good points for Romford in the next block of 50m Breaststroke events with Maddie Webber and Jonathan Toolis taking good second places for the 10 and unders, whilst Tony Bass was also 2nd for the 11 and under Boys with Laura Brooks chipping in with 3rd place for the Girls.

After 14 of the 48 events Romford trailed Harwich by a mere 4 points, but a run of 5 events where no points were won proved decisive in terms of the final result. The nature of the mini league is that swimmers score no points if they swim faster that the County Qualifying Time for their event. In these instances swimmers are always disappointed not to pick up points for their club, but it is important to understand that these swimmers will have achieved significant personal best times. Nine year olds Bethany Moore and Connor Houlihan were therefore both “time faulted” in the 10 and under 50m Freestyle events, as was Elly Periera in the 11 and under race.

It was Sam Hollington who got the scoreboard moving again with 2nd place in the Boys 11 and under 50m Freestyle, before Holly Richards took 3rd place in the Girls Open 50m Backstroke. In the 13 and Under 50m Breaststroke both Shara Islam and Billy Bass swam to good 2nd places.

The “squadron” Butterfly events gave Town’s swimmers the opportunity to show how a greater emphasis on this stroke in training is benefiting performance and both the Girls team of Sophie Ward, Bethany Moore, Laura Brooks, Hannah Coles, Sara Morris and Isabel Allsop and the Boys team of Oliver Coles, Toby Mascall, Sam Hollington, Conor Toolis, Andrew Ward and George Ellis achieved impressive 2nd places.

The Boys 11 and under Freestyle team of Toby Mascall, Tony Bass, Sam Allsop and Sam Hollington took 3rd place, before there was an excellent debut win in the Girls 13 and under 50m Backstroke for Danielle Butterworth despite not having fully recovered from a nasty foot injury. Charlie Davis took 3rd place in the Boys event.

David Ward, another on his club debut, swam a great PB to earn 2nd place in the Boys Open 100m Freestyle. Jessica Watts, yet another Romford Town debutant, joined Sophie Ward, Bethany Moore and Maddie Webber to claim an impressive victory in the Girls 9 years Freestyle Relay. For the Boys event, Toby Mascall, Jonathan Toolis and Oliver Coles were joined by Billy Davis, another “first-timer” to take second.

Further encouraging Butterfly swims followed with wins in the 10 and unders 25m events by Bethany Moore and Sam Allsop. For the 11 and unders, Sophie Ward and Toby Mascall pitched in with 3rd and 2nd places respectively in the 50m events. Hannah Coles and Conor Toolis both achieved good 2nd places for the 13 and unders over the 50m distance.

In the Open 50m Breaststroke events there was also a second place for Gabby Wallace, but unfortunately no points for Andrew Ward’s “time fault”. Gabby was joined by Maddie Webber, Jessica Watts, Elly Periera, Isabel Allsop and Holly Richards as the Girls Squadron Breaststroke team were also second.

In the final four Freestyle relays there were wins for the 13 and under Girls team of Hannah Coles, Ashley James, Shara Islam and Danielle Butterworth and the 10 and under boys of Connor Houlihan, Jonathan Toolis, Sam Allsop and Sam Hollington.

Michael Fearon, Conor Toolis, Charlie Davis and Billy Bass for the boys under 13’s and Bethany Moore, Maddie Webber, Sophie Ward and Jessica Watts for the Girls 10 and under attained good second places.

Final Scores:

1. Harwich 178
2. Romford Town 153
3. Braintree 131
4. Canvey Island 119
5. Maldon Sharks 71

A very encouraging evening for Romford Town’s up and coming swimmers. Well done to all.