RTSC Gala Reports

Saturday 31st October/Sunday 1st November 2009 - Ipswich Junior Open Meet - Crown Pools

Romford Town Swimming Club took a strong team to Ipswich at the weekend for their first competitive open competition of the new season. There were many swims that lit up a very successful weekend as Town retained their Top Visiting Club Award .

There were fireworks from the start when 11 year old Bethany Moore stormed her way to a nine seconds PB over 200 metres backstroke, which not only lit the fuse for a cracker-jack weekend for her but was the spark for some explosive performances from a number of Town’s other young swimmers. In the boy’s 200 metres Backstroke event, 10 years old Kieran Gore, seeded outside of the medals, was also off like a rocket, slicing more than five seconds off his previous best to take silver.

In the girls 13/14 years 100 metres Butterfly there were medals for both Amy Beardwell-Lacey and Bethaney Hall. Beardwell-Lacey set a strong early pace, powering on to take the silver spot with a PB time of 1min 10.95secs. Hall was close behind, taking Bronze with her own PB time of 1min 12.15secs.

In the boys event, 13 years old Harry Coker also lit up the afternoons proceedings with a PB time of 1min 05.77secs adding another bronze medal for Romford. There were further successes in the 100m Butterfly events with silver medals going to both 15 year old Louise Harrington and 16 years old James Davis. 15 years old Alfie Burr was also on top form for third place with team mate Thomas Clark only a hairs breadth behind in fourth.

It was pleasing to see the progress of Town’s youngest swimmers, many competing at this level for the first time. Nine year old Chloe Thompson showed that she could be talent for the future gaining her first bronze medal of the weekend over 50m freestyle as Kieron Gore chipped in with another silver in the boys event.

In the 11 years age group Jodie Whitehead had the crowd on their feet as she stormed through the field to take gold in the 50m backstroke with a time of 36.21 seconds, some three seconds faster than last time out. This time Moore had to settle for second best though another strong performance from her left her only one stroke away from another win.

12 years old Brock Winston got her busy programme got off to a good start with the runner up spot in the 100 metres breaststroke and recent changes to her stroke looked promising for the future.

There was double gold for Romford’s girls in 200 metres backstroke event as 14 year old Bethaney Hall improved on her previous best to win with a time of 2mins 32.40secs. In the age group above Rachel Walsh took the win with a little more to spare, though was some way short of her best on this occasion.

In the boys 200 metres backstroke event Harry Coker collected his second bronze of the afternoon with a sparkling performance that saw him carve 6 seconds off his previous best to finish with a time of 2min 27.04secs. James Davis again added bronze over the same distance in the 16 years age group.

As she had earlier in the day, Bethany Moore exploded into action in her first swim of the evening session to grab her second gold medal, this time over 200metres freestyle. Her winning time of 2.29.12 smashed her previous best by nearly 10 seconds. Training partner Sophie Ward also set an impressive PB to take 3rd place only a few strokes further back. Chloe Thompson took her 2nd bronze medal in the 9 years category.

Kieron Gore was on fire in the boys 200 metres freestyle showing his fighting spirit to notch up his first gold of the weekend, taking the decision over his Rochford rival after a close tussle.

Bethaney Hall made it a double backstroke success for her, adding victory in the 100 metres event to the 200 metres achieved earlier while close friend Amy Beardwell-Lacey was again not far behind for in 2nd place. Rachel Welsh added a silver to her 200 metres gold while James Davis made it bronze number three for him in the boys event.

There were three more medals for Romford swimmers in the 9/10 years 50 metres butterfly event as Chloe Thompson finished second and Sophie Mascall 3rd in the 9 year old girls age group, both bettering their previous best times by more than 2 seconds. Kieron Gore saw his medal collection grow further with another silver medal in the boys 50 metres Freestyle. Jodie Whitehead added to her earlier success with silver over 50 metres Breaststroke and yet another PB swim.

Bethaney Hall wrapped up medal number three for her with a bronze from a strong swim over 200 metres freestyle and James Davis rounded off a successful first day of competition by taking nearly two seconds off of his previous best in the boys event. His time of 1 min 59.74secs took him under the two minutes barrier for the first time and was good enough to secure the silver medal. Alfie Burr added a bronze with another gritty Freestyle swim in the 15 years age group.

Day two of competition also started with a bang as Bethany Moore got straight back to winning ways in the girls 11 years 200 metres IM. Brock Winston added bronze in the 12 year olds age group. Kieron Gore also exploded into action, showed his all round ability for a clear win in his 200 metres IM swim. He followed this with another dominant display to also take victory in the 50 metres breaststroke event though eyebrows were raised as team mate Aiden Jackson came storming through the field to claim his first bronze medal. In the younger 9 years old age group, David Brooks showed his growing ability with his first bronze of the weekend too over 200 metres IM.

Bethaney Hall was also fired up for her 100 metres Breaststroke holding off a strong challenge to add another gold medal to her growing collection. In the 12 years old category Amy Gore also turned up the heat to take the silver. In the boys 15/16 years event 15 year old Thomas Clark secured a deserved second place slashing two seconds off of his previous best time while James Davis had a powerful swim for 3rd place in his age group.

Romford swimmers again displayed their strength in the butterfly events as Brock Winston blazed her way to her first gold over 100 metres event, with team mate Rosie Webber only a second behind in 3rd place.

Bethaney Hall, now a serious contender for the overall top girl award set another PB time over 200 metres IM though had to be content with a silver medal this time out. Amy Beardwell-Lacey was again not too far behind for the bronze place. Rachel Welsh added another medal to her tally with 3rd place in the 15 years age group.

Harry Coker again ignited the spectators with a resounding win in the 200 metres IM whilst Burr and Davis added silvers after accomplished performances in their respective age groups.

Brock Winston was in the medals again with silver in the 200 metres Breaststroke and Kieron Gore made it personal win number three in the boys event, some way clear of his nearest rival. Chloe Thompson followed her 3rd place in the 200 metres IM with another well earned bronze medal over 50 metres backstroke. 11 years old Sophie Ward, who had set PB times on all of her weekend’s swims, continued that trend as she took silver over 50 metres butterfly. This proved ideal preparation for the 200 metres event where she dipped under the three minutes mark for the first time to take gold with a PB time of 2min 58.62secs. In the 12 year old age group there was a Town one-two from Whiston and Webber as Whiston proved stronger over the latter stages.

11 years old Toby Mascall who had also turned in a number of PB performances, at last grabbed a deserved medal with bronze over 50 metres butterfly. This proved to be the spark he needed to push him on to a 5 second PB over the 200 metres distance and a well deserved victory.

Bethaney Hall notched up win number four over 200 metres Breaststroke and Amy Gore added a 3rd place finish to her 2nd place over the 100 metres.

James Davis, competing over 200 metres breaststroke for the first time this season chalked up his first win of the weekend with a PB time of 2min 36.99secs.

With Romford’s top visiting club award now in the bag the weekend was rounded off with style as Romford swimmers bagged five more medals in the closing 200 metres butterfly events. There were wins for Amy Beardwell-Lacey and James Davis, silver medals from Harry Coker and Louise Harrington and a bronze for Alfie Burr.

Kieron Gore finished 3rd in the top boy category with Bethaney Hall tied in 2nd place for the top girl trophy.

Another great weekend of swimming. Well done to all. Gary Rogers