RTSC Gala Reports

Sunday 25th April - Junior Swimming League M11 Region (Round 1)- Blackshots

Sunday saw the first of this year’s regional rounds of the Junior Speedo League and as expected this first round draw led to some exciting races.

With three previous National Junior Speedo League finalists drawn in the same round, ourselves, Barnet and, current M11 region champions, Thurrock this round was going to prove a great afternoon of competition.

Town’s 12 year old girls led the way in the first event of the afternoon the 4 x 25metre Medley relay. Amy Harris, Jodi Whitehead, Stephanie Tomlinson and Bethany Moore took the honours by winning this by over a second. In the Freestyle relay they were just as dominant making it a double of relay wins.

They supplemented these good swims by gaining valuable points in their individual swims as Amy Harris was 2nd in the 50 backstroke, Jodi Whitehead 2nd in the 50 breastroke and Bethany Moore took 2nd in both the 50 metres Butterfly and Freestyle events.

The eleven year old boys were setting an even higher standard as Calum Connelly, Kieron Gore, Jack Ayling and Joshua Burcombe romped home to victory in both their Freestyle and Medley relays.

Calum went on to gain two very good first place finishes in the individual 11 years 50 metre Freestyle and Backstroke events, whilst Kieran Gore swam a new personal best time to win the 50 metre Breaststroke.

Sophie Ward ensured the 11 year old boys didn’t take all the limelight as she too gained maximum points by winning the girls 11 years 50 metres Butterfly and Freestyle events in great fashion. Amy Marren had a good swim too, just narrowly being edged into 3rd place in the 50 metre Backstroke, whilst 10 year old Holly Hilldrew did well swimming up an age to take 2nd spot in the 50 metres Breaststroke.

The quartet of Sophie, Amy, Holly and another ten year old 'swimming up' Anna Manning came together to clinch 1st place in the 11 years Medley relay. A further two more ten year olds, Hannah Binning and Victoria Bishop replaced Anna & Holly in the 11 years freestyle relay, where the team came 2nd.

In their actual age group the ten year old girls performed well too, as Holly Hilldrew with a very busy schedule of events took, 1st place in the 50 metres Breaststroke and 2nd spot in the 50 metres Butterfly. Hannah Binning grabbed 2nd place in the 50 metres Backstroke and was 3rd in the 50 metres Freestyle. The pair were joined by Victoria Bishop and Anna Manning to gain 2nd place finishes in both their Medley and Freestyle relays.

Mitchell Wilson took 1st place in the ten years boys 50 metres Butterfly and was joined by Liam Fearon, Alex Drury and Harry Taylor to gain 4th place finishes in the Medley and Freestyle relays.

The nine year old boys continued Town’s successes in the relay events as the team of Jack Rice, David Brooks, Jacob Smith and Billy Wilson swam two terrific Freestyle and Medley relays as they won both their races in fine style.

These relay swims were matched with good individual races as David Brooks came 2nd in the nine years 25 metre Backstroke and Jack Rice was 2nd in the 25 metre Breastroke.

Georgia Milton picked up valuable points in the girls nine year age group with a 2nd place finish in the 25 metres Freestyle and 3rd in the 25 metres Butterfly. She was joined by Charlotte Gimbird, Lorna Bo and debutant Lauren Levell as the quartet gained a good point in the Freestyle relay.

Luke Sheridan was picking up points in the boys 12 years age group as he gained 3rd spot in the 50 metres Freestyle, whilst swimming up an age, Kieran Gore was 2nd in the 50 metres Breaststroke, Jack Ayling 2nd in the 50 metres Butterfly and Calum Connelly was 3rd in the 50 metres Backstroke.

Luke was joined by Sam Hollington, William Manning and Kieran Gore in the 12 years medley relay where the team cam 3rd, whilst another 11 year old, Joshua Burcombe replaced Kieran in the Freestyle relay in which the team came 3rd again.

The final race of the afternoon was the 8 x 1 length squadron relay. One girl and boy from each age group. As always this proved to be one of the most exciting races of the gala as Georgia Milton, Jack Rice, Holly Hilldrew, Mitchell Wilson, Sophie Ward, Jack Ayling, Bethany Moore and Luke Sheridan swam a great race only to be narrowly beaten by just two hundredths of a second by eventual winners of this first round Thurrock.

Final Scores:

1. Thurrock 241
2. Romford 211
3. Camden 185
4. Barnet 173
5. Rochford 113
6. Anaconda 96

Well done to everyone that competed. Every point gained matters and we can now go forward to the next round with lots of confidence.

Kevin Engstrom