RTSC Gala Reports

Saturday 17th/Sunday 18th December - Killerwhales Winter Meet - Basildon Sporting Village

Romford Town chose a local venue to round off their 2011 programme and nearly 50 swimmers made the short journey to Basildon’s new Sporting Village for the first Killerwhales Christmas long course meet. Town saw out 2011 in style with some exciting swims.

First up was James Cooper who grabbed the first of several medals in the 9 years age group with a win and his first gold in the boys 400m Freestyle event. Billy Harrison took silver in the 10 years category on what was to prove a very successful weekend for him too. Soon after Cooper added gold over 200m Backstroke.

Town took four medals in the first girls event, the 200m Backstroke. 11years old Rebecca Cribb set a PB time of 2mins 44.38secs for 3rd place, while 12 years old Erin Corney also improved on her best to take bronze in the age group above. There was gold for 13 years old Jodi Whitehead who also improved on her previous best to record a time of 2mins 31.82secs. Elena Sheridan secured her first win and an NQT over 200 metres Backstroke, stopping the clock at 2mins 23.16secs. This was quickly followed by gold number two over 100m Freestyle.

There was a huge PB for 10 years old Jessica Ayling in the 100m Freestyle as she sliced 4 seconds off her previous best to take 2nd place with a time of 1min 14.52secs.

The girls clocked up more medals in the final event of the afternoon session, the 200m IM. 9 years old Emily Milton’s time of 3mins 13.59secs brought her silver while Ayling collected her second medal, a bronze. There was a 1-2 in the 12 years age group as Corney took gold and Holly Hilldrew the silver. Bethany Moore added another silver to the Town Tally in the 13 years age group and 14 years old Victoria Christmas took 3 seconds off her previous best for bronze in her age group. 15 years old Brock Whiston bagged the first of her gold medals with a time of 2mins 31.44secs.

The evening session opened with a bronze medal for Harry Coker in the boys 15 years 100m Butterfly. Two more medals followed in the girl’s event as 13 years old Sophie Ward secured the bronze and Whiston smashed the 1min 10secs barrier for the first time to take silver with a time of 1min 08.66secs.

James Cooper and Billy Harrison were back in the medals in the boys 200m Freestyle as they finished 2nd and 3rd in their respective age groups. The girls fared even better as 11 years old Georgia Milton’s PB time of 2mins 24.64secs secured a close fought silver. Jessica Ayling followed up the silver in the 100m Freestyle with gold over 200m in a time of 2mins 39.05secs. Elena Sheridan made it gold number three as she dominated from the dive.

Scott Denham was just outside of his best over 100m Breaststroke as he took silver with a time of 1min 07.53secs.

Romford’s girls were again prominent in the 100m Breaststroke. There were another two medals for the 12 years olds as Hilldrew made it silver number two, closely followed home by Hannah Binning in 3rd. Jodi Whitehead’s and Brock Whiston’s strong swims brought them both gold medal finishes.

There was a bright start to Sunday as Jessica Ayling added to her Freestyle medals of the previous day with a bronze in the opening 400m event. There was a medal of the same colour for Georgia Milton in the 11 years age group and another gold for Sheridan in the Open category.

James Cooper added another medal to his haul with an impressive win in the boys 200m Butterfly. This was closely followed by gold for Jack Ayling as both boys recorded new PB times. There was also a PB for Charles Sturley who took the runner up spot in the 15 years age group. Again the girls surpassed the boys for honours in this event. Rebecca Cribb started the ball rolling with a 3rd place finish. There were three golden performances from Holly Hillgrew (12), Bethany Moore (13) and Brock Whiston (15) and superb silver swims from Stephanie Tomlinson and Rosie Webber . Whiston's winning time of 2mins 25.79secs was a two seconds PB and her third NQT of the season.

In the girls 100m Backstroke Jodi Whitehead took silver to go with her gold over the longer distance and Sheridan made it a Backstroke double with another victory in the Open category.

Cooper and Harrison helped themselves to a silver each in the 200m IM event and respect gold and bronze in the 50m Freestyle event. 14 years old Luke Sheridan had a strong swim for a 3rd place in the IM.

Jessica Ayling made it four medals from four freestyle swims with a silver over 50 metres while Hannah Binning stormed to gold in the 12 years group. Nicola Rees, who was under the weather and had to withdraw from her other events, set a PB time of 27.54secs to take silver in the Open age though was not well enough to contest the ‘skins’ final.

Romford were dominant in the girls and boys 200 Breaststroke events with 5 golds for the girls and two more from the boys. The winning girls were Jessica Ayling (10), Holly Hilldrew (12), Jodi Whitehead (13), Amy Harris (14) and Brock Whiston (15). The triumphant boys were Billy Harrison (10) and Scott Denham (16+). There was also a 3rd placed medal for Charlotte Chuck (15), a silver for Elena Sheridan and a bronze for Jake Harrison (16+).

The weekend was rounded off in spectacular fashion as Elena Sheridan summoned up the last of her resources to emerge victorious in the knockout ‘skins’ event.

There were many many more fine performances that were not rewarded by medals. It was a great weekend of swimming from Romford Town and a fitting end to a special year. Well done to all.