RTSC Gala Reports

7th/8th June 2008 - London District Age Group Championships

This week saw the first of two weekends of London District Age Groups Championships held at Ealing.

Day one of competition was to prove a very fruitful one for Town swimmers with some terrific swims and races.

The early start didn’t deter anyone and first up was the girls 400 metres Freestyle. Ten year old Victoria Christmas woke herself up with a nine second personal best time in coming 4th in her age group. Also gaining good personal best times in the first event of the morning were 11 year olds Emma Aston and Brock Whiston. With Emma gaining a good 3rd place finish with Brock just behind in 4th.

With heats and finals in all 100 and 200 metre events, the weekend was going to prove a test of physical stamina and mental strength, as Town swimmers contested well throughout the day. The first final of the day, saw Sean Houllihan and Joe Stamp compete against one another in the 100 metres Freestyle. A strong race by Sean saw him take the first of three gold medals on day one, with Joe settling for 5th place.

Victoria Christmas having gained confidence from her good 400-metre swim, found herself qualifying as fifth fastest, in lane one, for the final of the 10 years 100 metre Butterfly. Despite the outside lane, a gutsy performance, some four seconds faster than her heat team, helped her gain a very good third place and bronze medal.

Elena Sheridan, competing in the 12 years age group 100 metres Butterfly, took 1st place whilst Louise Harrington was 5th in the final of the girl’s 13 years age group.

In what proved to be one of the most exciting races of the day, Joe Stamp and Sean Houlihan were doing battle again in the final of the 200 metres Backstroke. Going stroke for stroke, the pair turned at the 100-metre mark, with only one hundreth of a second between them. This tight contest continued over the second half of the race, with Sean just doing enough to gain 1st place by just over one tenth of a second in a new Event Best Time and national qualifying time. Joe Stamp in coming 2nd was also inside the previous Event Best Time too.

The middle session of day one saw Romford Towns 13 year’s girls 4 x 100 medley team going for glory. Rachael Welsh led the team off on Backstroke, with Bethany Hall taking over on Breastroke, Elena Sheridan swam the Butterfly and Harriette Davis swam the final, freestyle leg. The girls combined superbly to come 2nd in what is hoped will be a fast enough time to reach the National Age Group Championships, later in July. (The fastest 30 teams throughout the country are selected)

Despite the long day, there was to be further excitement in the 3rd session of the day, as the girls competed in the 200 metres Breastroke, whilst the boys were competing in the 200 Individual Medley. Victoria Christmas made her second final of the day, as she came 6th in the ten years 200 metres Breastroke. 11-year-old Brock Whiston, having qualified as second fastest for her 200 metres Breastroke swam an intelligent and gutsy race. Not being overawed by the fast pace, she swam a very strong second 100 metres to take her first District title in a new personal best time and inside the National Qualifying standard.

12-year-old Bethany Hall, still searching for her first National Qualifying time of the season was not to be disappointed. With these Championships being the last opportunity to gain her national time, she wasn’t prepared to wait for the final and set a new personal best time by almost three seconds, to gain her 200 metres Breastroke Qualifying time. Although reaching the final as first fastest, the long day and exertions from the heat, took their toll and she was narrowly beaten into second place with Elena Sheridan in fifth.

The final event of Day One saw Sean Houlihan and Joe Stamp resuming their duel in the final of the 200 metres Individual Medley, with team mate Harry Coker getting involved too, as three Town swimmers contested the final. Sean came out on top, winning, in a new Event Best Time with Joe coming 3rd and Harry 5th. Alfie Burr continued his recent good form as he contested the 13 years 200 Individual Medley final in which he came 5th.

Day Two of competition saw Sean Houlihan starting from where he left off the night before with another win, this time in the 12 years 100 metres Butterfly. Qualifying as 2nd fastest for the final, a strong opening 50 metres ensured he took the gold medal. Whilst team mate Harry Coker swam a great race too to gain 3rd place, with Joe Stamp making it a trio of Town swimmers in the final, in 5th.

Alfie Burr made his second final of the weekend to take a good 6th place in the 13 years 100 metres Butterfly and it was the same position for James Kidd who was competing in the final of the 11 years age group.

Ten year-old Victoria Christmas continued her fine form from the previous day as she sprinted to 2nd place in the 100 metres Freestyle and then, in the same session, swam to a good 3rd place finish in the 200 metres Backstroke.

Brock Whiston was in amongst the medals also in the 11 years 200 metres Backstroke as she produced a personal best time to gain 3rd place, whilst Harriette Davis did likewise in the 13 years age group.

Following on from their success the day before the Girls 13 years relay team were back in the water again, this time competing in the 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay. A battling display saw the team of Harriette Davis, Rachael Welsh, Bethaney Hall and Elena Sheridan gain a top 6 place as they finished 5th.

The final session of the weekend gave further opportunities for Town swimmers to impress with the girls competing in the 200 Individual Medley, whilst the boys were swimming in the 200 metres Breastroke.

Following a strong swim in the heat Victoria Christmas lined up for another final as she contested the 10 years 200 metres Individual Medley. Her long weekend was to be rewarded with another good 3rd place and podium finish.

11 years old Brock Whiston having only narrowly missed her National Qualifying Time a couple of weeks earlier in the 200 metres Individual Medley was out to try and gain it this time around. Rather than wait for the opportunity to do it in the final she blasted her way to a new personal best time in the heat, over a second inside the National mark. In the final, despite a further personal best time, she was just beaten into 2nd spot.

Elena Sheridan competing in the 12 years age group 200 metres Individual Medley was also looking for her National Qualifying time, being only a couple of tenths outside it previously. Not hanging around, she too powered her way to set a new personal best time in her heat by over three seconds and gain her fourth National Qualifying time of the season. Bethaney Hall had a good swim too as she set a personal best time to join Elena in the final. The two of them raced off with Elena having to settle for second place and Bethaney, despite a faster time in the final, came 6th.

Sean Houlihan rounded his weekend off in fine style as he took the honours in the 12 years 200 metres Breastroke in another Event Best Time, taking his tally of gold medals for the weekend to five.

Well done to all those that competed at the weekend.

Kevin Engstrom