RTSC Gala Reports

Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th April - Taunton Deane Easter Long Course Open Swim Meet - Millfield School, Street, Somerset

A team of over thirty Romford Town swimmers took to the road this weekend to compete at the above event.

In search of vital long course (50 metre) competition as swimmers try to gain District and National qualifying times the facilities at Millfied School coupled with the Easter Holiday proved an attractive venue and antidote as preparation for the final third of this season.

With London District Youth Championships at the beginning of May, Age Group Championships in June and National Championships in July its imperative that swimmers compete over the longer distance. For many it was the first time in a 50-metre pool since last year whilst for some the opportunity to compete in a long course pool for the first time.

Despite their relative lack of 50-metre experience the team came out on top returning with the Top Visiting Club trophy (ahead of Millfield School) and with some very good individual performances including fourteen gold medals, an array of top three positions, four National Age Group Qualifying times and several swimmers vying for top individual award in their age group.

Day One - Session One:

Saturday morning and the first session of the swim meet was always going to prove to be the toughest as swimmers got used to the pool and shook off the tiredness of travelling the day before.

First event of the morning was the girls 400 metres Freestyle, which saw the following results:

11-year-old Victoria Christmas who was in contention for Top 11 year old girl award throughout the weekend gained 2nd with 10 year old Sophie Ward 6th. For the 12 year olds, Emma Aston was 4th with Elena Sheridan 3rd in the 13 years age group.

In the 14 years category, Louise Harrington swam well to gain 2nd spot, whilst Harriette Davis who went on to battle it out all weekend for Top 14 year old girl came 3rd. Nicole Raymond kept the points coming for RTSC with a 4th place finish in the 16 years age group.

The 200 metres Individual Medley was the first event of the weekend for the boys and the club were well represented through the following:

Ten years old Kieran Gore and Toby Mascall competing in the 11 years age group did well as they came 2nd and 6th respectively. In the 12 years age group, George Ellis was 3rd with teammates James Kidd 4th and William Harding 5th. 13 year olds Harry Coker and Joe Stamp were 3rd and 6th respectively, whilst 16-year-old Jake Harrison came 4th in what was to prove a very successful weekend of competition for him.

Next up for the girls was the 100 metres Breaststroke. Teammates Amy Gore and Brock Whiston made it a 'One-two' as the twelve year olds took gold and silver whilst 13 years olds Bethany Hall and Elena Sheridan had to settle for 2nd and 5th respectively.

In the 200 metres Freestyle Toby Mascall had to settle for another 6th place finish in the 11 years category, whilst George Ellis was 3rd and William Harding 4th in the 12 years age group. 15 years old Tom Clark was 6th whilst Jamie Harrington was 3rd in the 17 years age group.

The last event of the Saturday morning session for the girls was the 200 metres Backstroke as 11 year old Victoria Christmas gained another good 2nd place finish, whilst ten year old Bethany Moore swam well in gaining 4th spot. Brock Whiston swam a good race too as she was 2nd in the 12 years age group with Bethany Hall 4th for the 13 year olds.

Harriette Davis was just narrowly outside the National Qualifying time as she was 1st in the 14 years 200 metres Backstroke with Rachel Welsh 4th. Nicole Raymond gained a bronze medal in the 16 years age group.

In the 100 metres Butterfly, 12 year old James Kidd was 4th in his age group, Harry Coker picked up 2nd spot in the 13 years age group and Tom Clark gained further points for the club with a good performance in coming 4th in the 15 years age group category.

Day One - Session Two:

After a nice break, Saturday afternoon’s session saw the club pick up a number of medals and gain valuable points with some impressive performances:

The boys started the proceedings off as they competed in the 400 metres Individual Medley:

The ten year olds were at it again as Kieran Gore gained another medal, as he was 2nd with Toby Mascall picking up 4th spot as they competed in the 11 years age group.

12 year olds George Ellis and James Kidd were 2nd and 4th respectively whilst Harry Coker picked up his first gold medal of the day as he took the honours in the 13 years age group.

The girls were once again well represented in the Breaststroke events this time over the longer 200 metres distance. 12-year-old Amy Gore gained her second National Qualifying time of the season as she took 1st place with Brock Whiston gaining a personal best time to take 2nd spot. Bethany Hall was 2nd with Elena Sheridan close behind with 3rd in the 13 years age group.

In the 200 metres Butterfly despite having earlier competed in the 400 metres Individual Medley, Toby Mascall was 2nd in the 11 years age group whilst James Kidd and Harry Coker were 3rd in the 12 years and 13 years age groups respectively. Thomas Clark did well too as he gained a 2nd place finish for all the pain in the 15 years age group.

Victoria Christmas continued her run of 2nd place finishes as she gained silver in the 11 years 100 metres Backstroke whilst Harriette Davies took 1st place in the 14 years 100 metres Backstroke with Rachel Welsh 2nd.

Romford were well represented in the shorter sprint events with Jake Harrison taking 1st place in the 16 years 50 metres Breaststroke, whilst Amy Beardwell-Lacey was 1st in the 13 years 50 metres Butterfly with Louise Harrington doing likewise in winning the 14 years age group.

Day Two - Session Three:

Sunday morning saw session three commence with the Boys 400 metres Freestyle. In the 9 – 10 years age group Toby Mascall was 2nd whilst George Ellis and James Kidd were 3rd and 4th in the 11 – 12 years age group. Jamie Harrington gained a 2nd place finish in the 17 years category.

There followed a plethora of medals in the next event for girls, the 200 metres Individual Medley:

In the 11 years age group Victoria Christmas gained 3rd place with Bethany Moore in 4th.

Amy Gore and Brock Whiston made it a “One-two” for the third occasion as they grabbed gold and silver respectively in the twelve years age group.

Elena Sheridan took 1st place in the 13 years age group in a long course National Age Group Qualifying time with Bethaney Hall 4th and Amy Beardwell-Lacey 6th.

In the 14 years age group Harriette Davis kept her challenge for the top 14 year old title with 1st place, whilst Louise Harrington gained 3rd and Kariena Tubbs 5th.

In the boys 100 metres Breaststroke event 12 year olds William Harding and Olver Applebee came away with a 1st and 3rd place, whilst Jake Harrison continued his challenge for top overall 16-year-old boy, as he was 1st in his age group.

The 200 metres Freestyle for girls saw 11 year old Victoria Christmas gain a further 2nd place with ten year old Bethany Moore taking 6th. Bethaney Hall gained further points for the club as she was 4th in the 13 years age group.

The boys kept the points and medals coming in the 200 metres Backstroke:

Kieran Gore was 4th in the 11 years age group with Samuel Hollington gaining 6th place. George Ellis took 1st place with James Kidd 3rd and William Harding 4th in the 12 years age group. Joseph Stamp, struggling with a chest infection still managed 2nd spot in the 13 years category, whilst Jake Harrison did likewise in the 16 years age group.

In the girls 100 metres Butterfly, ten year old Sophie Ward just narrowly missed out on gold settling for 2nd spot, but a very good personal best time as she competed in the 11 years age group. Brock Whiston swam a good personal best time too, as she was 5th in the 12 years event. Amy Beardwell-Lacey was 3rd in the 13 years category, whilst Louise Harrington went one better with 2nd in the 14 years age group, as Kariena Tubbs was 5th.

Final event of the third session saw 11-year-old Samuel Hollington picking up valuable points for the club as he “dashed” to the starting blocks to gain 5th spot in the 50 metres Freestyle. Jamie Harrington was 8 hundredths of a second outside the long course National qualifying time as he had to settle for 2nd spot in the 17 years age group.

Day Two - Session Four:

Sunday afternoon saw RTSC with a slight lead over Millfield School for the Top Visiting Club, whilst some swimmers were still in contention for top swimmer in their age group. With all to compete for swimmers entered into their last events with something to achieve:

For the girls it was the challenge of the 400 metres Individual Medley. Victoria Christmas gained another 2nd place finish with ten-year-old Sophie Ward swimming well to gain 4th spot.

In the 12 years age group the roles were reversed as Brock Whiston took the honours in her first National Age Group Qualifying time of the season with Amy Gore in 2nd.

Elena Sheridan gained the long course National Qualifying time for the second time this season as she won the 13 years age group.

There were two third place finishes in the boys 200 metres Breaststroke. With Kieran Gore gaining 3rd spot in the 11 years age group and Oliver Applebee was 3rd in the 12 years category. Jake Harrison pursued his bid for top overall 16 year old as he was 2nd in his age group.

In the 100 metres Freestyle for girls, Victoria Christmas ended her challenge for top 11-year-old girl for the weekend as she gained 3rd place in her final event, coming second overall. Harriette Davis finished her last event of the weekend in 4th place and also had to settle for second overall 14 year old.

In the 100 metres Backstroke George Ellis took another gold medal in the 12 years age group with William Harding 3rd. Joe Stamp gained 3rd place in the 13 years age group whilst Jake Harrison was 4th and doing enough to gain overall top 16 year old boy for the weekend.

The final event for Town swimmers was the girls 200 metres Butterfly. Brock Whiston, suffering a little from her efforts earlier in the 400 metres medley was 4th whilst Amy Beardwell-Lacey gained a good 2nd in the 13 years age group. 14-year-old Louise Harrington rounded off a good weekend for her with 1st place in her age group with teammate Hannah Coles taking 4th place.

This set of results was enough to secure Romford top Visiting Club.

Kevin Engstrom