RTSC Gala Reports

1st March 2008 - Essex League Division 2 - Runnymede

On an evening when Romford Town came close to retaining their Division 1 title, the ‘B’ Team set about consolidating their position in Division 2 with a hard fought third place.

With both teams stretched through absentees, Town's second team did themselves proud against some tough opponents.The first two wins of the evening came in quick succession with Sian Aston taking the girls U/15 100 metres breaststroke after a nip and tuck tussle with her Brentwood rival, while in contrast this was followed by James Davis, who secured the boys event relatively untroubled. He later added to his successes with 1st place in the boys U/15 freestyle in a much tighter finish.

Aston joined forces with team mates Rachel Welsh, Elena Sheridan and Isabel Allsop to snatch the winning verdict in their U/15 medley relay, though were narrowly beaten into 2nd spot in their freestyle swim.12 years old Sheridan did well to battle back over the closing 25 metres in her U/15 50 metres butterfly event to secure another narrow victory.

The U/15 boys relay teams of Davis, Anthony Wright, Andrew Ward and Michael Fearon provided more excitement and two more wins. There were individual 3rd places for Wright, who set a PB in the Open 100 metres Backstroke with a time of 1min 07.64secs, and Ward who set a PB time of 32.13 over 50 metres butterfly.

In the girls U/11 category, there were 3rd places for Emma Aston (freestyle), Lindsay McLachlan (butterfly), Laura Brooks (backstroke) and Megan McAuliffe (breaststroke). The result was again 3rd spot when Aston, McLachlan and Brooks were joined by Ann Marie Smith for the medley relay.

There was a 2nd place for Aiden Jackson in the boys U/11 butterfly and Sam Hollington added another 3rd over 50 metres backstroke. Hollington and Jackson joined Tony Bass and Sam Allsop for a 2nd place in their medley relay race.

There was gold again in the U/13 age group as Lily Rose Fancourt stormed to victory in her 50 metres butterfly swim. She had already seen team mates Claire Jackson and Gabby Wallace take 2nd places in their respective backstroke and breaststroke events. Alex Rose joined the trio to clock up two further 2nd place finishes in their medley and freestyle relays.

Harry Coker also added to Town’s overall points tally with a 2nd place in the U/13 50 metres Butterfly, missing out on a win by only a finger nail. Coker also lead off in the freestyle relay, where aided by Billy Bass, Josh Rogers and Michael Fearon there was another 3rd place result.

In the open age group, there were some fine individual performances with Victoria Bass, who was close to her best, finishing 3rd over 50 metres butterfly.Emma McAuliffe took 2nd place in the 100 metres breaststroke and Zoey Littlechild’s 1min 07.48secs was good enough for 3rd in the freestyle. These three girls, when joined by Sara Morris, also snapped up 3rd place in their freestyle relay event.

The open boy’s medley relay team of Anthony Wright, Billy Coker, Jamie Harrington and Chris Wright put some early points on the board with 3rd place. Later in the evening James Davis replaced Anthony Wright for the freestyle team as Romford recorded their final win of the night. In between, Harrington had helped himself to 2nd place in the 100 metres freestyle.

It was an exciting evening of competition, well done to all.

Final result:

1. Waltham Forest 237
2. Halstead 205
3. Romford Town 196
4. Harlow 185
5. Brentwood 134