RTSC Gala Reports

10th May 2008 - Essex Mini League - Saffron Walden

Twenty-Two Wins For Inspiring Town

Elly Perrira got the show on the road with 2nd place in the Girls 11 and under 50m Backstroke event, although this would have been a win if her finish had been as good as the rest of her swim, but Town were off to a good start. Tony Bass then picked up 3rd place in the close-fought Boys event.

Debutant Victoria Bishop joined Sophie Ward, Maddie Webber and Bethany Moore in the 9 year old Girls Breaststroke Relay team and she immediately demonstrated that she has the potential to be as successful as her teammates as she helped the girls to smash the time limit set for the event. So no points added to the Town total on this occasion and the girls did it again in the Freestyle relay later in the evening!

Our 9 year old Boys team of Jonathan Toolis, Oliver Coles, Billy Davis and Toby Mascall recorded our first win of the evening in their Breaststroke relay and they went on to also gain maximum points in their Freestyle event.

In the individual 10 and under Backstroke events we had Megan McAuliffe and Luke Sheridan, two swimmers whose main talents lie in other strokes and who both expressed their surprise at their inclusion in these events. Needless to say we will be finding them something else to do next time as they both "time-faulted" by some 4 seconds!

Good points were added to the score in the 13 and under Freestyle with Gabby Wallace winning for the girls and Josh Rogers an encouraging 2nd for the boys.

We were delighted to welcome back Kariena Tubbs after her serious illness and the 13 year old soon showed what we had been missing with a fantastic win in the Girls Open Butterfly. David Ward smashed the time limit in his first competitive Butterfly swim in the Open Boys event

There were more points for Romford in the 50m Breaststroke events with 9 year old Maddie Webber winning the 10 and under Girls event. Sophie Ward managed 3rd for the 11 and under Girls with Sam Allsop 2nd for the Boys.

After 14 of the 48 events Romford trailed Rochford by 4 points

Our Open Girls team of Sara Morris, Emma Marney, Hannah Coles and Gabby Wallace kept up the pressure with a win in the Freestyle Relay, whilst David Ward, Billy Bass, Andrew Ward and Charlie Davis chipped in with 3rd.

There were plenty of points for Town in the individual Freestyle events with 10 year olds Bethany Moore and Toby Mascall claiming wins in the 11 and under events, whilst in the 10 and unders Holly Higgins took second place and 9 year old Oliver Colse took third.

After Billy Bass's 2nd place in Event 24, the 13 and under Boys Breaststroke, Town were 3 points behind Rochford

In the “squadron” Butterfly events Town’s swimmers were rewarded for the effort that goes into this stroke in training as both the Girls team of Sophie Ward, Megan McAuliffe, Elly Perriera, Hannah Coles, Emma Marney and Kariena Tubbs and the Boys team of Oliver Coles, Toby Mascall, Luke Sheridan, Conor Toolis, Andrew Ward and Michael Fearon achieved impressive wins.

There was also a pair of wins in the 11 and under Freestyle Relays with Elly Perriera, Anne Marie Smith, Megan McAuliffe and Holly Higgins for the Girls and Charlie Davis, Tony Bass, Luke Sheridan and Sam Allsop for the Boys.

Hannah Coles scored more good points with second place in the 13 and under Backstroke. In the Open 100m Freestyle events Sara Morris picked up 3rd place and the fast improving David Ward took second place.

Yet more superb Butterfly swims followed with wins in the 10 and under 25m events by Bethany Moore and Sam Allsop. Over the 50m distance, for the 11 and unders, Sophie Ward and Toby Mascall pitched in with 2nd places before Hannah Coles and Conor Toolis both continued their encouraging recent form with wins in the 13 and unders.

Not to be outdone, our Breaststrokers then showed what they are capable of by also winning both of the Squadron Breaststroke Relays. Maddie Webber, Holly Higgins, Anne Marie Smith, Gabby Wallace, Sara Morris and Emma Marney romped home for the Girls and Jonathan Toolis, Luke Sheridan, Tony Bass, Charlie Davis, Andrew Ward and David Ward did likewise for the Boys. Gabby Wallace then went on to record a fine individual win in the Open Girls event.

In the final four Freestyle relays a win for the 13 and under Girls team of Kariena Tubbs, Elly Perriera, Hannah Coles and Gabby Wallace was followed by third place for the Boys team of Michael Fearon, Josh Rogers, Conor Toolis and Billy Bass The 10 and unders completed procedings with Megan McAuliffe, Holly Higgins, Victoria Bishop and Sophie Ward winning for the Girls and Sam Allsop, Toby Mascall, Billy Davis and Luke Sheridan triumphant for the Boys.

During the second half of the programme Town built up an emphatic lead, but it was probably more pleasing to be congratulated by one of the other coaches for our excellent strokes and told that he had learnt so much by watching us swim

Final Scores:

1. Romford Town 173
2. Rochford 140
3. Basildon 123
4. Canvey Island 120
5. Saffron Walden 96

Well done all. Let's keep it going!