IT WAS a busy weekend for Evesham Swimming Club as a strong contingent of seven swimmers entered the Level 2 Gloucester Open meet.
Between them, the swimmers returned home with seven gold medals, three silvers, 20 new personal bests and 18 qualifying times for the 2015 Worcestershire County Championships and these statistics make very pleasing reading indeed.
Chloe Mabbett (15) and Charlie Waites (13), who both recently competed at the Youth District Championships, continued their excellent form in the pool.
Chloe, daughter of head coach Andy Mabbett, took gold in the 50m backstroke and silver in both the 50m breaststroke and 200m IM.
Her 50m times of 32.53 in backstroke and 37.28 in breaststroke were both PBs and give her qualifying times for next year’s county championships. Her 200m IM time also met the qualifying times for the County Championships, as too did her 100m freestyle (1:03.61), which saw her finish fourth.
Charlie, meanwhile, took gold in the 50m backstroke (30.29) and 50m freestyle (26.69) and silver in the 50m fly (29.52) to record new PBs and county qualifying times. He set further PBs and county qualifying times in the 200m freestyle (2:13.33) and 100m backstroke (1:06.74), whilst another county qualifying time came in the 100m freestyle (1:00.68).
Elsewhere, nine-year-old Mollie Cresswell had a truly exceptional open as she grabbed four gold medals, five PBs and three county qualifying times in the five events she entered.
She took gold in the 200m backstroke (3:18.85), 200m IM (3:22.66) and 50m backstroke (43.10), setting new PBs and county qualifying times in the process. Mollie then won gold in the 200m fly with a new PB of 3:59.72. Her final PB came in the 50m breaststroke (52.61).
Nine-year-old team-mate Rachel Egan finished fourth in the 200m IM (3:38.29) and set a new PB of 45.17 in the 50m backstroke.
Ten-year-olds Kieran Cooper and Harry Ward put in promising performances for the boys. Harry set new PBs in his two events of the competition – the 50m backstroke (40.81) and 50m freestyle (35.72). His 50m backstroke time sees him qualify for next year’s county championships.
Kieran, meanwhile, set new PBs in the 200m backstroke (3:08.50) and 200m freestyle (2:51.19) to ensure he will be joining Harry at next year’s County Championships. He also set a new PB in the 400m IM with a time of 7:01.14, just missing out on a medal with a fourth placed finish.
Kieran’s sister Amy made it a happy Cooper household with new PBs and county qualifying times in the 100m fly (1:18.89) and 200m IM (2:51.43).
ELSEWHERE, Evesham competed in round two of the Nuneaton League, finishing sixth behind opposition with far more experience at this level of competition.
Whilst the final placing may have made disappointing reading, there were still plenty of positives to take away from the event, not least the experience gained by the swimmers new to competitive swimming this year and the younger coaches who accompanied the team on the night.
With a number of PBs being set, the first cause for celebration was with nine-year-old Amber Cape’s first place finish in the 25m breaststroke, which was yet another new PB (25.67) from her in this event.
Sophie Pettit (10) then swam 49.1 seconds in the 50m breaststroke to break her previous PB and grab what will surely be her first of many county championship qualifying times for 2015.
Continuing the club’s strong performances in breaststroke, 12-year-old Luke Funnell set a new PB in his 50m race.
In fly, 11-year-old Eden Rees and nine-year-old Faye Castle both set new PBs in their individual races, whilst 12-year-old Ollie Gill and nine-year-olds Tristan Evans-Cook and Isabelle Hornblow all set new PBs in their freestyle races.
Evesham look sure to consolidate their place in Nuneaton League Division Two, which was always there target upon their promotion from Division Three.
With the club’s Summer Championships now underway with a record number of entries and the next round of the PGL league coming up, there is no let-up in the club’s busy calendar.