PERSHORE Swimming Club’s new crop of juniors ranging in age from nine to 12 impressed as they moved into second place in the Nuneaton & Bedworth Junior League.
In the latest round, Pershore competed against Redditch, Droitwich Dolphins, Oldbury and Newport (Shropshire) as 51 races entertained the capacity crowd.
Pershore did not spare the horsepower, but it was soon clear there was going to be a three-way fight for the honours between Redditch, Pershore and Droitwich.
Event winners for Pershore were Mia Underwood (nine) in the 25m freestyle (17.94s), Josh Heeks (nine) in the 25m butterfly (19.78s) and Jaz Hoskins (12) in the 50m freestyle (30.97s).
All three of these swimmers swam strongly through the evening to rack up a lot of points for the team.
There was also a great relay victory for the nine-year-old boys’ medley team comprising Esteban Chatron-Michaud (eight, backstroke), Ethan Mallaburn (nine, breaststroke), Josh Heeks (nine, butterfly) and Ben Stanley (nine, freestyle) in a time of 1:40.06.
Chloe Barnard (ten) impressed in finishing second in the 50m breaststroke (49.97s) and did well in the relays, whilst Pippa Fairchild (ten) snatched second place in the 50m backstroke (47.00s).
Frankie Barry (eight) claimed second place in the 25m butterfly (20.72s) and Millie Thomas (nine), who was super-speedy all evening, took second place in the 25m breaststroke (24.35s).
As the events mounted up, Redditch were consolidating their lead but Pershore were keeping their noses in front of Droitwich. It was a battle down to the last few races but in the end Pershore hung on to second place in the gala and claimed important points in the league.
Final scores for the gala were: Redditch 238 points, Pershore 169, Droitwich Dolphins 158, Oldbury 127, Newport 86.
The other members of the Pershore team were: Bella Barry (11), Daniel Chalk (12), Matthew Franks (ten), Max Murray (12), Jess English (ten), Catherine Rendall-Baker (11), Andrew Thorner (11), James Heeks (ten), Jack Porter (ten), Ethan Stanley (11) and Lottie Styler (nine).