National Arena League Round 2 - 10 Nov 2013
10 Nov 2013
PERSHORE FIND THE GOING TOUGH IN NATIONAL ARENA LEAGUE
With 14 swimmers
unavailable for selection, Pershore Swimming Club sent a team to compete at
Leighton Buzzard in the Second Round of the National Arena League (Division
Three South) and found the going tough.
However, despite
Pershore being drawn against several of the leagueÆs top clubs including
Aylesbury, Linslade, Abingdon and the home side Leighton Buzzard, the team
didnÆt let itself down claiming ten first places, four seconds and two third
places as well as clocking 27 personal bests and 33 County Qualifying Times.
PershoreÆs top
performance on the night came from Harry Sykes, winning gold in the boys 15/u 100m
breaststroke as well as showing excellent leadership skills and encouraging his
younger team mates when he was not swimming.
Chloe Naughton
produced a strong swim in the girls Open 100m fly to take first place and Owen
Leeks continued to show good form taking gold in the boys 13/u 100m
backstroke.
Simon Sweatman made
it two wins from two in the boys under 11 age group, taking first places in
both the 50m breaststroke and 50m fly. Christopher Vizard also won the boys 50m freestyle in the 11/under age group
as did William Gearey in the 50m backstroke.
There were also
victories for three of the relay teams with the boys 13/u 50m medley team of
Josh Lane, Sweatman, Leeks and Vizard just taking first place in a close
finish. William Clarke replaced Vizard
to join Lane and Sweatman in the boys 13/u 50m freestyle to take gold and there
was also a first place for the boys 11/under 50m medley team comprising Patrick
Heeks, Vizard, Sweatman and Gearey with Pershore nearly winning by a length.
There were also strong
performances from Alexandra Barry and Mia Du Toit û both who were swimming in
this league for the first time and swam personal bests in every race.
Pershore finished
fifth in the end with head coach Tom Naughton adding: "Swimming against four of the top six clubs
in the division was also going to be a tough draw but our swimmers did not let
themselves down. Unfortunately, we had
several swimmers who couldnÆt make the meeting which made it even harder. There were many positives to take from the
gala and IÆm sure weÆll bounce back in the next round.ö
ENDS