Nuneaton Junior League (Round 1) - 5th April 2014
05 Apr 2014
Pershore Swimming Club found the going tough in Round 1 of the Nuneaton & District Junior Swimming (First Division) held at Halesowen, having been handed a very hard draw against some of the top clubs in the Midlands including City of Coventry, Leicester Sharks, Halesowen, Bilsdon and Northampton.
Pershore handed competitive debuts to several swimmers, with the whole squad battling hard throughout the gala to stay in contention with the bigger clubs and also having to adapt to the 33m pool length. The team achieved 18 podium finishes including three first places during the gala and produced plenty of personal bests, with many of the other teams fielding Midland district swimmers in the events.
Competitive league debuts were handed to Lauren Annis, Elena Christodolou, Amelia Gearey, Tamara Marsden, Georgia Winkley, Sam Brearley, Liam Cope, Lewis Cribben, James Heeks, Leo Rendall-Baker, William Selby and Oliver Wycherley.
Macey French was first up for Pershore in the girls 10/u 66m freestyle, producing a strong swim to take third place in 50.42 and get the team off to a good start.
The girls 11/u medley relay team of Megan Annis, Charlotte Downey, Alexandra Barry and Holly Winkley claimed fourth place as did the boys 11/u quartet of Patrick Heeks, Hamish Cross, William Gearey and Jamie Saunders.
Naomi Marsden was narrowly beaten into fourth place in the girls 12/u 66m backstroke in 50.71, while Simon Sweatman was also edged into third place in the boys 12/u 66m backstroke in 49.08.
Jasmine Franks managed to go one better and secured an impressive silver in the girls 10/u 66m breast stroke in 1.05.05, with Cameron Leach taking fourth in the 10/u boys event in 1.15.20. Josh Sharratt produced a time of 53.67 in the boys 12/u 66m fly to take fourth place.
The girls 9 years 4 x 33m medley team of Georgia Winkley, Amelia Gearey, Lauren Annis and Tamara Marsden pushed the opposition all the way to grab third place in 3.01.46 and showed that the future looks bright for the club. The boys 11/u 4 x 33m freestyle relay team of Cross, Saunders, Heeks and Gearey were soon in action, taking fourth spot again against some very strong teams.
After 15 events, City of Coventry were in first place on 68 points, Leicester Sharks 63 points, Bilsdon 58 points, Pershore 41 points, Halesowen 39 points and Northampton B 21 points.
The girls 10/u 4 x 33m medley team of Lauren Annis, Franks, French and Elena Christodolou produced one of the swims of the evening to take third place in 1.33.47.
Megan Annis produced Pershore’s second silver of the gala in the girls 11/u 66m backstroke, going out strong in the first length and holding her form in a time of 51.41. Annis also grabbed third place in the girls 11/u 66m fly in 55.90.
The girls 9 year old 4 x 33m freestyle team of Jasmine Hoskins, Lauren Annis, Amelia Gearey and Tamara Marsden also produced a great team effort to claim second in 1.46.62.
William Gearey also snatched second place for Pershore in the boys 12/u 66m breast stroke in 59.07. Gearey then produced Pershore’s first win of the evening, leading from the front to take gold in the boys 11/u 66m fly in 47.93 and holding off a late surge from his City of Coventry rival.
After 30 events, City of Coventry had maintained their first place on 130 points, with Leicester Sharks second on 127 points, Bilsdon 117 points, Pershore 86 points, Halesowen 81 points and Northampton B 41 points.
Sweatman produced another third place in the boys 12/u 66m freestyle in 41.75, while French was just edged into fourth in the girls 10/u 66m backstroke in 1.01.62.
Pershore’s second win of the gala was produced by nine-year old Lauren Annis with a dominant performance in the girls 33m freestyle. Annis led from the dive and proved to be far too strong for the opposition and easily winning in an impressive time of 24.27.
The boys 12/u 4 x 33m freestyle team of Sharratt, Chris Vizard, Gearey and Sweatman were narrowly beaten into second place in 1.21.45 and the quartet also managed bronze in the 12/u medlay relay event.
Franks, in strong form during the whole gala, produced her second silver of the evening, this time in the girls 10/u 33m fly in a time of 26.66.
Sisters Georgia and Holly Winkley were in action in the last few individual races of the gala, with Georgia grabbing third place in the girls 9 year 33m backstroke in 30.65 and older sister Holly also taking third spot in the 11/u 66m freestyle in 49.45.
Gearey added another first place for Pershore, this time winning the 11/u 66m freestyle in 42.19, dominating the race from the start to win with a comfortable margin.
Going into the final event, the 8 x 33m mixed age freestyle relay, Pershore found themselves in fourth place and needing to beat Halesowen to hang onto their position. Pershore’s youngsters started strong, taking a lead over Halesowen before their rivals clawed back the difference and then over took them. Sweatman, on the anchor leg for Pershore, had it all to do when he entered the water and despite pushing hard he just couldn’t catch the Halesowen swimmer, losing on the touch.
The final standings were City of Coventry winning on 234 points, Leicester Sharks second on 216, Bilsdon third on 210, Halesowen fourth on 157, Pershore fifth on 156 and Northampton B on 84 points.
Commenting on the result, Tom Naughton, Pershore’s head coach, said: "It’s disappointing that we didn’t manage to hold onto the fourth spot, especially as we’d been in this position until the last race. This was a very tough draw for us with Coventry and Leicester two of the biggest clubs in the Midlands. However, I think we showed that, despite being a smaller club, Pershore can mix it with the best in the top division. We’ll be hoping for a kinder draw in the next round!”