Pershore swimmers make a late surge.
22 Oct 2012
Pershore swimmers make a late surge.
In a friendly inter-club gala just featuring girls hosted by Redditch against two of their best teams, with Evesham, Bromsgrove and Oldbury unfortunately unable to stage a team. So without the support of their all conquering young boy's teams the Pershore girls knew they were up against it and yet finishing in the top three in over half of the 47 events they knuckled down and did some great performance.
Three 3rd places came early on from Charlotte Downey (9yr 25m breaststroke 24.34), Hope Rochelle (13/u 100m breaststroke 1:30.77), and the 11/u 4 x 25m Medley of Naomi Marsden, Hannah Simister, Jasmine Taite and Casarena Ferreira. It was the girls Open (15 and over 15/0) who recorded their first 2ndplace from the 4 x 25m Medley Relay made up of Cara Lee, Helen Annis, Chloe Naughton and Emma Thompson. It wasn't long before a 1st place was notched up the 9yr girls 4 x 25m Medley Relay from Satara Ferreira, Megan Annis, Kate Sanderson and Holly Winkley. Nevertheless after eleven events Pershore were lying in 4th place only narrowly ahead of the Bromsgrove team.
The same Open girls team recorded yet another 2ndplaced finish in the freestyle relay with the 9yr old freestyle relay team of Winkley, Annis, Ferreira joined by Charlotte Downey going one better with a 1stplace and a full 6 pts to add to the club's total. Amy Weston excelled in winning the 11/u 50m backstroke in 38.94, helping push Pershore into 3rd place in the pts tally at the half way stage leap froging Evesham.
Kate Sanderson didn't let down in the 9yr 25m Fly coming 2ndwith 21.69. More good individual performances from Amy Weston, Chloe Naughton, Louise Hird, Hope Rochelle, Grace Gregory, Emily Burton and a fine 1stplace from Megan Annis in the 9yr 25m Freestyle. Top team performances from Emily Patterson (10), Melissa Radley (10), Laura Snape (13), Lizzie Vizard (14), Megan Reeves (13) and Hannah Kenwright (13) all helped Pershore record more pts. After 36 events although Pershore were still in 3rd Evesham had narrowed the gap slightly to just 10 pts and with only 11 events to go the club had to work as a team to carry it through.
A 2nd place from Casarena Ferreira in the 11/u 50m Breaststroke in 46.99 and a 2ndfrom her younger sister in the 9yr 25m Backstroke in 21.67 together with 3rdpositions from Emily Burton in the 13/u 100m Backstroke in 1:30.61 and Jasmine Taite 37.61 in the 11/u 50m Freestyle helped steady the ship with Pershore finishing in a comfortable 3rd place on 172 with both the Redditch teams taking the top places on 232pts and 210pts whilst Evesham were 4thon 156pts and Bromsgrove 145pts.
Meanwhile club members brother and sister Ollie and Hattie Gill were presented with the club's monthly achievement trophy. Hattie has just returned triumphant winning the British Show Pony Society's National 'Cradle Stakes' at Lincoln where a perfect round in the show jumping had to be achieved before the few skilled in that aspect went through for the strict show judging of their ponies for show champion. This is only two months after Hattie had won the same event at the National Pony Society's National Championships, leaving eight year Hattie the undisputed supreme Champion of Great Britain.
Ian Pugh
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