PGL Final 2013
27 Jun 2013
Pershore Swimming Club reached the
PGL Final for the second year running, putting up a tremendous performance
against some of the regionÆs biggest clubs to finish in third place and also
beating local rivals Evesham.
The PGL Final held at Gloucester was
eventually won convincingly by Worcester on 343 points, with Cheltenham second
on 299 points and just beating Pershore by two points who finished on 297
points. Redditch were fourth (265), Wyre
Forest fifth (248), Stourbridge sixth (243), Evesham seventh (202) and Oldbury
eighth (183).
Pershore notched up 28 podium
finishes, with 17 first places, six second places and five third places as well
as eight speeding tickets which proved to be their undoing in the final.
There were several notable
individual performances in the Final, as well as strong swims in the relay
races.
Cameron Leach secured two first
places for Pershore, winning the Boys 9 year old 25m freestyle (18.74) and the
25m fly (22.57) to take maximum points for the team.
There were excellent wins too for
Josh Lane in the Boys 13/14 year old 50m backstroke in 36.74 seconds and Emily
Burton also took first place in the Girls 13/14 year old 50m backstroke in
38.49.
Daisy Tolley snatched victory on the
touch in the Girls 11/u 25m freestyle in 17.02 seconds and this was soon
followed up by another strong performance from Charlotte Downey winning the
Girls 10/u 25m fly in 19.90.
Hamish Cross made it another maximum
points score for Pershore, winning the Boys 9 year old 25m breaststroke in
25.17 seconds.
The teamÆs first relay victory in
the final came to the Boys 12/u Medley relay with Calum Sanderson, Chris Vizard,
Josh Sharratt and Lane putting in a dominant performance.
And after the first 20 events,
Pershore found themselves in third place on 97 points behind Cheltenham (107)
and Worcester (112), leaving themselves quite a hurdle to climb.
Kieran Bennett added to the teamÆs
tally, taking victory in the Boys 10/u 25m freestyle in 17.72 seconds and this
was soon followed by more wins for Hannah Simister, swimming up an age group,
in the Girls 13/14 year old 50m breast stroke in 42.95 and Hannah Woodcock in the
Girls 10/u 25m breast stroke in 24.20 seconds.
And after 40 events, Worcester
remained out in front on 233 points, with Pershore closing the gap on
Cheltenham to just seven points and setting up a tight run in during the final
20 events.
There were also podium finishes for
Jack Betteridge (50m fly), Mia Du Toit (25m breaststroke), Alexander Barry (25m
breaststroke and 25m fly), Charlotte Downey (25m fly), Ellen Cope (25m
freestyle), Leo Rendall-Baker (25m free), Isobel Cummings (50m free) and
Michael Evans (50m breaststroke).
PershoreÆs relay teams put in some
excellent performances in the last few events, winning six of the ten relays
races. There were wins for the Girls
13/14 year old 4 x 25m freestyle (1.01.42), the Boys 11/u 4 x 25m freestyle (1.04.40),
the Girls 10/u 4 x 25m freestyle (1.10.91), the mixed 9yr old 4 x 25m freestyle
(1.13.11), the Boys 12/u 4 x 25m freestyle (1.03.33) and the Boys 10 x 25m
cannon (2.37.51).
Despite the relay teams performing
so well in the last few events, Pershore just couldnÆt close the gap on
Cheltenham who managed to take second place by just two points.
Commenting on the final, PershoreÆs
head coach, Tom Naughton said: "Another
fantastic performance from our swimmers and third place was a brilliant effort. Unfortunately we picked up eight speeding
tickets, largely due to swimmers smashing personal bests, which probably cost
us the win. However itÆs very pleasing
to see swimmers clocking up new pbs so IÆm certainly not going to
complain! We got fourth place last year
and next season have our sights set firmly on winning the Cup!ö
Ends.