09 May 2015

Pershore took a young squad of 9 to 14 year olds to Cheltenham for the Round 2 of the PGL Junior League.  Opposition on the night came in the form of much larger clubs including Redditch, Bromsgrove and hosts Cheltenham.

The PGL development was conceived as the ideal opportunity to introduce younger swimmers to gala competition.  Speeding tickets are handed out to swimmers who swim too fast on the night, with no points scored, so a skilful coach will judge the swimmers whose speed and ability is just right for each event.

Pershore got off to a blistering start, with a great time of 35.00 by Josh Sharratt in the 13/14yrs 50m fly, a little too quick though, as he picked up a speeding ticket and the points didn’t count. Next came three straight wins, Hannah Simister with 36.95 in the 13/14yrs 50m fly, Ronan Williams (39.45) and Lauren Annis (40.80) in the 12/U 50m back, which put Pershore in the driving seat. Owen Kirby (22.11) and Olivia O’Sullivan (21.86) produced fine swims too, grabbing second spots in the 11/U 25m breaststroke.

Pershore quickly racked up three more quick wins, with the boys 10/U medley relay team finding form in a time of 1.26.13, Ethan Stanley (19.38) blazing a trail in the 9yrs 25m freestyle and Martha Cross (18.97) unbeatable in the same girls event. More great results followed, with Amy Cooper (36.59) recording a win in the 13/14yrs 50m back, a win for the girls 12/U medley relay team of Olivia Howard, Caitlin Yates, Izzy Cumming and Holly Winkley (1.12.13), a second for the boys 12/U medley relay team (1.21.40) of Ronan Williams, Hamish Cross, Kieran Cooper and Owen Kirby and an unstoppable Cameron Leach, bringing home the bacon, in the 11/U 25m freestyle event, in 16.26.

At this stage of the gala, Pershore had taken a narrow five point lead from Cheltenham.

A string of great results followed.  Tamara Marsden (21.78) and Gabriella Barry (25.14) took seconds in the 10/U 25m fly and the 9yrs 25m breaststroke respectively, with a great win for David Annis (24.69) in the 9yrs 25m breaststroke and some fine swims in the boys (1.09.83) and girls (1.09.83) 13/14 medley relays to grab a second place and the win respectively. Despite this after twenty events, Pershore’s lead was down to just two points from Cheltenham.

Kieran Cooper notched up another win for Pershore, with a 44.95 in the 12/U 50m breaststroke, but this was followed by a couple speeding tickets for the club.  More success came quickly though, with seconds for Harry Wycherley (18.47) in the 25m 10/U freestyle, Andrew Thorner (24.75) in the 9yrs 25m back, Luke Perry (40.54) swimming the 50m 13/14yrs breaststroke, Amy Cooper (43.85) in the corresponding girls event, Izzy Cumming (24.89) took second in 12/U 50m freestyle and Amelia Gearey was runner up in the 10/U 25m back, posting 22.91. After 30 events, Cheltenham had taken the lead with 85 points, Pershore weren’t far behind on 80.

More great wins came from, Hamish Cross (34.40) in the 12/U 50m freestyle, James Heeks (22.00) in the 25m 10/U back and from both the boys (1.17.23) and girls (1.16.91) 11/U medley relay teams of, Ronan Williams, Owen Kirby, Kieran Cooper and Ned Meredith and for the girls Olivia Howard, Sophie Thomas, Macey French and Olivia O’Sullivan.  Pershore nudged into an uneasy lead of 112 points from Cheltenham’s 109 after 40 races.

Luke Perry secured a win in 31.16 taking the 13/14yrs 50m freestyle, then both Kieran Cooper (37.94) and Caitlin Yates (40.10) took top spots in the 12/U 50m fly.  A strong swim for Isobel Fairchild saw her take second in the 25m 11/U back.  However, after 50 events the lead was turned on its head, with Cheltenham looking unreachable on 139 points from Pershore’s 132.

Pershore rallied and called for some great performances from their freestyle relay teams in the final ten events and swimmers pulled out all the stops to get the points required.  Wins came in seven out of the final 10 events - the girls (1.02.70) 13/14, the boys (1.06.25) and girls (1.06.31) 11/U’s, the 9yrs mixed swimmers (1.17.38), the girls 12/U’s (1.04.73) and both the boys (2.45.61) and girls (2.45.27) mixed age group 10 length cannon races.

Tensions mounted amongst swimmers, and supporters, as the result was awaited, and there was a huge cheer when the final result was announced.  Pershore took the win by the narrowest of margins, just four points, scoring 166 to Cheltenham’s 162. Redditch took third on the night, with Bromsgrove fourth.

Other swimmers helping Pershore to the win on the night were; for the boys, Oliver Smith, Leo Rendell-Baker, Lewis Cribbin and Will Clarke and for the girls, Georgia Winkley, Amy Cross, Helena Leach and Lara Meredith.

 


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