24 Mar 2013

Another fine performance from Pershore Swimming Club saw them grab a clear victory in the latest round of the PGL League at Redditch on Saturday evening.

Competing against teams from Cheltenham, Bromsgrove and Oldbury, Pershore had a relatively slow start in the first 30 events of the gala before pulling away for a comfortable win after strong performances in the back 30 events.   

The PGL, which is one of the development formats on the swimming calendar, saw Pershore giving some of the up-and-coming swimmers an opportunity to represent the club and gain much-needed competition experience.   Pershore secured an incredible 31 first places out of the 60 events, with the team dominant in both the boys and girls relays.

The first victory on the night came from the boys 10/u 4 x 25m Medley Relay, with James Thomas, Luke Betteridge, William Gearey and Kieran Bennett taking first place in 1.27.25 seconds.

This was soon followed up with fine individual wins for Cameron Leach and Emily Burton, with Cameron winning the boys 9 year old 25m freestyle in 20.54 seconds and Emily taking a superb gold in the Girls 13/14 year 50m backstroke.

Another victory in one of the many relay events on the night saw Pershore taking first place in the Boys 12/u 4 x 25m Medley, with Owen Leeks, Drew Jones, Michael Evans and Calum Sanderson too strong for the opposition in a time of 1.15.56.

First places for Isobel Woodcock, James Thomas and Charlotte Downey again helping Pershore secure maximum points, with Isobel winning the Girls 11/u 25m freestyle on the touch in 17.13 seconds, James putting in a fine performance to win the Boys 10/u 25m butterfly in 20.70 seconds and Charlotte taking gold in the Girls 10/u 25m butterfly.

After the first 20 events, Pershore found themselves in second place on 46 points just behind Oldbury on 52 points.

Back-to-back wins from the Boys and Girls 13/14 teams in the 4 x 25m Medley started to see Pershore clawing back the lead from Oldbury.  The Boys 13/14 year old team of Owen Leeks, Drew Jones, Michael Evans and Calum Sanderson edging out their rivals, posting a time of 1.09.08 and the Girls 13/14 year old team of Emily Burton, Hannah Kenwright, Lizzie Vizard and Tessa Carr taking first place in 1.12.01.

This was quickly followed up by a string of fine individual performances including first places for Megan Annis in the Girls 12/u 50m breaststroke in 48.69, Chris Vizard in the Boys 11/u 25m butterfly in 18.48, Kieran Bennett in the Boys 10/u 25m freestyle in 19.20. Isobel Cumming in the Girls 10/u 25m freestyle in 17.57 and Drew Jones in the Boys 13/14 year old 50m breaststroke in 42.69 seconds.

And after 30 events, Pershore had edged into first place from Oldbury with 81 points and six points clear of their nearest rivals.

In the latter part of the gala, Pershore continued to pile on the pressure on Oldbury and in the final 30 events, managed to win an incredible 17 events.

Victories for Ellen Cope in the Girls 10/u 25m backstroke (21.33), Hannah Kenwright in the Girls 13/14 50m freestyle (33.91), Callum Sanderson in the Boys 12/u 50m butterfly (40.65), Luke Betteridge in the Boys 10/u 25m breaststroke (25.32) and Holly Winkley in the Girls 10/u 25m breaststroke (24.28) û all secured maximum points for Pershore and helped open up a significant points margin over Oldbury.

However, it was in the team relay events that Pershore really showed their class, with a series of strong performances for both boys and girls teams.

Pershore took first place in the Mixed 9 year old 4 x 25m Medley Relay, with Sophie Thomas, Owen Kirby, Hannah Woodcock and Cameron Leach winning in 1.36.88, and the Mixed 9 year old 4 x 25m freestyle with Woodcock and Leach being joined by Anja Du Toit and Leo Rendall-Baker  to take first place in 1.22.74.

Pershore dominated the 4 x 25m freestyle age group relays with the boys 13/14 year old team of Josh Lane, Owen Leeks, Drew Jones and Michael Evans winning in 59.88; the girls 13/14 year old team (Lizzie Vizard, Emily Burton, Hannah Kenwright, Tessa Carr) triumphed in 1.02.95; the boys 12 under team (Chris Vizard, Calum Sanderson, Josh Lane, William Gearey) winning in 1.04.95; the boys 11/u team (William Gearey, William Clarke, Josh Sharratt , Chris Vizard) won by over eight seconds in 1.03.76; the boys 10/u team (Kieran Bennett, James Thomas, Luke Betteridge, William Gearey) won in 1.15.25 as did the girls 10/u team (Isobel Cumming, Charlotte Downey, Amy Weston, Daisy Tolley) in 1.11.97.

The last two events of the evening saw victories for the girls and boys teams in the 10 x 25m cannon.

Pershore won the meeting with 175 points, Oldbury second (140 points), Cheltenham third (130 points) and Bromsgrove fourth (116 points).

Tom Naughton, Pershore's head coach, said:  "Another fine performance from our young team and delighted to see so many personal bests."

Issued on behalf of Pershore Swimming Club by Tim Gearey.

---

All news