19 Oct 2013

Pershore Swimming Club sent an all-female team to compete at Redditch at the weekend, coming up against strong opposition from the home side, Kingsbury plus local rivals Evesham.

Pershore didnÆt have to wait long for their first victory, with Holly Winkley grabbing maximum points in the 10 year old 50m free in 35.97 seconds.  Caitlin Yates then put in a good swim in the 9 year old 25m breaststroke to finish second in 25.60 and this was soon followed up by Hannah Simister taking third place in the 13 year old 100m breast in 1.32.34.

The 11 under 4 x 25m medley team were narrowly beaten into second place, with the quartet of Ellen Cope, Isabella Woodcock, Isobel Cumming and Daisy Tolley putting in a good performance in 1.13.23 seconds.  Naomi Marsden replaced Cope in the 11 under 4 x 25m freestyle relay to help secure a third place in 1.07.80.

After a couple of fourth and fifth places, Pershore needed a win to keep them in contention and an excellent swim from the 9 year old 4 x 25m medley relay team of Elena Christodoulu, Jasmine Franks, Hannah Woodcock and Macey French in 1.24.50 delivered maximum points.  Yates replaced Christodoulu in the 9 year old 4 x 25m freestyle relay to make it two wins from two in 1.12.47 and another first place was also secured by the 10 year old 4 x 25m medley team, with Cope, Alexandra Barry, Charlotte Downey and Winkley grabbing first place in 1.20.93 seconds.

Jasmine Taite was just edged out in the 13u 100m fly, putting in a good effort to come in second in a time of 1.20.64 and Tolley took silver in the 11u 50m back in 40.22.  Taite then went one better in the 12/under 50m freestyle winning the sprint in 32.64 seconds and then secured a County Qualifying Time in the 100IM in 1.20.79 and a second place.

Isabella Woodcock easily clocked a CQT in the 12/under 50m breast in 42.07 and will be looking to defend her County Age Group title in March next year in this event.  Woodcock also easily won the 11/u 50m breaststroke in a slightly slower time of 42.17.  Younger sister, Hannah also bagged maximum points in the 9 year 25m fly in 19.97.

Cope grabbed an excellent victory in the 10/u 50m back in 43.82 seconds and French, who has recently joined Pershore, claimed her first victory for the club, putting in a dominant performance in the 9 year 25m freestyle in 16.93.

The evening finished with a second place for Charlotte Downey in the 10/u 50m fly in 44.86 and a first place for Franks in the 9 year old 25m back in 21.81.  There were plenty of other notable performances on the night including first competitive galas for Tamara Moule and Charlotte Drinkwater plus good personal swims by Emily Burton, Katie Sharratt, Casarena Ferreira, Mia du Toit and Marie Porter.

The gala finished with Redditch A and B teams grabbing first and second spots on 208 and 196 points respectively and Pershore third on 177. Evesham finished fifth on 153 points.

Tom Naughton, PershoreÆs head coach, said:  "Redditch and Kingsbury are both very strong clubs and the level of competition we faced was high.  There were several good individual performances and it was great to see the 9 and 10 year old teams delivering maximum points in both individual and relay events.ö


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