03 Mar 2014

Pershore Swimming Club made a strong start at the first weekend of the Worcester County Championships held at Wolverhampton, winning an impressive 12 age group titles, 9 silvers and 9 bronze medals.  Many of the swimmers also smashed personal bests and several of the Pershore team also achieved new Midland Qualifying Times (MQT).

Day One

Megan Annis was first to get on the podium and start Pershore on their way, picking up silver in the girls 10 year old 100IM in 1.23.55, and this was soon followed by two more medals with Simon Sweatman grabbing gold in the boys 11 year old 200m breaststroke (3.05.14) and William Gearey taking silver in the same age group event in 3.12.78 (MQT).

Annis was again in action in the morning session, this time going one better to win the 10 year old 100m back in 1.21.06 and smashing her personal best.  Naomi Marsden was narrowly beaten into third in the 11 year old 100m back in 1.18.85 and team mate Amy Weston produced one of the best swims of the day to also grab a bronze in the 12 year old 100m back in 1.15.11 and in doing so achieved her first MQT of the year.

Patrick Heeks grabbed his first ever county medals during the weekend, producing a strong swim in the boys 10 year old 50m fly in 38.41 to claim bronze medal.  In the 11 year old age group, Sweatman and Gearey again went head-to-head, with Sweatman forced to produce a new pb to hold off his younger team mate’s challenge to take gold in 33.20 after Gearey produced a massive pb time of 33.80 to take bronze.

In the afternoon session, Sweatman claimed his third gold medal of the day, winning the 11 year old 400IM in 5.37.77 (MQT), with Gearey taking silver in 5.52.75 (MQT).

Annis added bronze to her medal collection, producing a strong performance in the 200m freestyle and getting closer to achieving her first MQT.

Heeks produced one of his best swims this year, winning the boys 10 year old 100m backstroke in 1.22.75 to win his first age group County title.  Heeks beat off strong competition from several district swimmers from Ledbury and Redditch to win gold.

Sweatman and Gearey again produced a one-two podium finish for Pershore, with Sweatman taking gold in the 11 year old 100m back in 1.12.34 (MQT) and Gearey taking silver in 1.16.48 (MQT).

Day Two

First event of the morning was the boys 100IM which saw Sweatman pick up his five straight gold age group County title in 1.13.60 (pb) and Gearey again edged into silver in 1.17.53 (pb).

 

Annis was again amongst the medals in the girls 10 year 200m breaststroke, producing a time of 3.28.79 to take silver and Hannah Woodcock grabbed her first championship medal with bronze in the same age group with a massive pb time of 3.30.70.

Sweatman added 100m fly gold to his growing collection, producing a 1.15.72 new pb to hold off the challenge of Gearey who took silver in 1.21.09 (MQT) and achieved his ninth district time in the process.

In the girls 50m back, Annis claimed her third gold medal of the weekend producing a fantastic swim to win the 10 year old age group title in 37.23.  Marsden also grabbed a podium spot in the 11 year old age group, claiming bronze in 35.98.

Charlotte Downey was the only female swimmer from Pershore to achieve the qualifying time in the girls 400IM and didn’t disappoint.  Downey held off a late challenge from rival swimmers to snatch a well-earned silver in a time of 6.43.18

The 200m free was another close affair with Sweatman and Gearey dominant in the 11 year old age group.  Despite Gearey leading after the first 100m, Sweatman managed to claw his deficit back to snatch gold in 2.21.76 while Gearey picked up yet another silver in 2.25.67 (MQT). 

Pershore grabbed three more medals in the boys 50m back, with Sweatman taking his eight gold from eight events and Gearey and Heeks both winning bronze medals.

The last race of the day saw Helen Annis take gold in the masters age-group 50m freestyle in a fantastic time of 31.36.

Jasmine Franks (9), Tamara Marsden (9), Lauren Annis (9), Olivia Howard (10), Macey French (10), Ronan Williams (10) Cameron Leach (10), Isobel Cumming (11), Jamie Saunders (10), Chris Vizard (12), Daisy Tolley (12), Josh Sharratt (12), Jasmine Taite (13), Beth Carter (14), Owen Leeks (14) and Angus Jones (16) all produced pbs across the weekend and strong performances with several fourth places achieved amongst the team.

Commenting on the performance, head coach Tom Naughton said:  "It’s been an excellent start to the Championships and we’re definitely on track to produce a record haul of medals.  There were so many strong swims during the day it was hard to single any out.  However, Amy Weston’s performance in the 100m backstroke to achieve a MQT deserves special praise as does Patrick Heeks winning his first age-group title in the 10 year old 100m backstroke.  A very good day for Pershore and I look forward to adding to this total next weekend.”


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