Worcester County Champs results - 9 March 2014
10 Mar 2014
Pershore Swimming Club produced another strong display at the second weekend of the Worcester County Championships, adding a further 12 age group titles and 35 medals to claim a record medal haul.
This took the Club’s total for the championship to an impressive 23 age group titles, 26 silvers and 16 bronze medals as well as seeing five swimmers achieve one or more Midland District Qualifying (MQT) time.
This weekend saw Isabella Woodcock (11) defend her 100m breaststroke county title from last year, with Woodcock producing a MQT on the way to secure her place at the Midlands Championships in June. Woodcock also added the 50m breaststroke title.
Star performer across the two weekends was without doubt Simon Sweatman who swept the board in the boys 11 year old age group with a stunning 16 gold medals from 16 events. Sweatman also notched up several MQTs and is now closing in on his national qualifying times in a couple of events.
Patrick Heeks added a second age group County title win, with a dominant display in the 10 year old 200m backstroke and Megan Annis won gold in the 10 year old 50m breaststroke in the last event of the day.
Day One
Jasmine Franks, Megan Annis and Hannah Woodcock got the team off to a winning start, with Franks winning bronze in the 9 year old girls 50m free in 35.82, and Annis and Woodcock bagging silver and bronze in the 10 year old girls 50m free.
Heeks won the 10 year old 200m backstroke, producing a powerful display to come home in first place in 2.54.05 and just missing out on a MQT. More medals followed for Pershore in the 200m back, with Sweatman and Gearey recording another one-two in the 11 year old age group. Sweatman took gold in 2.33.97 (MQT) while Gearey came second in silver in 2.42.44 (MQT).
Charlotte Downey battled hard in the longer distance 10 year 400m race, producing a strong finish to claim an excellent bronze in 5.54.99, and just missing out on a silver medal.
In the boys 100m breast stroke, Sweatman took gold and beat Gearey who pushed him hard with a time of 1.30.34 (MQT). Harry Sykes added silver to Pershore’s growing medal haul, with a deserved second place in the 16yr 100m breast stroke. Sweatman also added the 11yr old 50m breast stroke title, with Gearey second in 41.31 and Sykes also bagged another silver in the 50m breast stroke.
The girls 10 year old 200IM saw another inter-club battle developing, with Annis and Hannah Woodcock going head-to-head again. Annis just getting the better of her younger rival, producing a 3.02.47 to take silver and Woodcock claimed bronze with a 3.05.24. Annis also added a bronze in the 10 year 100m freestyle with a time of 1.13.73 which was another pb.
Sweatman ended the first day of the weekend, claiming the Boys 200m fly title too, producing a massive pb for gold and Gearey took silver in 3.05.67.
Day Two
Sweatman and William Gearey continued their battle in the 11 year old age group, with Sweatman again getting the better of Gearey in the boys 50m free. Sweatman produced a new pb of 29.29 to take gold, while Gearey clocked up 30.37 to take silver ahead of his Worcester rival.
In the girls 200m backstroke, Megan Annis smashed her previous personal best to take silver medal in the girls 10 year old age group and just a few seconds off claiming her first MQT.
The next event saw the 400m freestyle and more medals for the Pershore boys. Sweatman managed to swim under five minutes for the first time, coming home in 4.59.82 for first place in the boys 11 year old event. Gearey wasn’t far behind his older rival and also produced a strong swim, recording a massive pb of 5.08.22 and another MQT.
More medals soon followed for Pershore before the break in the girls 100m breast stroke, with Annis again amongst the medals and team mates Isabella Woodcock and Beth Carter also on the podium. Woodcock claimed gold in the 11 year old 100m breast stroke in a new pb of 1.27.00 and lowered her MQT. Annis lost out on gold on the touch to her Worcester rival to bag a silver medal in the 10 year old 100m breast.
Beth Carter, who has recently joined Pershore from Evesham, produced a stunning swim in the girls 14 year old 100m breast stroke and claimed her first MQT of 2014. Carter’s swim saw her make the Open final where she produced another strong display against much older swimmers.
Sweatman and Gearey continued to do battle in the last two boys events. Although Gearey produced PBS and pushed Sweatman hard in both the 200IM and the 100m free, Sweatman continued to hold off his younger rivals’ challenge. Sweatman won golds in the 200IM and the 100m free, while Gearey added two silvers and two more MQTS in 2.45.72 and 1.07.87 respectively. Heeks also won bronze in the boys 10 year old 100m freestyle.
Pershore finished the weekend in great style, adding two more golds and a silver in the girls 50m breast stroke. Annis made it a three county age group titles, storming to first place in the 10 year old event in 43.77 while Isabella Woodcock made it double gold in the breast stroke winning the 11 year old category producing her first sub 40 seconds touching in 39.47. Jasmine Franks rounded off a great first County championships taking silver in the 9 year old 50m breast in 48.67.
Cameron Leach, Jamie Saunders, Ronan Williams, Chris Vizard, Angus Jones, Owen Leeks, Josh Sharratt, Lauren Annis, Jasmine Hoskins, Tamara Marsden, Macey French, Isobel Cumming, Naomi Marsden, Charlotte Downey, Jasmine Taite and Helen Annis all produced good performances this weekend and recorded PBS.
Commenting on the performance, Pershore’s head coach Tom Naughton said: "Another great weekend for Pershore and I’m delighted with the record medal haul. There have been several notable performances across both weekends. Simon’s unprecedented 16 golds was just an incredible performance and it was great to see Isabella defend her 100m title from last year in a really fast time. And Megan Annis winning three gold medals in the 10 year old age group was another class performance. It was also pleasing to see William bag multiple MQTs and Beth her first of the year. It just shows that the future of the club is very healthy indeed!”