Worcester Winter League 'A' Final
13 Apr 2014
After a string of strong performances in the earlier rounds, Pershore Swimming Club found themselves in the A final of the Worcester Winter League at Droitwich and drawn against the county biggest clubs including Redditch A, Worcester A, Halesowen A and Stourbridge A.
Despite a dominant set of results from their 11/u swimmers which saw them beat off strong competition from the other clubs, Pershore found the going a little too tough and eventually had to settle for fifth place overall.
The final started well for Pershore, with the team taking maximum points from the first event. The 11/u mixed 6 x 25m medley relay proved that they can mix it with the best in the county with a clear victory in the first race. Naomi Marsden got Pershore off to a flying start with a good leg in the backstroke, handing over the lead to William Gearey in the breast stroke who soon extended the gap. Isabella Woodcock pushed the team ahead further with another excellent breast stroke leg and Simon Sweatman added more distance in the fly. It was left to Megan Annis and Patrick Heeks in the freestyle to bring the team home and they ensured Pershore’s margin was nearly a length ahead of rivals Worcester.
Pershore then had a series of fifth places in the older age group events, with Hope Rochelle clocking 1.08.05 in the girls 15/u 100m free and Michael Evans 1.04.15 in the boys equivalent. Amy Weston, swimming up an age group, swam well to produce a time of 1.16.22 in the 13/u 100m backstroke whilst Josh Lane went slightly quicker with a 1.15.77; and Katie Sharratt produced a 1.20.32 in the Open 100m fly and Angus Jones a time of 1.12.90 in the men’s open fly event.
Annis then produced a new personal best of 32.48 in the girls 11/u 50m free to claim third place before Sweatman then produced Pershore’s second win of the finals with a dominant 29.39 in the 11/u 50m freestyle and winning by a considerable margin.
Sweatman was soon in action soon afterwards and once delivered the goods producing another maximum points for Pershore. Sweatman won the boys 11/u 50m backstroke from the start with a typically dominant performance in one of his strongest events to win in 35.03. Marsden was unlucky not to also add maximum points just being edged into third place in the girls 11/u 50m backstroke in 35.46. Marsden also grabbed third place in the girls 11/u 50m butterfly, producing a time of 37.70 to secure invaluable points for Pershore.
Gearey won the boys 11/u 50m fly and maximum points, clocking a new pb of 33.55 and a clear victory of his local rivals. He also won the boys 11/u 50m breast stroke, again producing a new pb touching in 40.56 seconds.
Beth Carter stormed to third place in the girls 15/u 100m breast stroke coming home in 1.23.94 and Woodcock also showed Pershore’s dominance in the breast stroke taking second in the girls 11/u 50m breast in 40.27.
Pershore’s final victory came again from the relay team who proved far too strong for the other four clubs. Woodcock, Gearey, Annis, Heeks, Marsden and Sweatman blew their rivals away with another dominant performance and again secured victory with a comfortable margin.
There were also good swims from Jack Betteridge, Owen Leeks, Ella Spencer, Jasmine Taite, Alexandra Dobell, Helen Annis, Chris Vizard, Hannah Simister, Luke Bussey and Josh Sharratt.
The final points were Worcester A 187, Redditch A 176, Stourbridge A 164, Halesowen A 153 and Pershore 118.
Tom Naughton, Pershore’s head coach, said: "We did extremely to reach the A final and delighted by the whole team’s effort and determination. It’s always going to be hard for such a small club like Pershore to compete against much bigger clubs such as Worcester and Redditch but we certainly hold our own. I was particularly pleased to see how dominant our 11/u swimmers were at the final and the two relay races showed the strength in depth at this age group within the club. The older swimmers also produced a string of personal bests and gave it their all.”
Ends.