Reports
Mercian Summer League Round , Leamington Spa - Saturday 10th July
The third and final round of the Mercian League held at Leamington Spa on Saturday 10th July, saw Halesowen Swimming Club win by six points. The swimmers took first or second place in over half of the races swam that night and their strength allowed them to lead the other teams for most of the gala. Once again the coaches and swimmers’ hard work has paid off as they finish another league on a high note.
Double event winners were ten year olds Rachel Weller in the Backstroke and Freestyle and Mark Laing in the Breaststroke and Freestyle. Other individual wins went to Bethany Jackson in the Individual Medley, Dominic Rickards in the Butterfly, Sarah Watts in the Backstroke, Hayley Bagley, Andy Papworth and Piers Boyack in the Breaststroke. Both the Ladies’ and Men’s open relay teams including Abigail Hughes, Roxanne Taylor, Sam Johnson, Kieran Rickards and Reid Piggott were unbeatable in both the Medley and Freestyle relay. Zac Rollason, Connor Fell and George Westwood also won the ten year old boy’s Freestyle relay
Final scores were Halesowen 215, Solihull 211, Leamington Spa 207, Stratford Sharks 164, Perry Beeches & SSS 143, Northgate 91.
Nuneaton Junior League Round 3, Worcester - Saturday 26th June
Halesowen Swimming Club's junior swimmers travelled to Worcester for the final round of the Division 1 junior league on Saturday 26th June. With two wins from the prevous rounds a first or second place would send the team through to their second consecutive league final in September but with unexpected team absences the task was suddenly made more difficult. The gala did not start well for the team which lay in third place by event 12 and although they had recovered to second place by event 23, the gap to the leading team was a huge 20 points. With the gap narrowed to 15 points by event 32 it looked very much like the team would have to settle for the runners-up spot. But slowly and surely the gap was closed and from the remaining 18 events the swimmers won and amazing 14 of them to draw level on points on the very last event and snatch victory by the number of first places on the night.
Double event winners were Brittany Horton and Megan Willetts in the Backstroke and Freestyle and Max Rollason in the Backstroke and Breaststroke. Individual event winners were Chloe Bate and Mark Laing in the Butterfly, Rachel Weller in the Backstroke, Emma Baker in the Breaststroke and Indu Appanna, James Benson and George Westwood in the Freestyle. The relay teams were on form with the 11 and 12 year old girls and boys teams including Isobel Barnsley, Molly Miley, George Davies, Zac Rollason and James Westwood winning both Freestyle and Medley events. The 10 year old Freestyle boys team including Connor Fell grabbed first place as did the combined age Freestyle teams including Chloe Finch, India Hanke, Molly Kelly, Maise Miley, James Cuthbert and Daniel McComb.
Final scores were Halesowen 243 (25 1st places), Redditch 243 (11 1st places), Stratford Sharks 168, Ledbury 148, Haden Hill 144, Rugby 111.
Worcester County Relay Championships, Wolverhampton - Sunday 20th June
Swimmers from Halersowen Swimming Club travelled to Wolverhampton for the annual County Relay Championships on Sunday 20th June. For the third year running the team were defending the trophies of overall team, top girls and top boys and the usual tough competition was expected. All teams were excellent in the heats with all making it through to the finals. The girls proved be outstanding and amassed a total of 38 out of 40 possible points but the boys with 22 points following a disqualification had a mountain to climb to recover the 8 points to first place. Worcester proved to be the team to beat and although the girls continued their fine form into the second session and the boys pulled back the deficit impressively, the gap was too much to bridge and the team had to settle for second place overall. The girls’ team won 6 out of the 10 events and were second in three others. The girls 13/14 team set County records in both Medley and Freestyle events and the Ladies Open team also set a Medley record with the girls’ team coming home with the overall girl’s trophy for the fourth year running.
Final point scores were (top 3 teams):
Top Club: Worcester 133, Halesowen 127, Stourbridge 111
Top Girls Teams: Halesowen 75, Worcester 69, Stourbridge 56
Top Boys Teams: Worcester 64, Stourbridge 55, Halesowen 52
Mercian Summer League Round 2, Leamington Spa - Saturday 12th June
Members of Halesowen Swimming Club travelled to Leamington Spa on Saturday 12th June to take part in round two of the Mercian League. This round had a slightly quieter feel to round one, possibly due to another sporting event held in the southern hemisphere of the world. Nevertheless, all participants were keen to finish their race in first place. The Halesowen team had settled quickly into third place by event 20 and despite some clear first placed wins remained in third position all the way through.
Winning both of her individual events was Molly Miley in the Freestyle and Butterfly. Other winners were Bethany Jackson in the Individual Medley, Rachel Weller in the Backstroke, Abigail Hughes and Dominic Rickards in the Butterfly, Mark Laing and Bethan Luckman in the Freestyle and Hayley Bagley and Piers Boyack in the Breaststroke. The Ladies Open relay team including Sarah Watts and Roxanne Taylor won both the Medley and Freestyle events. Whilst Nikita Setchell and Aimee Smyllie joined their team mates to win the 10 year old girls Freestyle relay.
Final scores were Nuneaton & Bedworth 236, Leamington 226, Halesowen 215, Rugby 165, Droitwich 148.
Nuneaton Junior League Round 2, Nuneaton - Saturday 8th May
For the first time in three years, the draw for the Nuneaton Junior League allowed the junior swimmers from Halesowen Swimming Club to travel to another pool in the Midlands. On Saturday 8th May, the young team arrived at the Pingles Leisure Centre at Nuneaton. The team were in excellent form and over half of their races finished in first or second place. It was a very close gala with the top three teams finishing with just two and three points between them.
Double event winners were Mark Laing in the Freestyle and Butterfly, Chloe Bate in the Butterfly and Breaststroke and Brittany Horton in the Backstroke and Freestyle. First place also went to George Davies and Emma Baker in the Breaststroke, James Benson and Rachel Weller in the Butterfly and George Westwood in the Freestyle. The eleven year old and twelve year old girls including Molly Miley and Isobel Barnsley, Megan Willetts, and Chloe Finch won both the Medley and Freestyle relays. While Max Rollason and Connor O’Grady joined their team mates to win the ten year olds Medley relay. The Cannon Relay team, including Indu Appanna and Max Rollason completed the final race in first place to grab the overall top spot on the night.
Final scores were Halesowen 229, Nuneaton & Bedworth A 226, Northampton A 224, Wyre Forest 147, Chase 127, Ledbury 109.
Mercian Summer League Round 1, Nuneaton - Saturday 24th April
It certainly felt like the beginning of summer as members of Halesowen Swimming Club travelled to Nuneaton to take part in the first round of the Mercian Summer League. They were competing against some superb teams and the sunshine seemed to give everyone at the gala enthusiasm to do well. From the very start Halesowen flew off the starting blocks with a win by Bethany Jackson in the Individual Medley and points after event twenty were extremely close. However, by event 40 Nuneaton and Bedworth had pulled away leaving Halesowen, Leamington Spa and City of Coventry to battle for second place. Halesowen continued to shoot off the blocks and finished second by ten points.
Individual winners were Hayley Bagley, Dominic Rickards and Molly Miley in the Butterfly, Mark Laing and Abigail Hughes in the Freestyle, Max Rollason in the Backstroke and Andy Papworth in the Breaststroke. Connor O’Grady, James Benson and Daniel McComb won both the twelve year old boys Medley and Freestyle Relays whilst both the Mens and Womens Relay teams including Sarah Watts, Aaron Smith, and Reid Piggott won the Medley event.
Final scores were Nuneaton & Bedworth 200, Halesowen 194, Leamington Spa 184, City of Coventry 178, Solihull 150, Rugby 135.
Note: Swimmers achieving Regional Qualiying Times are not eligible to compete in this League
Worcester Winter League Round 3, Droitwich - Sunday 18th April
It was a
proud moment for Halesowen Swimming Club as both the A and B
teams stepped on to the poolside at Droitwich in the A Final of
the Worcester Winter League 2010. They were the only club that had two teams in the
final and they certainly dominated both the poolside and the
viewing gallery with their cheers and support for one
another. The club were hoping to reclaim the spot of top
team for the third year running and they knew that the other
teams were also keen to claim the title. The afternoon
gala wasn’t any easy one and many of the finishes were extremely
close. As the scores were announced at intervals, the team
waited knowing that Worcester A
were snapping at their heels but each time Halesowen A
were ahead by just a few points.
It was the final four relays that saw Halesowen A storm
clearly away. Although it was going to be a difficult gala
for Halesowen B, they certainly did not disappoint and showed
their strength by finishing the evening in fifth spot.
Winning two
events were James Benson in the Freestyle and Butterfly and Chloe
Bate in the Butterfly and Breaststroke. First place also went
to Louise Williams in the Butterfly, Chloe Finch, Chloe Robbins and
Isobel Breslin in the Freestyle and Michael Edmonds in the
Backstroke.
Eleven year olds
Final scores were Halesowen A 198, Worcester A 176, Stourbridge A 175, Redditch 118, Halesowen B 91, Haden Hill 80.
Nuneaton Junior League Round 1, Halesowen - Saturday 17th April
The start of the 2010 Nuneaton Junior League for Halesowen Swimming Club proved exciting as the junior swimmers won the first round by 41 points. The team had started out strongly but gradually it seemed that the other teams were catching up. However, by finishing the last ten races in either first or second place ensured that the Junior Team were first class winners.
Double event winners were Max Rollason and Brittany Horton in the Backstroke and Freestyle and George Westwood in the Butterfly and Freestyle. Megan Willetts and James Cuthbert came first in the Backstroke, Indu Appanna and James Benson won the Freestyle and Emma Baker the Breaststroke. Ten year olds Zac Rollason, George Davies, Mark Laing and Connor Fell won both the Medley and Freestyle Relays. Both the boys and the girls won the eleven year olds Medley Relay and included Molly Miley, Isobel Barnsley, Rhys Richards and James Benson. Emma Bird and Maisy Miley joined their team mates to win the nine year olds Freestyle Relay as did Chloe Bate and Chloe Finch in the twelve year olds Medley Relay. Molly Kelly, Rachel Weller and Daniel McComb helped both the boys and girls to come first in the 8x1 Relays.
Special congratulations goes to Lewis Richard who was representing the Club for the first time.
Final scores were Halesowen 231, Solihull 190, Wolverhampton 186, Stratford Sharks 171, Haden Hill 140, Northgate 135.
Worcester County Championships - February & March
The Worcester County Championships held during February and March proved to be an outstanding success for Halesowen swimmers. 66 swimmers were in attendance which was the largest contingent of any club in the County. Halesowen Swimmers also produced an impressive haul of nine senior and eight junior Championship titles between them.
Halesowen swimmers took part in an incredible 604 events during the Championships with 153 of these in finals. To add to the haul of Senior and Junior titles, the club also produced 39 age group first places with 19 swimmers also achieving an impressive total of 114 swims at the higher regional standard. Halesowen swimmers produced 230 age group top 6 places and 36 top 6 places in the Open category. On almost every measure, Halesowen produced the best performance of any club at the 2010 Championships.
Star of the show was Chloe Robbins who secured five senior and five junior championship titles and produced National Qualifying times in both 50m and 100m Freestyle events. Louise Williams achieved four senior titles with a clean sweep in the Butterfly events and 200m Freestyle and Zach Collins secured three junior titles in the 50m, 100m and 200m Freestyle. In the age groups Chloe Bate was outstanding with 8 first places. Louise Williams added 8 age group first places and Chloe Robbins added 5 to their Championship titles. Lilian Parsons grabbed 5 first places with Emma Baker producing 3 first places in nail-biting finishes. Isobel Breslin, Leanne Taylor, James Benson and Zach Collins produced 2 first place finishes with Hannah Cuthbert, Roxanne Taylor, Jacob Darby and Ryan Davies each securing first placed finishes.
Special mention also goes to Emma Baker, Chloe Bate, Lilian Parsons Chloe Robbins and Louise Williams for setting County Championship best performances.
Solihull Junior Friendly Gala, Tudor Grange - Saturday 27th February
On Saturday 27th February junior swimmers from Halesowen Swimming Club travelled to Solihull for the first friendly gala of the year. The team were aiming for a good start to the 2010 campaign and did not disappoint with swimmers securing 20 first places and three-quarters of all events completed in personal best times. Overall the team came away with a strong second place on the night.
Double individual winners were Brittany Horton in the Backstroke and Freestyle and Megan Willetts in the Backstroke and Breaststroke. Other individual event winners were Chloe Bate, George Westwood and James Westwood in the Freestyle, Max Rollason in the Backstroke, Emma Baker and George Davies in the Breaststroke and Rachel Weller and Mark Laing in the Butterfly. The relay teams were also on form with the age 12 and under girls undefeated in the Medley and Freestyle events including Chloe Finch and Elizabeth Smyllie. Other winning teams were the age 9 girls in the Freestyle including Indu Appanna, Emma Bird, India Hanke and Maisie Miley, the 10 and under girls Medley including Lauren Hill, Molly Kelly and Aimee Smyllie and the 11 and under girls Medley including Isobel Barnsley and Molly Miley and swimmers also won the the final mixed Freestyle relay event of the evening.
Special mention goes to the following swimmers who were represening Halesowen Swimming Club junior team for the first time; Indu Appanna, Emma Bird, India Hanke, Lauren Hill, Maisie and Molly Miley, Amy Reynolds, Rachel Weller, Max Clapham, James Cuthbert, Ben Levack, Louis Ruston and George Westwood.
Final point scores were Solihull Gold 308, Halesowen 286, Bilston 218, Walsall 180, Perry Beeches & SSS 174, Solihull Black 140, Camp Hill 114.
Worcester Winter League Round 2, Halesowen & Bromsgrove - Saturday 20th February
The second round of the Worcester Winter League on Saturday 20th February saw Halesowen's A team in action at home and the B team travelling to Bromsgrove. The A team were quickly into their stride and continued their form from the first round by leading from the very first event through to the last with victory never in doubt. The B team were expecting much tougher opposition but were spurred on by the knowledge that a top 3 finish would put them into the A final in April. The gala proved to be a very tight affair with Halesowen tussling for second place with both Haden Hill and Droitwich with places changing regularly through the events. However, a strong finish saw the team grab the runners-up spot by 6 points which sees Halesowen place both A and B teams into the A final for the first time.
The A team ran out winners in 24 of the 40 events with double event winners Chloe Robbins in the Freestyle and Backstroke and James Benson and Jacob Darby in the Butterfly and Freestyle. Other individual winners were Isobel Breslin and Harry Cowley in the Freestyle, Chloe Bate, Hannah Cuthbert and Lilian Parsons in the Butterfly, Brittany Horton and Michael Edmonds in the Backstroke and Megan Willetts, Ryan Davies and Jack Slattery in the Breaststroke. The relay teams were in excellent form and won every event of the gala with team members including Chloe Finch, Max Clapham, Mark Laing, Connor O'Grady, Jamie House, Sian Carey, Hayley Davis-Moore, Bethany Jackson, Luke Morris, Leanne Taylor, Marc Collett, Laurence Hickin and Jack Watts. Final point scores were Halesowen A 214, Worcester A 177, Redditch 142, Worcester B 128, Orion 92, Stourbridge B 85
For the B team wins were harder to come by with Emma Baker and Piers Boyack grabbing Breaststroke wins and Richard Phillips securing first place in the Butterfly. Final point scores were Stourbridge A 204, Halesowen B 150, Haden Hill 144, Droitwich 128, Hereford 110, Bromsgrove 98.
Both A and B teams travel to Droitwich for the A final on Sunday 18th April with the A team aiming to complete a hat-tick of League wins.
Worcester Winter League Round 1, Halesowen - Saturday 16th January
Halesowen Swimming Club started the New Year firing on all cylinders when both the A and B teams finished in first and second place in Round 1 of the Worcester Winter League. Halesowen, for the second year running, were defending the Winter League title and certainly showed their determination to do so by dominating first place throughout. As the gala progressed, it soon became clear that the club were going to end the evening in the top two positions to the delight of coaches and supporters.
Double event winners were Hayley Davis-Moore and Harry Cowley in the Freestyle and Backstroke and Megan Willetts in the Breaststroke and Backstroke. Other winners were Isobel Breslin and Jacob Darby in the Freestyle, Hannah Cuthbert, Richard Phillips, Lilian Parsons, Luke Morris, Chloe Bate, James Benson, and Abigail Hughes in the Butterfly, Leanne Taylor and Michael Edmonds in the Backstroke as well as Sian Carey, Jack Slattery, Marc Collett and Piers Boyack in the Breaststroke. There were terrific swims from the relay teams as they won every relay. Swimming for relay teams were Brittany Horton, Connor O’Grady, Chloe Finch, Max Clapham, Ryan Davies, Jamie House, Bethany Jackson, Chloe Robbins, Leanne Taylor and Nigel Gaskin.
Final point scores were Halesowen A 187, Halesowen B 137, Droitwich 120, Bromsgrove 93, Oldbury 62.
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