The 2005 club championships took place during five sessions between Sunday 11th and Saturday 17th September. This was an opportunity for some of the younger Sharks to get their first taste of competition and also for some of the older swimmers to race against their club mates, resulting in some exciting races for swimmers and spectators alike.

  Proceedings were launched on the Sunday at Warwick school's 25m pool with the 10/under age groups competing in the 100M IM and the 11/over's in the 200M IM. Bryonie Owen led the way with a win in the 8/under race just touching out Elinor Bird. Lucy Tame took the honours in the 9yr race, second place going to Laura Bryan with Chloe Bird winning the 10yrs race ahead of Evie Gill and Carla Neiss. In the boys 100M IM, Matthew Newman took 1st place ahead of Edward Caswell with 7-year old Ieuan Owen joining his sister in the medal tally by taking the final place on the rostrum. Zach Brough, Andrew Morley and Joshua Fell took 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the 9yrs race with, as expected, a fine swim from Joshua Walker to take the spoils in the 10yrs race ahead of Thomas James and Chris Cardwell. 200M IM winners were Joshua Walker (10) and brothers Aaron and Ben Brough (11 and 13) with George Brear, Lawrie Mills, and Robert Jolly taking first places in the 14/15/16 age groups. Rebecca Tame won the 11yr old girls 200M IM and Emma Bysouth had an impressive win in the 12 year old event. Rebecca Sherren pipped Grace Wright to the post in the 14 year olds race with Emma White and Claire Bassinder taking the honours in the 15 and 16 age groups.

  All other events took place on Sharks home surf in Stratford-upon-Avon. On Tuesday, swimmers competed in the 400m Freestyle. Lucy Tame (9) and Chloe Bird (10) were joined by Lucy's sister Becky (11) as winners in their age groups. The girls 12/14/15&16yr races were won by Emma Bysouth, Rebecca Sheren, Emma White and Claire Bassinder. The Brough brothers took the honours home in the 9, 11 & 13 age groups joined by Josh Walker (10), Joe Evans (12), George Brear (14) and Lawrie Mills (15).

  Thursday saw the 1,2 and 3 length Butterfly races and the 11/Over 200m Freestyle and on Friday swimmers competed in the 1,2 and 3 length Backstroke and the 10/Under 200m Freestyle. Lucy Castle (8) and Lucy Tame (9) dominated their respective age groups while Chloe Bird and Cassie Lees took gold medals home in the 10 yr. age group. Becky Tame was a double winning 11yr old swimmer, pushed hard by Francis Goss and Megan Stanley who swam a great race to win the 100M Fly. Emma Bysouth took the 13 yr. old honours while 14 yr. old Harriet Beaumont's clean sweep was foiled by Georgina Harrington in the 200M Freestyle. Grace Wright (14) stopped Rebecca Sheren's clean sweep with a win in the 100M Fly, while Emma White (15) and Claire Bassinder (16) mopped up the wins in their age groups. The Brough brothers again dominated the 9/11&13 age groups, while 8 yr. old Matt Newman's exciting 1L Fly win was greeted with a thumbs-up by "The Boss" in anticipation of next years Diddy league. Matt's winning streak was broken by Jonathan Salmon with a great 1Length Backstroke swim, finishing first, just ahead of Edward Caswell. Josh Walker (10) with two wins under his belt was pipped to the post in the backstroke by Thomas James in a very exciting race. Joe Evans and George Brear took the honours in the 12& 14 yr. races with Lawrie Mills, Robert Jolly, Jonathan Tanner and Thomas Pilling taking first places in the 15&16yr age groups.

  The final day of our Championships was marked by a bumper crowd and the sound of metal against metal. No, not the knights at Warwick castle - the swimmers walking around with numerous medals round their necks. This was the busiest session of the week with the swimmers competing in the 1, 2 or 3 length Freestyle and Breaststroke, depending on age. Lots of great swims by competitors already adorned with medals but also lots of first wins and near misses!! Andrew Morley took the gold in the boys 9yrs 1L Breaststroke joined by Elinor Bird in the girls U8s event. Charlotte Inns (8yrs) had an impressive win in the girls 1L Freestyle. Jack Pilling (13) and Alex Titcomb (14) were double winners and Daniel Williams (15) triumphed in the 100M Breaststroke. Katherine Cardwell (12), Charlotte Cassidy Morris (15) & Natalie Smith (16) were also double winners while in the 14 yr. races Louisa Heyworth and Emily Turoczy shared the honours.

  Near misses were equally impressive..... Jacob Humphreys (10) lost out on Gold by a fraction of a second in the 2L Butterfly and Evie Gill (10) impressed with a close 2nd in the breaststroke. In the 9yrs 1L Freestyle, Gwennan Williams pushed Lucy Tame to the wire and Joshua Newman (11) continued a series of 2nd places behind Aaron Brough with a determined swim in the 100M Freestyle, knocking 10secs off his P.B. The closest race of the championships was the 14yr old 100M Breaststroke with only .03 of a second between the winner Alex Titcomb and 2nd placed Aaron Robinson. A tough call that one for the finish judges!!

  Top swimmer awards, calculated by totalling times in the Individual Medley and sprint races, will be officially awarded at the Sharks AGM on Thurs 10th November. Winners are... 8&Under... Matt Newman/ Elinor Bird. 9yrs... Zachariah Brough/ Lucy Tame. 10yrs... Josh Walker/ Chloe Bird. 11yrs... Aaron Brough/Becky Tame. 12yrs... Katherine Cardwell. 13yrs... Ben Brough. 14yrs... Louisa Heyworth. 15yrs... Caroline Cardwell. The general high standard of swimming was reflected in the number of new club championship records with Joshua Walker & Aaron Brough breaking 6 records each.

  A big thank-you to all volunteers, without whom this event would not have been possible. Thank you to judges, starters, time keepers, collators, medal givers, pool side encouragement (Mr. Motivator Mick Goss egged many younger swimmers on to bigger and better swims), and all who worked behind the scenes to make this year's championships a success. This is not to forget the hard work that goes on week in week out at the local pools where the club's coaching team put the swimmers through their drills and keep a watchful eye on their development.

  Well done to ALL swimmers taking part. Spectators were treated to many impressive swims from the younger swimmers, the race winners and from those swimmers who, whilst not always taking the top places, showed huge improvement since the 2004 championships. Hard work, dedication and perseverance really does pay off!