Two members of Stratford Sharks Swimming Club, Josh Walker & Joe Evans, made the relatively short journey to compete in the Nuneaton & Bedworth Swimming Club Winter Meet comprising of races over the 200 & 400 metre distance which this year attracted entries from 32 Clubs

  Swimming an identical programme of 200 & 400 metres Freestyle and 200 metres Individual Medley Walker, (13) was competing in the 13/14 Age Group and Evans (15) in the 15/Open Age Group.

  The first event of the day, the 400m Freestyle saw Walker swim a well controlled race, finishing strongly to knock 5 seconds off his personal best to finish in 4th place a mere second away from the medals. Evans, despite being at the youngest end of his age group, went into this event as the fastest seed in the final heat. In a close, hard fought race, despite taking 4 seconds off his own age group club record and swimming the second fastest time in the West Midlands Region for his age this year he had to settle for 2nd place, beaten by just 2/100th of a second

  Moving on to the 200 IM, Walker was on fire and continued his good form taking over 3 seconds off his pb to finish in 8th place in his age group. Evans meanwhile just failed to beat his own pb and had to settle for 4th on this occasion.

  The 200 metres Freestyle is always one of the most competitive events of any swim meet drawing the most entries. Walker once again stepped up destroying his pb by over 3 seconds for 10th place with the consolation that with a strong showing this year he will still qualify for this age group next year. Evans, meanwhile, ranked number one in the West Midlands for his age, was once again seeded into the fastest heat as the second seed. A fine swim, just outside his own pb, saw him collect his second silver medal of the day behind a swimmer 3 years his senior who earlier this year competed at the World Short Course Championships in Manchester.