Stratford Sharks have taken part in the first of three Warwickshire County Championship Galas being held in the 50m pool at Coventry Sports Centre. A total of 38 swimmers aged from 9 to 18 qualified for the events on Saturday and amidst numerous personal bests, 6 new Age Group Club Records were established with 5 Gold’s, 2 Silvers & 2 Bronze medals being brought home. In the very first event of the day, the Girls 9/10 year 4 x 50m Freestyle relay team of Molly Wright, Ysabelle Caswell, Olga Hall and Kathryn Lythgo set the tone with a hard fought 4th place but with 3 of them at the youngest end of the age range it was a very promising start to their swimming at this level.

  The Boys 200m Backstroke followed with 5 Sharks competing. The youngest, Andrew Morley was the only one competing in the 11/12 age group and a big personal best saw him take 12th place. In the 13/14 age group Alex Helliwell came 6th with Josh Walker 8th, in the oldest 15/over age group Lawrie Mills & Joe Evans were both seeded into the last heat and came 4th & 7th respectively. The next event, the Girls 50m Backstroke saw 16 Sharks competing delivering 2 club records, the first medal of the day and 1 qualifier into a Championship Final. The youngest 9/10 age group saw 48 competitors including Kathryn Lythgo, Chloe Hale, Olga Hall, Ysabelle Caswell with Molly Wright the highest placed Shark swimming to 7th place. The 11/12 age group saw 7 Stratford swimmers from 56, Ellen Price, Megan Pashley, Sophie Warden, Caitlin Stephenson, Eleri Williams & Rachel Jones with Lucy Castle taking 3rd place in a new club record time. The 13 yrs age group saw Lucy Tame & Kara Malins finish 9th & 12th. . In the 14/over age group the Sharks had 2 swimmers Sarah Peacop and Rebecca Sherren who in a fine swim broke her own age group club record to finish 7th and qualify for the Championship Final.

  Only 2 age groups are contested in the Boys 100m events, the 12/14 and 15/over with younger swimmers of 10/11 competing in time trials only. In the 100 Breaststroke 6 Stratford swimmers entered the 12/14 age group, Joshua Newman, Joshua Walker, Edward Caswell, Alexander Forysiak, Mathew Newman and Andrew Morley. The oldest 15/over age group saw George Brear start the collection of gold medals and also qualifying fastest for the Championship Final, Lawrie Mills also qualified for the final in 7th place although decided not to compete. One of the clubs youngest swimmers, Kathryn Lythgo, set the next age group club record in the Girls 9/10 200m Freestyle finishing 9th. Molly Wright, Olga Hall, Ysabelle Caswell, Chloe Hale and Sofia Ward also qualified to swim. Another top 10 place went to the in form Lucy Castle who finished 8th in the 11/12 yr age group with Ellen Price, Rachel Jones, Sophie Warden & Eleri Williams also competing, Lucy Tame being the only 13yr old. Big hope for the next gold medal was Emily Key in the 14/over age group, leading from the gun she duly delivered for the second Stratford Gold of the day in front of a field including fellow Stratford swimmers Rebecca Sherren, Rebecca Tame, Frances Goss, Sarah Peacop, Caroline Ankrett & Grace Wright.

  The end of the first session saw two Championship finals, with Stratford Sharks swimmers in both followed by two relays. George Brear was first up in the 100m Breaststroke and in a tough final, despite beating his earlier time, he was just edged out to a Championship Silver Medal. Rebecca Sherren then contested the 50m Backstroke finishing 7th. In the first of the relays the Men’s 4 x 100m Freestyle, Joe Evans led off breaking his own age group club record to hand a lead to Michael Ankrett who then increased it before Lawrie Mills increased it again before George Brear who had just about recovered from his Breaststroke exertions a few minutes earlier brought the team home to a comfortable victory. The Girls 16/under 4 x 50m Medley Relay Team had a tough battle to finish 10th but the young team of Lucy Castle (11), Rebecca Tame (15), Lucy Tame (13) and Frances Goss (14) more than held their own against older teams.

  The second session started with the Women’s 4 x 100m Freestyle relay and matching the men, they proved too strong for the opposition with Emma White, Frances Goss, Rebecca Sherren & Emily Key taking the gold medal. Josh Walker was the only Stratford swimmer to take on the 1500m Freestyle and a big personal best saw him finish just outside the medals in 4th in the 11/13 age group. Following the longest distance event was the shortest and fastest sprint, the Men’s 50m Freestyle which saw 167 competitors in 4 age groups. Three Sharks swimmers competed in the youngest 9/10 age group, Alex Bowen, Christian Clements and Joshua Martindale who finished the highest placed in 10th. Edward Caswell, Mathew Newman, Andrew Morley & James Wimbury all competed in the 11/12 age group. Alex Helliwell was placed 8th in the 13/14 age group in which Joshua Newman also competed. The Boys 15/over saw George Brear & Joe Evans qualify for the Championship Final in 4th & 5th places, Michael Ankrett finishing 12th.

  The Girls 100m Fly saw 5 Stratford competitors, Lucy Castle competing in the 11/13 age group with Grace Wright, Rebecca Sherren, Sarah Peacop & Caroline Ankrett in the 14/over age group with Grace Wright qualifying 6th for the Championship Final. In the Boy’s 100m Fly, Mathew Newman was the sole Shark in the 12/14 age group with Joe Evans, Lawrie Mills and Michael Ankrett in the 15/over. In different heats Evans and Mills recorded exactly the same time to finish joint 9th, Evans’s time being his second age group club record of the day.

  The girls 200m Breaststroke saw a strong Stratford presence with Elinor Bird establishing a new 9yr age group club record to finish 8th in the 9/10 age group with Molly Wright 9th and Annie Cox making it 3 in the top 10 in 10th, Kathryn Lythgo and Ysabelle Caswell also finishing within a few seconds. The 11/12 age group saw 3 Sharks competing, Megan Pashley, Eleri Williams and Caitlin Stephenson. In the 13 yr age group, Kara Malins took her first medal at this level with a fantastic second place. At the other end of the experience level, Emma White has won the 15/over age group for the last 2 years and made it a hat-trick this year with another dominant performance. Emma was ably supported by Rebecca Tame who was just touched out to 4th by a fraction of a second and Eve Morley, after an unfortunate time with injuries, had a fantastic comeback swim to finish 5th.

  The day finished with two Championship finals, the Boys 50 Freestyle and the Girls 100 Fly. In the first, Joe Evans swam an excellent race, the time being just outside his personal best to finish 3rd and the youngest on the podium. In the Girls 100 Fly Grace Wright improved her time from the earlier heats by well over a second after a long day to finish a very creditable 6th. With the numbers of swimmers qualifying and competing at this level and an excellent first weeks set of results, the club is looking forward to the next two Championship Galas.