The third and final week of the Warwickshire County swimming Championships saw the talented Stratford Sharks squad maintain their excellent form by taking another 7 gold, 3 silver, 3 bronze medals and 5 County Championship titles with a number of Midland & National Championship qualifying times thrown in for good measure. The first event of the days was the Boys 100m Freestyle. In the 10/11 year age group Joshua Martindale (11) was the sole representative finishing a very respectable 7th. The 12/14 year age group saw Joshua Walker (14) 5th with Aleksander Forysiak (13) 9th in a Midland Age Group Qualifying time. In the 15/over age group Joe Evans took 1st place and the Junior County title for 11/16 year olds, George Brear (18) 5th with Michael Ankrett (16) 6th all in Midland Championship qualifying times and ensuring a strong Sharks presence in the Championship final later in the session.

  In the 100m Backstroke Olga Hall took 1st place in the 10 year age group, unfortunately swam just as a time trial for this age group Olga did not get a gold medal to add to the one’s she had won in the 50m & 200m Backstroke earlier in the Championships. Kathryn Lythgo and Seren Mahon also put in strong performances in this event finishing 6th & 8th. In the 11/13 year age group Lucy Castle (12) finished 4th qualifying for the Championship final, Alice Quinn 8th and Ellen Price 9th with Ellen swimming through the pain of an injured finger suffered earlier in the week.

  In the 200m Individual Medley, William Foster (9) showed what a good all rounder he is breaking the club record in a Midland Age Group qualifying time for 3rd place in the 9/10 year age group. The 13/14 age group saw 3 Stratford swimmers in the top 10, Joshua Walker (14) 6th, Aleksander Forysiak (13) 9th & Jacob Humphreys (14) 10th. The 15/18 year age group saw Joe Evans (16) take 1st place in a Midland Championship Qualifying time and the Junior County Championship title for the 11/16 year age group, he also took 2nd place overall in the Championship and was the fastest entry into the afternoons Youth final for 15/18 year olds. Michael Ankrett (16) finished 6th and Joshua Newman (15) 10th.

  The Girls 50m Fly saw Sharks swimmers prominent in all three age groups, Seren Mahon (10) 7th in the 9/10’s, Ellen Price (12) 5th in the 11/12’s and Ailsa Gavan-Mcharg 14th and the top placed 11 year old in this tough dual age group, Rebecca Tame (16) 8th in the 14/overs. The Boys were back in action in the 50m Backstroke with William Foster (9) taking another club record in the 9/10 year age group, Aleksander Forysiak (13) continuing his good form for 5th with Alexander Helliwell (15) 10th in the 15/over.

  Ten year olds Kathryn Lythgo and Olga Hall swam to Midland Age Group Qualifying times in the 400m Freestyle in the 10/13 year age group with Ellen Price (12) top Stratford swimmer in 10th place. The morning’s session came to an end with Sharks representatives in two finals. In the first the Men’s 100m Freestyle Joe Evans (16) took the County Championship title to add to the junior title he won in the heats in a seasons best and National Championship Qualifying time, George Brear (18) and Michael Ankrett (16) 5th & 6th. Lucy Castle (12) contested her second Championship final this time in the Ladies 100m Backstroke finishing 8th and once again having to give away years of experience to her rivals.

  The afternoon session started with the 200m Individual Medley youth final for 15/18 old’s. Joe Evans (16) was the fastest qualifier but decided not to compete preferring to concentrate on the very next event the 400m Freestyle, still leaving two Stratford swimmers in the final with Michael Ankrett (16) and Joshua Newman (15) finishing 5th and 7th respectively. Just two age groups decide the 400m Freestyle, 10/14 and 15/over. In the younger age group, Joshua Walker (14) finished 7th and Edward Caswell (13) 10th. Joe Evans decision to miss the 200m Individual Medley final paid off taking 1st place in this event and the County Championship in a seasons best and National Championship qualifying time, George Brear (18) 4th and Alexander Helliwell (15) 7th.

  A large entry was seen in the Girls 50m Freestyle, the 9/10 years saw a total of 60 with Olga Hall (10) finishing 2nd, Seren Mahon (10) 6th and Kathryn Lythgo (10) 8th. The 11/12’s saw 67 entries with Lucy Castle (12) 3rd and Ellen Price (12) 9th so great credit must go to them for some superb performances against such a strong field. In the 14/over age group Emily Key (18) finished 2nd in a Midland Championship time to move into the Championship final. A further gold medal was delivered by Aleksander Forysiak (13) in the 200m Breaststroke one of only two Stratford swimmers to take this event on, the other being Christian Clements (11) in the 11/12 year age group who despite being one of the youngest in a tough age group put in some spirited and promising performances over a wide range events during the Championships.

   Other young talent showing their pace were the 10 year old girls in 100m Breaststroke time trial. Unfortunately no medals were available in the 100m events for 10 year olds but this did not stop Elinor Bird taking 3rd place to add to silver medals she won in the 50m & 200m Breaststroke events with Ysabelle Caswell 4th, Kathryn Lythgo 5th & Olga Hall 6th. Another top ten was delivered by Eve Morley (16) 6th in the 14/overs. The final event of the day before was the Boys 50m Fly. William Foster (9) led the way with 4th in the 9/10 year olds, Aleksander Forysiak and James Wimbury both aged thirteen 6th & 7th in the 13/14 year olds and Joe Evans (16) qualifying for the Championship final with 5th in the 15/overs.

  Moving into the finals session, Emily Key (18) bettered her heat swim in the 50m Freestyle final to take 1st place and the County title for an impressive third successive year. Joe Evans (16) contested the 50 Fly final improving his time from the heats to break the age group club record finishing 4th in a Midlands Championship time. The final two events of the day saw the 4 x 50m Freestyle relays for the 11 to 16 year age group. Firstly the boys team of Michael Ankrett (16), Joshua Walker (14), Alexander Helliwell (15) & Joe Evans (16) narrowly edged out Nuneaton Swimming Club to grab bronze by just 3/100th of a second. The Girls team of Rebecca Tame (16), Caroline Ankrett (15), Sarah Peacop (15) and Lucy Tame (12) fought hard finishing 6th.

  At the end of three weeks of tough competition, the final medals handed out are for the best age group swimmers decided by FINA points awarded for times achieved on a range of events and strokes. This years 9 year old boys winner was William Foster who despite being at the youngest end of the dual age group 9/10 achieved 3 bronze and 1 silver medal breaking 6 age group club records over the three weeks, undoubtedly one to watch for the future. Other notable performances were from Olga Hall who finished 2nd in the 10 year Girls whilst also achieving 2 gold and 2 silver medals in her individual events with gold and silver as part of the Girls 9/10 year relay team, Aleksander Forysiak (13) & Joshua Walker (14) both finished 3rd in their respective age groups. Amongst numerous excellent performances and personal best times from all the swimmers the club finished with six County Championship and two Junior County Championship titles from Emma White (19) 200m Breaststroke, Emily Key (18) 50m Freestyle and Joe Evans (16) 100m, 200m, 400m & 800m Freestyle and Junior 100m Freestyle and 200m Individual Medley. A big well done and thank you must go to Head Coach Mike Cole & Junior Coach Kim Mortimer and their willing band of helpers including Tom Tame and Yvonne Caswell for an excellent crop of youngsters who are now not only qualifying in multiple events but who are also competing for medals on a regular basis.