Stratford Sharks swimmers reaped the rewards of months of hard training at the final weekend of the Warwickshire swimming championships on Saturday. A host of outstanding performances saw the club collect eighteen medals whilst recording 76 personal best times and no less than 23 club records.

  The standard was set by senior swimmer James Wardle who in the morning powered to victory in the 50m butterfly event and later added an even more impressive championship victory in the 100m freestyle. Emma White then continued her fine form, taking the 13year title and championship trophy with the fastest time of the day in the 200m breaststroke. Emma later completed a breaststroke hat-trick winning the 13 year 50m event in front of a resurgent Fay Malling and rapidly improving Fran Cassidy-Morris, giving the Sharks an impressive 1-2-3.

  Emily Key was once again in top form taking first place in the 12-year, 50m freestyle and 3rd in the overall championship final. Emily also took first place in the U13 400m freestyle and second in the 200m butterfly, both in club record times. Not surprisingly Emily later went on to collect the award for best overall swimmer at age 12.

  Lawrie Mills is at the lower age of a strong 13/14 age group, but a strong swim in the 400m I.M. saw him gain a superb national qualifying time and a deserved bronze medal. Mills later added a further NQT to his tally in the 200m freestyle event. In the same age group Robert Jolly and David Townsend (also 13), showed top form to take 2nd and 3rd in the 50m backstroke , with the positions reversed when the boys finished 4th and 5th in the butterfly event, where Stratford swimmer Jon Tanner placed 6th. Townsend also recorded a fine swim to finish 5th in the 100m freestyle whilst Jolly went on to record a further p.b. time in the championship final of the backstroke event.

  Throughout the day, Stratford showed their strength in the relay events by winning three team medals. First up were the U16 boys where Jolly, Townsend, Tanner and Joe Allen combined to touch third in the medley event. Allen later went on to set two club records and record a midland district qualifying time. Not to be outdone, the U16 girls team of White, Key, Claire Bassinder and Katie Pavel also took bronze in their freestyle event with White and Key later joining Fran Cassidy-Morris and Grace Wright to match this in the 13/14 medley.

  To cap off the day, Bassinder took a bronze in the 14 and over 200m breaststroke and touched 5th in the championship final of the 50m breaststroke. Emma Bysouth matched this with third place in the 10yr 50m freestyle and an excellent MDQT in the 400m event. Twelve-year old Grace Wright also took a bronze medal in the 50m breaststroke and swum a promising 200m butterfly finishing 5th. Medals were hard to come by for 9-year old Aaron Brough, competing in a 9/10 age group, but three club records and the fastest time for his age in the 50m butterfly were more than adequate compensation. Further club records for Francis Goss, Jenny Page and Ben Lane completed a fine day for the Sharks.