The last two weekends saw a strong Stratford Sharks squad compete in the Coventry and District Secondary galas at Pingles pool, Nuneaton. A magnificent haul of fifty-seven medals was testimony to the host of fine performances from young and older swimmers alike. The ‘pick of the crop’ was twelve year old Hattie Beaumont who showed her all round strength by collecting no less than seven top three finishes including gold medals in the 50m freestyle, 50m butterfly and 100m backstroke. A fine swim by Fran Cassidy-Morris saw her collect gold in the 100m breaststroke, as did Robert Jolly in the 200m backstroke. Not to be outdone, younger brother David Jolly matched this by taking gold in the 50m butterfly. Further first places were provided by Claire Bassinder in the 400m freestyle and one of the teams’ youngest swimmers, Lauren Blakemore in the ten year 50m backstroke.

  Blakemore later collected two further medals and this typified the performance of Stratford’s young female swimmers, providing considerable encouragement for the future. In the ten-year age group Lily Russell-Wilks collected five medals including silver in the 50m butterfly and 100m I.M., Imogen Cork took silver in the 50m breaststroke as one of her two medal finishes and Lydia Ratcliff (2) and Georgina Mackey (1) added to the medal tally. Just outside the top six but with fine performances were Rebecca Tame, Katie Burley and Laura Swinburn.

  At age eleven, Georgina Harrington collected a further three medals, her best being a silver in the 100m backstroke and Katie Cardwell collected two more in the backstroke and freestyle events. For the boys, Tom and Ben Lane touched second and fourth respectively in the 50m backstroke and butterfly, Jack Pilling added a fifth place in the 50m freestyle and Oliver Swinburn matched this in the 100m breaststroke event.

  The older swimmers also added to the medal count. In the 13-year age group, Daniel Williams showed good form to touch second in the 50m butterfly, later adding a further medal in the 50m breaststroke. Aaron Robinson touched fourth and fifth in his breaststroke events and Caroline Cardwell picked up three medals, including a bronze following a strong swim in the 100m butterfly. Fran Cassidy- Morris added fourth place in the 50m freestyle to her earlier gold and David Jolly did likewise with fifth place in both his freestyle events.

  At age 14, Emma White picked up five medals including silver in the 100m freestyle, Fay Malling touched third in both breaststroke events and Charli Cassidy-Morris placed fifth in the 50m backstroke. Showing top form, Claire Bassinder added a second, third and fourth in the backstroke events to her earlier freestyle gold. Completing the medal haul, were the squad’s senior swimmers Katie Pavel, who finished fifth in the 50m freestyle and Robert Jolly who picked up silver and bronze medals in the 100m freestyle and 50m butterfly respectively to complete a fine overall performance.

  This was a terrific performance by the ‘Sharks’. An outstanding medal tally speaks volumes, but fails to reflect the numerous personal best times recorded. For the younger swimmers particularly, this provides an excellent preparation for next week’s important Nuneaton Junior League competition.