Worcester Swimming Club rounded off a remarkable overall performance at the final weekend of the 2016 Worcestershire County Championships, adding a further 21 gold medals and two Open titles to its already impressive haul.
The Club finished the Championships with a staggering 140 medals (55 gold, 47 silver, 38 bronze), setting a new club record in the process. Local County rivals Stourbridge were second in the table with 34 gold medals and Redditch back in third with 29.
Lucy Clayton was crowned Open Champion in the girls 50m breaststroke. Lucy, a Senior Champion in 2015, powered to victory in 34.20 while team mate Elizabeth Bentley took bronze in 35.95. Charlotte Hall was again in superb form, winning the girls 50m fly Open County trophy in style. Charlottel qualified fastest in the heats, and then stormed to a sub-30 second time of 29.41 for her second County trophy. Olivia Fletcher scooped her second Junior County title with a dominant performance in the girls 200m IM, taking gold in 2.25.26.
In the 10/11 age group, rising stars Aimee Monks and David Annis were again plundering the podium. Aimee took excellent wins in the 50m fly and 100m freestyle, while David easily won both the 100m IM and 200m IM before adding two more gold medals in the 50m free and 100m free.
Rebecca Yates produced a gutsy display and a massive personal best time to win the 200m backstroke in the girl’s 12 year old age group.
In the 13 year age group, Will Gearey and Megan Annis both continued to dominate across the events. Will won another six gold medals to take his tally for the Championship to a phenomenal 15. He won all three medley events, taking gold in the 100m IM, 200m and 400m IM plus victories in the 50m breaststroke, 50m free and 100m free. Megan looked sharp throughout the entire Championships, adding three more wins in the 50m fly, 50m breaststroke and 200m back to complete an impressive county programme.
There were also age group podium places across several different events for Bryony Lowe, Milo Reed, Sophie Davis, George Glover, Clayton, Rebecca and Charlotte Yates, Megan and David Annis, Gearey, Matt Richards, Fletcher, Monks, Hall, Daniel Day, Olivia Eggleton and Eleanor Niel.
Simon Richards, Club Chairman, said “This weekend brings a hugely successful County Champs to a close for us. I am very proud of the efforts that have been produced by a record 75 swimmers for us at the Championships this year. A haul of 140 medals is a terrific achievement and shows our real strength in depth across the age groups. What that doesn’t show though is the number of Personal Best times and the huge effort from all swimmers across all sessions. It bodes well for the rest of the year as we now start to build towards the Regional Championships in May and the British Summer Championships in the summer.”