Second weekend at Wolverhampton – 11th/12th February
Worcester’s swimmers enjoyed another awesome weekend of swimming as the 2023 County Championships came to a very successful conclusion, with the second main block of events at Wolverhampton on 11/12th February serving up another 45 Age Group medals!
Unsurprisingly, it was many of the same swimmers who had tasted success on the opening weekend who shone again
Star of the show was undoubtedly Theo Rogers who won two Junior (15/u) titles in the 50m and 100m Butterfly in simply stunning times, his 25.87 and 57.29 uber fast, both performances placing him 4th in the GB short course Rankings
Also winning the Junior 50m Fly title – and picking up Silver in the Senior/Open category too – was Frankie Barry whose 29.92 showcased her technique and incredible speed perfectly
While Harvey Lloyd confirmed himself the best Breaststroke swimmer in the County by far, adding the 50m Senior sprint title to the 100m and 200m races he had won at Worcester…well done
In the Age Group events, there was success in each and every age…
In the 10/11’s, James Hill carried on where he had left off a fortnight earlier winning 3 more medals including Gold in the 50m Butterfly by a mere 0.11s, capping off a brilliant first County Champs for him
In the 12’s, Xanthe Carrington-Abraham had a superb weekend with lots of Personal Best performances, finals and West Midland qualifying times but the highlight definitely came in the 50m Butterfly where she dropped almost 1 second from Heats to Finals to win Gold in 34.64
In the 13’s, whilst Gold proved elusive, there were many first-class performances for silver and bronze with Tarek Bluck, Robert Gearey and Pru Goodison all swimming beautifully to be in the medals yet again
Whilst in the 14’s, Dylan Lewis continued his remarkable progression winning 5 more medals including the 50m Fly and 100m IM in scintillating style, great job
As it had 2 weeks earlier, the 15-year old age group proved very productive for Worcester with another 10 medals, 7 of them Gold, from Asha Mahanta, Grace Ryder, Frankie Barry and Theo Rogers. Asha showed herself to be the best all-around swimmer in the 15’s winning the 200 IM before adding to her Gold tally in the gruelling 200m Butterfly but it was Grace Ryder’s win in the 200m Breaststroke that most caught the eye, a magnificent 4.8s PB seeing her finish well clear of her rivals
In the 16-year old boys, despite not being 100% well, Ben Gooch delivered his usual high standard of performance winning 5 more medals including Golds in the 200m Butterfly, 100m IM and 200m IM but it was really pleasing to see his team mates on the rostrum too – William Pridden (Bronze 400m Free), Henry Hoare (Silver 400 Free, Bronze 400 IM) and William Thomas (Silver 50m Breaststroke) all excelling too
In the 16-year old girls, Grace Earp demonstrated just how brilliant she is. A British finalist last year on the 100m Breaststroke, she powered away to win the 50m and 100m events here, the latter by a massive 4 seconds. And there was also a thoroughly deserved Silver medal in the 50m Butterfly for Amelie Forsyth-Ball, reward for her hard work and commitment
In the 17+ age group, the Worcester girls traded places in the Breaststroke events as the Club’s strength in depth was on show. In the 50m, it was Emily West, and Becky Redfern 2nd and 3rd respectively behind the exceptional Pershore swimmer but it was all change in the 100m, with Zara Beaumont and Emily Clacher taking the 2nd & 3rd places instead…Zara adding further medals in the 200m Breaststroke and 200m IM as well Overall, another brilliant and enjoyable weekend of racing.
Congratulations goes to every single Worcester swimmer who qualified (a major achievement in its own right) and then competed so successfully…as always, their passion and commitment was evident, well done one and all: Alexander Cutler Tucker, Abigail Haldane, Abigail Walter, Alice Davison, Carmen West, Charlotte Ciancio, Ciara Mahanta, Eddie Richardson, Evie Goodall, Freya Halsey, Grace Ciancio, Hana Duncan, Holly Hunt, Isabelle Thorn, Jacob Cutler, James Bury, James Walter, Jess Dobson, Jess Piper, Joseph O’Leary, Josh Round, Julia Wolska-Bailey, Libby Parker, Lillie Sawyer, Lincoln Lewitzkyi, Lottie Richardson, Lydia Cooper, Martha Colville, Mia Gooch and Toby Pugh