Worcester enjoyed a very successful 2023 County Relay Championships, completing a clean sweep of trophies winning the Female, Male, Masters and Overall categories in the gala at Wolverhampton on Sunday 25th June
The annual competition divides into two parts…4x50m Medley and Freestyle relays for age groups 9/10, 11/12, 13/14, 15/16, Open & Masters…with then trophies awarded for best men’s, women’s, masters and overall Club based on cumulative points scored by each of the teams
As always, local rivals Redditch proved the team to beat, pushing Worcester very close all the way but with 166 points to their 137 overall, Worcester were crowned “Top Club” this year
Each of the Age Groups swam really well…though oddly enough, 1st places were few and far between, a host of 2nd & 3rd place finishes though seeing Worcester comfortably to the overall title
The most successful teams were the 11/12 Boys. In the Freestyle Relay, Robert Gearey and Lincoln Lewitzkyi teamed up with Khai Yang and James Hill to snatch Gold by a mere 0.09s whilst in the Medley, Jospeh O’Leary and Oliver Ginger stepped in to replace Khai and James to fight out an equally thrilling contest, this time the Worcester quartet grabbing Gold by just 0.29s
The only other squad to do the double was the Women’s 140+ Masters teams. In the Freestyle Relay, Maddie Fox-Haskins, Kate Lloyd, Emma Armstrong and Jasmine Kilmartin were unstoppable – over 5 seconds clear of their nearest challengers – and with double Paralympic medallist Becky Redfern replacing Jasmine for the Medley, they stretched their margin of victory to a huge 11s!
Other deserved winners included the powerful Mixed 13/14 Freestyle team of Martha Colville, Theo Rogers, Asha Mahanta and Jacob Cutler who proved a class apart, whilst huge congratulations also go to both the Mixed 15/16 teams…
In the Freestyle, Zara Beaumont, James Bury, Brecon Westwood and Henry Hoare were narrow winners – Henry swimming a blinder on the anchor leg to overhaul a huge lead given to the Redditch girl in a high quality race where the lead seesawed backwards and forwards – whilst in the Medley, a totally different quartet, showcasing Worcester’s strength in depth, were much easier winners, well done to Matt James, Grace Ryder, William Thomas and Alice Davison
The only other Gold medals came in the last two races, the Open Medley relays. Both were very close – the girls narrowly beating Pershore, the boys Halesowen – but the excellent team performances from Asha Mahanta, Emily West, Alex Hayes and Emily Clacher plus then Theo Rogers, Harvey Lloyd, Sam Hall and William Gearey rounded off the successful competition in terrific style Above all else, though, this was a TEAM performance with every swimmer contributing fully. The full 75 swimmer squad was: Thea Pickstock, Ava Aspinall, Evie Rea, Lucy Piper, Hope Mansell, Pippa Preston, Julia Wolska-Bailey, Pru Goodison, Xanthe Carrington-Abraham, Mia Gooch, Freya Halsey, Clemmie Richards, Jasmine Klimartin, Jenny Gearey, Samantha Gearey, Becky Redfern, Caitlin Adair, Jo Dursley, Kate Lloyd, Emma Armstrong, Maddie Fox-Haskins, Hana Duncan, Holly Hunt, Asha Mahanta, Martha Colville, Evie Goodall, Elodie Vincent, Isabelle Thorn, Zara Beaumont, Grace Earp, Carmen West, Brecon Westwood, Grace Ryder, Alice Davison, Emily Clacher, Emily West, Alex Hayes, Ciara Mahanta, James Ashfield, Edward Hickman, James Walter, Logan Nicholls, Zac May, Henry Howard, Robert Gearey, Joseph O’Leary, Lincoln Lewitzkyi, Oliver Ginger, Khai Yang, James Hill, Jack Sweeney, Matthew Redfern, Joel Smith, Chris Joiner, Jamie Driscoll, Stuart Knott, Gary Wright, Malcolm Latta, William Hadley, Dylan Lewis, Jack O’Connor, Theo Rogers, Tarek Bluck, Jacob Cutler, Toby Pugh, Lucas Pedley, James Bury, William Thomas, Henry Hoare, Matt James, Louis Doyle, Harvey Lloyd, Michael Agoston, William Gearey and Sam Hall