Retford Swimming Club Open Meet: Category B Gala
Ponds Forge, Sheffield
22nd June 2008
Sunday 22nd June saw an early start for six Glossop swimmers and their parents, who attended the 15th Annual Open Meet hosted by Retford Swimming Club. The event was held at Ponds Forge Pool in Sheffield; for all attending this was to be the first time they had swum in a pool with such fantastic facilities. The pool recently held the British Olympic trials for Beijing and is also home to several of the current (and up and coming) British Diving squad, some of whom happened to be in a training session during the course of the day – frightening stuff!!!.
The water was said to be freezing (a reliable club source had tipped us off before hand); the squeaks and shrieks from the girls as they got in for their warm up gave testament to this!!
First up was Joe Mitchell in the 200m Free Style for 10 year old boys. Unfortunately Joe set out rather too quickly, beating his PB for 50m Free in the first two lengths!!! As a result, Joe did run out of steam in this event, but made up for it later in the day. Joe continues to shine in the breast stroke events, gaining a couple of speeding tickets for exceeding the cut-off times for the event (i.e. swimming “too fast”).
Dominic Elliott, swimming in his first event “away from home” did himself a huge justice, finishing a very credible 3rd in his age group’s backstroke event.
Jess and Annie-Jo both competed in an exceptionally competitive 12 year old girls age group. Jess, true to form, entered every event that she could and proved her ability finishing the day with one gold, one silver and two 4th places. In all her remaining events Jess finished within the top ten; a very consistent performance, well done Jess.
Annie-Jo’s competitive spirit could not be faulted. Her 100m Breaststroke, especially, was, technically strong with a great start and very good turns.
Chloe, following on from the night before in Stockport, took her strength in the Butterfly and Backstroke legs to achieve a 1st place in the 200m IM event. Chloe added to this success later in the day by achieving a 2nd place in the 50m Butterfly event.
Steph joined the team for the afternoon session and got off to a flying start, achieving 3rd place in the 50m Free Style, her first race of the day.
|
Joe Mitchell (10 Yrs) |
200m Free |
50m Back |
50m Breast |
50m Free |
100m Breast |
100 IM |
|
DNF |
42.65 1st |
45.58 (Speed T) |
35.73 1st
|
1.41.10 (Speed T) |
1.33.46 (Speed T) |
|
|
Dominic Elliot (11 Yrs) |
50m Free |
100m Back |
200m Free |
|
|
|
|
44.53 13th |
1:34.30 3rd |
3:35.83 7th
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chloe Fletcher (11 Yrs) |
50m Free |
200m IM |
100m Back |
50m Fly |
|
|
|
36.74 8th |
3:19.35 1st |
1:30.57 (Speed T)
|
40.64 2nd |
|
|
|
|
Annie-Jo Kearslake (12 - 14Yrs) |
100m Back |
50m Free |
50m Fly |
100m Breast |
200 IM |
|
|
1:41.09 22nd |
38.03 25th
|
46.13 20th |
1:52.03 11th |
3:40.79 16th |
|
|
|
Jessica Orobiej- Asher (12 – 14YYrs) |
100m Back |
50m Free |
50m Fly |
200m Free |
100m Breast |
200m IM |
|
1:21.69 4th
|
32.69 6th |
36.70 2nd |
2:39.28 9th |
1:37.05 1st |
2:59.10 4th |
|
|
Steph Issatt (10 Yrs) |
100m IM |
50m Breast |
50m Free |
|
|
|
|
1:40.26 7th |
53.47 10th
|
38.64 3rd |
|
|
|
At the end of the day, the team’s efforts resulted in Glossop coming 6th out of 19 in the club competition. This was an absolutely fantastic performance, given that our team consisted of only 6 swimmers. Their team efforts were brilliant and support for one another second to none!! There was plenty of cheering and a few sore throats as a result. This was a great event, using great facilities that are just about on the doorstep, and provided a great experience for the swimmers that took part. This should definitely become an event that should feature in the Glossop calendar, here’s hoping to sending more swimmers next year.