Reading B went into round 2 on the back of an excellent home win, and travelled to Fareham for a meet hosted by Farnham SC - with both Fareham teams in action elsewhere. Guernsey SC, one of four Channel Islands clubs which send in time-trial results for rounds 1 and 2 and travel to the mainland for the final round only, made up a seventh score in a six-lane pool.
Only Louisa Herring (14/15 100 fly in 1:16.63) scored a win in the girls’ programme, but the boys were in cracking form. Andrew Chandler won the 14/15 100m back (1:08.31), Elliott Packham the same event one age group down (1:17.13), Felipe Ramos and Jason Passmore the fly and free in the youngest age group (40.14 and 44.87) and relative veteran James Golding the open 100 breast (1:14.57).
Second places went to Masters swimmer Carole Eyles in both the open IM and breaststroke, Herring (15/16 free), Charlotte Thompson (open fly), Vanessa Wood (13/14 back), and among the boys to newcomer Ahmet Cemal Ulusan (open fly) and Ramos in his 50 free.
Cramped poolside conditions and one very shallow end - a big disadvantage to the six clubs present on the night against the only virtually present Guernsey team - complicated some relay handovers and Reading did brilliantly to place third or above in 10 of the 16 team events.
The 14/15 boys (Chandler, Daniel Jackson, Lewis Ross and Craig Frankum) won both their races, while Golding, Cemal Ulusan, club captain David Thomas and Masters swimmer Dave Stannard won the open medley and were joined by Chandler and Frankum for a "squadron" second place.
With two individual winners, the 11-year-old boys’ quartet looked a good bet for a medley win and they pulled it off with Andrew Wilson (backstroke) and James Bradley (freestyle) joining Passmore and Ramos.
Herring, Louise Gillatt, Rheannon Sandell and Sally Wise in the 14/15 free were Reading’s highest-ranked girls’ team in their 100 free, well under a minute in 59.18.
Final scores:
1: Guernsey, 250; 2. Reading B, 248; 3. West Wight, 235; 4. Farnham, 209; 5= Basingstoke B/Wey Valley, both 152; 7. Ringwood Seals 146.
Reading team:
Beth Ayerst; Eleanor Cawthorne; Natalia Ciecierska-Holmes; Carole Eyles; Hannah Field; Louise Gillatt; Louisa Herring; Alice Hopkins; Annette Hopson; Hannah Lamb; Lisa O’Brien; Maria Ramos; Rheannon Sandell; Emma Tarrant; Kayleigh Taylor; Amy Thomas; Charlotte Thompson; Sally Wise; Eleanor Wood; Vanessa Wood.
James Bradley; Andrew Chandler; Charles Davey; Craig Frankum; James Golding; Daniel Jackson; Harry Marsh; Elliott Packham; Jason Passmore; Felipe Ramos; Lewis Ross; David Stannard; David Thomas; Ahmet Cemal Ulusan; Andrew Wilson; Ewan Wise.