Amersham Novice Gala 2010

Sea Byrds were clear winners and Amersham adrift, with a very close battle among the other four teams. 

These meets are intended to give experience of competition, ideally for swimmers who have not been placed in any inter-club gala. Age groups were set at under 10, under 11 and under 12 at the date of the gala. The youngest swam 25 metre individual races, the other age groups 50 metres, all relay legs and all individual butterfly events were 25 metres.  

Reading only produced one winner, but this did not belie the skills and endeavour of all the young swimmers. This was shown as Reading only had  one disqualification, this for minor infringement, while all the other teams had at least three. 

Eleven-year-old Hannah Stewart won the backstroke in the under12’s group in a PB time of 42.54,  a reward for the hard work she has applied in her training. 

Second places came in the under 11 age group by George Kremer, another young swimmer showing good technique, in the fly and back with times of 19.67 and 48.09 both P.b’s. Freddy Woods also on fly in the under 12 finished strongly for a time of 16.67.

The under 12’s girls and boys teams gained good points for Reading by taking 2^nd places in both their medley and freestyle relays events. Swimming for the girls Hannah Stewart, Lizzie Howling, Sophie Castle and Maddie Bell, the boys were Max Mander, Mitchell Coombes, Freddy Woods and Max Beasley. 

Third places went to the under 10 swimmers, Boris Kempster on Breaststroke and fly in good times of 25.32 and 24.13. Daisy Butterworth also on Breaststroke in 25.48 and Javier Bakker-Noguer on back in a time of 24.67. Under 11 swimmer Gemma Phillipps on fly in 20.51, and Lizzie Howling swimming a PB on Breaststroke in the under 12’s for a time of 51.32. 

Taking third spots in both their medley and freestyle relays were the under 11 boys team of George Kremer, Sahil Pau, Gianluca Chessell and Fergus Mander, gaining useful points for the team. It should be noted that Fergus is still in the teaching programme at the club and not only was this his very first gala, he swam up an age group. 

Fourth places worth a mention came from both under 10 freestyle swimmers Mollie Hobson and Jack Endersley, another teaching programme swimmer, recording times of 18.57 and 21.11. Improving on his PB in the under 12 age group breaststroke, Mitchell Coombes recorded 53.26 

Gaining fourth spots the under 10’s girls medley and freestyle teams of Mollie Hobson, Daisy Butterworth, Catrina Mulvhill and Olivia Neal and the 6 x 25 metre mixed freestyle team of Mollie Hobson, Gemma Phillips, Maddie Bell, Boris Kempster, George Kremer and Freddy Woods.

The results and times of the RSC swimmers are here.

The final result did not do justice to the efforts and skills shown by these Reading swimmers, with this type of talent it looks good for the future.