On Saturday it was the first of the three Speedo League rounds and Hythe Aqua went out in force taking along 31 swimmers which is good to see. The evening didn’t start too well with a 40 minute delay due to a false fire alarm!!!! Eventually the hard work started in earnest and we got off to a great start. Ollie started the winning way with a first in the Men’s open 100m IM and Georgina coming 2nd in a tough IM race as well. We had few races to wait before the points started coming our way in the form of the Boy’s 15/u taking 2nd in the free relay and the girls taking a first in the Open IM relay.

After the first ten races of the evening we were lying third which was a great start as the Relays are not our strongest events. After the first block of relays had finished we then started the individual races where we picked up ten first places, four second places and five third places out of 32 races. This was excellent with a number of good swims and good times. Some of the young race winners were Zara Brazier, Sophie Newington and Ben Walker, keep up the hard work guy’s.

During the individuals we were placed as high as second but after the individuals had finished we were joint third place which was excellent for team spirit.

The final part of the evening was the last block of relays which for us produced some of the best racing for the team for a long time. These came in the final 3 races where we were just touched out into 2nd in all three by Hastings. The teams fought all the way to the end and produced some very impressive split times for all individuals involved. The teams were the Boys 15/u IM relay (Alisdair Seamer, Ollie Bray, Richard Gamble, Jacob Ayling-Ellis), Ladies open squadron (Georgina Smith, Emma Jenkins, Ashley Newman, Jenny Newman, Nicola Haigh, Mel Paris) and the men’s squadron (splits were all under 29 seconds for the men’s relay) (Paul Hancock, Richard Gamble, Will Burridge, John Strinati, Ollie Bray, Jacob Ayling Ellis).

The star male swimmer of the evening was Ollie Bray who swam in three races and won all three. This is especially good as two of them were in the Open age, WELL DONE Ollie.

The star lady swimmer of the evening was Nicola Haigh who swam an impressive controlled 100m backstroke and won by 5metres with ease.

The team performances of the evening were the ladies and men’s squadron teams and the boy’s 15/u relay teams.

The young performer of the evening was Zara Brazier collecting a first in the 50m Backstroke and a second in her 50m Butterfly.

Race Winners:
Ollie Bray: Open 100m IM
Open 100m Breaststroke
15/u 100m Breaststroke
Melanie Paris Open 100m Butterfly after being ill all week.
Jenny Newman Open 100m Breaststroke
Paul Hancock Open 100m Butterfly
Open 100m Backstroke
Nicola Haigh Open 100m Backstroke
Zara Brazier 10-11 years 50m Backstroke
Sophie Newington 10-11years 50m Breaststroke
Ben Walker 10-11years 50m Breaststroke
Ladies Open IM Relay Mel Paris
Ashley Newman
Nicola Haigh
Jenny Newman

Other Good Performances were:

Shakira Platts 15/u 100m Breaststroke 2nd 100m Butterfly 3rd
Sian Wonfor 13/u 100m Butterfly 3rd
Georgina Smith Open 100m IM & 100m Free 2nd Places
Daisy Somerville 13/u 100m Breaststroke 3rd
Robyn Wakelin 15/u 100m Backstroke 2nd
Richard Gamble 15/u 100m Butterfly 3rd

WELL DONE TEAM KEEP UP THE HARD WORK AND KEEP FIT FOR THE NEXT GALA IN NOVEMBER