WHITECLIFFS OPEN –JUNE 2007
Overall it was very successful two days for Hythe swimmers with 94 PBs being recorded and lots of swimmers reaching finals and getting medals. However, once again it was noticeable that the girl entries from Hythe were almost double the number of boys swimming. I know we have more girls than boys generally in squads but a lot of other boys obviously decided not to enter which is a shame as those that did take part were pleased with their final placing's and PBs. COME ON BOYS, PUT ALL THAT TRAINING TO USE AND SWIM IN THESE GALAS.

9YRS: We had some excellent results starting with the relay teams, the FREESTYLE team (Grace Walker, Ellie Burch, Tommy Evans Fola Ogunsola) who came 2nd and the MEDLEY team (Grace, Ellie, Fola and Cameron Cave) getting 3rd. Individually Fola Ogunsola swam a fantastic race to get 1st in the 50m free with Tommy Evans getting the bronze. In the breaststroke James Bray got a well-deserved 2nd place and Tommy Evans finished 5th. The girls events were dominated by Grace Walker who got into all 4 of her finals placing 3rd in both the fly and back and 4th in free and breast. In the fly final she was supported by Ellie Burch who came 6th whilst Jodie Cowie was also 6th in the free final and was in the top 10 for all her races. Other good performances came from Cameron Cave and Gemma Archer showing that Hythe has a lot of talent coming through to join the competitive teams.

10/11YRS: Both our relay teams (Ben Walker, Sophie Newington, Daniel Burch, Charlotte Cowie) got through to the finals with the MEDLEY team finishing hard to get 2nd and then coming 5th in the FREE relay. Daniel Burch had a good two days with some fine PBs and getting 2nd in both the Fly and Back Finals after close fought races. Ben Walker wasn't’t able to enter his best stroke but made the Skins (Ind Med) and Back finals where he came 4th. He managed a top 10 place in all his races. Credit must go to Jack French and James Hulbert in their first major championship who produced some good PBs along with Barnabus Webborn.

In the girls Sophie Newington dominated the events. She was 1st in the Skins (Ind Med) and the Back, 2nd in the Breast and 3rd in the Freestyle and 8th in the Fly. She went home laden with trophies and medals, all well deserved. The other girls all swam extremely well producing some excellent PBs in an age group that had the biggest field. Charlotte Cowie had some fine swims and finished 9th in the Fly whilst Shanelle Fakely got a well-deserved 11th in the Freestyle. Mention must go to Alice Carter, Jessica Saunders, Evie Burton, Christina Freeman Elizabeth Nash in their first major championship who got some excellent PBs along with Beth Warren, Katie Levitt and Esther Evans.

12/13YRS: Unfortunately in this age group we didn’t have any finalists at all but all those who took part produced some very good PBs. In the boys Ben Gunn had two in Free and Breast and was placed 16th in the Back whilst Joshua Webborn got 9th in the Breast with a PB. Aaron Bentley got PBs in Fly (12th place) and Freestyle and Eddie Barnes both got three PBs in the Free, Ind Medley and Fly. The girls events saw a PB in almost very one of the races swam. Zara Brazier got 2 PBs and was in the top 15 for her weaker events being too fast to enter the Back or Fly events. Hannah Bacon had a good two days finishing in the top 20 for all 5events with a PB in each. Other good performances came from Jessica Fell, Margaux Durand and Emily Cowie who all knocked seconds off their PBs.

14/15YRS: We only had one boy here Adam Major but he improved on his PBs knocking over 20 secs off each. Adam swam well enough in his first major competition to finish 8th in both the Breast and Freestyle events. In the girls events it was Shakira Platts who got the glory. She was 1st in the Skins (Ind Med) 2nd in the Fly, 3rd in the Back and 4th in the Breast with PBs in IM Fly and Back. Robyn Wakelin also had a successful two days winning the Back with a fine PB and coming 3rd in the Skins again with PB. Sarah Durand showed her vast improvement this year by making the backstroke final (Hythe had 3 swimmers in this final) and coming 5th and finishing in the top 20 for all her events with PBs in 4. Sian Wonfor swam well to come 9th in both the Fly and Back and finished in the top 16th for all her 4 events. Hayley Newman also produced 4 PBs and was in the top 15 for all her events coming 10th in both the Free and Back whilst Lucy Bull got 4 good PBs and some good placing's.

16YRS/OVER: Again we had 3 swimmers in this age group, Katie Newman who got 6th in the Breast final and Scott Holder who got 13th in the 50m Free with a PB. So it was up to Jenny Newman to put Hythe on the rostrum in this age group. This she managed in fine style with 1sts in the Free, Breast and the Skins (Ind Med) and 3rd in the Fly. I’m surprised that there is any room in the Newman household for any more trophies the amount that Jenny wins each time!

Thank you to all those parents who sweated pounds off and got numb bums supporting us in the balcony plus team managers Tim, Kevin Brazier, Sue Newman, Jim Burch and Kim Walker for all their organisation poolside. Also thanks to Eddie Willis for officiating and supporting us.