Redditch Swimming Club at the MPAGB National Biathlon Championships in Sheffield.

Having qualified in the regional championships in September six Redditch Swimming Club girls competed successfully in the Modern Pentathlon Association of Great Britain National Modern Biathlon Championships held in Sheffield on November 26^th and 27^th. The highlight was a fantastic team third place for the 13-14 year old Youth C girls, Courtney Hyde, Suzie Britt and Jess Nice, against competition across the country.

The competition started on Saturday with a cross country run held in bitterly cold and windy conditions. The 10 year old Youth E girls, Hannah Rolls, Sophie Bridgman and Hetty Mosforth led off, with Hannah scoring a superb 10^th position, Sophie came in 34^th and Hetty 40^th and the team in 6^th place overall. Youth C followed with Courtney coming in 21^st, Suzie 35^th and Jess 51^st. This left the Redditch trio in 4^th place as a team over a hundred point behind third place. 

Ponds Forge was the venue for the Swimming on Sunday. This is a magnificent 50m pool, used for countless national and international championships, and was certainly an eye-opener to those visiting for a first time and more used to the more humble facilities in Redditch. Nevertheless the Redditch girls certainly weren’t overawed. The thrill at seeing their names on the electronic scoreboard spurred them on and every one scored a new personal best! 

Hannah Rolls finished 21^st in the swimming and clinched 11^th overall, a great achievement at this level. Sophie Bridgman came a fine 13^th in the swimming and moved up to 33^rd overall and Hetty Mosforth came 40^th in the swimming and 41^st overall. This performance confirmed the girls’ 6^th place team finish.

Redditch Youth C had to be over 3 seconds a swimmer faster than the third position Wymondham College team to overtake them. But, despite Wymondham having the overall champion in their team, a superb team effort pulled Redditch up into 3^rd spot. Courtney Hyde finished 24^th in the swimming, 20^th overall, Suzie Britt 29^th in swimming, 32^nd overall and Jess Nice 15^th in swimming 47^th overall. The team were presented with their trophies by the Athens Olympics Modern Pentathlon medallist, Georgina Harland.           .

These were all super achievements as the girls were only pulled together to compete in September. They all showed tremendous team spirit and fighting qualities. Well done and congratulations to all taking part.

For details of Modern Pentathlon: http://www.mpagb.org.uk/