Regional Biathlon Championships

Nine Redditch swimmers put on their running shoes to mix running and swimming and take part in the West Midlands Modern Pentathlon Association Regional Biathlon Championship held at Wombourne on Sunday 25^th September. The team certainly weren’t fishes out of water and came back with an impressive collection of trophies and medals.

Amy Foster (Mini Girls – 9 years) started off for Redditch and raced away from the field in her 1000m heat, winning by a remarkable 45 seconds. Amy maintained her performance in her 50m swim and finished with 1848 points, 336 ahead of her nearest rival.

Hannah Rolls (Youth E Girls – 10 years) carried on the good work with a strong run, again winning her heat, and a good swim gave her another first place overall. In the same class Sophie Bridgman came 10^th and Hetty Mosforth 16^th and the three girls made up the team that secured second place in the team category.

In Youth D Girls (11/12 years) Olivia Laxton and Michaela Britt were up against the largest field in the competition and ran and swam very well to finish 9^th and 14^th respectively.

Courtney Hyde (Youth C Girls -13/14 years) added shooting to her repertoire and won the girls triathlon competition and finished fifth in the biathlon. With team mates Suzanne Britt finishing 7^th and Jessica Nice 9^th the girls’ team took 2^nd place in their team category.

As a reward for their efforts Amy, Hannah and Courtney qualify for the British Biathlon Championships to be held in November in Sheffield. They will be joined by Sophie, Hetty, Suzanne and Jessica in their teams which also qualify for these championships by finishing in the first two places.

The whole Redditch squad performed with great credit to themselves and the club. It was remarkable to see how they gave total effort and commitment in unfamiliar events and situations.

Redditch Swimming Club was also on show as we provided all the officials for the swimming heats which went smoothly and finished ahead of schedule.

Back Row: (l-r) Jessica Nice, Suzanne Britt, Courtney Hyde

Front Row: (l-r) Hannah Rolls, Sophie Bridgman, Amy Foster, Hetty Mosforth, Olivia Laxton, Michaela Britt