Nuneaton and District Junior Swimming League Round 2 Report

(as submitted to press for inclusion w/c 16/5/05))

 

 

On Saturday 14th May Redditch Swimming Club achieved its best ever performance in Division 1 of the Diddy League by finishing fourth in the round 2 gala held at Halesowen. This result gives the club a great chance of maintaining its first division status next year with only one more round to be held.

 

An exciting battle with Stratford Sharks saw Stratford ahead by 15 points at one stage only for Redditch to pull back and lead by 8. However it all came down to the final event of the evening with Redditch behind by one point and so needing to beat Stratford by two places to gain the important fourth spot. The mixed freestyle relay squad (Lydia May, David Green, Hannah Rolls, Daniel Strange, Elizabeth Humphries, James Green, Danielle Harwood, Robert Stanley) pushed hard and soon left Stratford in their wake. They moved into second overall but were just pipped by Solihull into third place with Stratford trailing in fifth. Fourth place overall had gone to Redditch by the tightest of margins. A tremendous achievement for the club and a fitting result for a great team effort.

 

Earlier in the evening first places were taken by Danielle Harwood in 12 years butterfly and Daniel Strange in the 10 years backstroke. Daniel also took second in the 10 years butterfly.

 

Also scoring seconds were at 9 years Amy Foster and Taylor Hartley in breaststroke and David Green in both backstroke and butterfly. At 10 years Hannah Rolls came second in breaststroke and she also came third in backstroke. James Green came second in both butterfly and breaststroke at 11 years and at 12 years Robert Stanley (freestyle) and Lucy Knibbs(breaststroke) were also second.

 

There was notable success in the relays. The boys 9year freestyle (Simon Hotchin, Joshua Major-Seager, Taylor Hartley and David Green) came second. The girls 9 year medley (Sasha Knibbs, Amy Foster, Lydia May and Samantha Lindsay), the 11 year boys freestyle (Lewis Biddle, Jan Freihammer, Chris Ball and James Green) and the 12 years girls medley (Sophie Parkins, Bethany May, Lucy Knibbs, Danielle Harwood) all took third places.

 

Also swimming for Redditch were Sophie Bridgman, Emma Hardacre, Bethany Austin, Michaela Britt, Sophie Randall, Oliva Laxton, Brandon Dunn, Robert Newlyn and Phillip Gifford.

 

Final Result

 

1. Phoenix Youth A            255

2. Halesowen                   183

3. Solihull A                     172

4. Redditch                      151

5. Stratford Sharks A          150

6. Stafford Apex                133