Essex League – Round 2

Harwich Swimming Club travelled to Basildon to compete in round 2 of the Essex Swimming League. With some of the older swimmers unavailable and some swimmers competing despite illness, this was felt to be quite a challenging event. However as always the team stepped up to the mark with many swimmers competing out of age group and everyone giving 100% as always.

Harwich were competing against Chelmsford, Brentwood, Hornchurch, Halstead and Dunmow Atlantis.

First places were hard to come by but Poppy Tilley gained the first maximum points in the 13/U 100m freestyle closely followed by Beau Johnston in the boys event. Hugo Arthey proved ever reliable gaining first places in the 15/U 50m butterfly and 100m Backstroke. Marley Carr dominated the 13/U 50m butterfly to gain maximum points and the boys 13/U relay team of Shaidon Higgon-Williams, Laurence Wynne-Jones, Marley Carr and Beau Johnston gained the only other first place.

Good personal bests came from Poppy Tilley in the 13/U 100m backstroke breaking the 1.20 mark for the first time, Rosie Hazelton shaved a smidgeon off her 50m freestyle as did Tyler Dean in the boys event in the 11/U age group. In the 15/U 100m freestyle, Lola Ward cut nearly 2 seconds off her time and Bailey Hall-Barnett smashed his personal best by nearly 5 seconds. This, together with a strong 100m breaststroke swim and many relay swims earned him the accolade of ‘Swimmer of the Gala’. Other personal bests came from Laurence Wynne-Jones in the 13/U 100m breaststroke, Polly Lyon in the 15/U 50m Butterfly, Amy Hill in the girls 15/U 100m backstroke, Anise Arthey in the 11/U 50m backstroke, Oliver Scrivener in the boys event. Aoibheann O’Dea cut nearly 5 seconds off her 50m breaststroke time in the 11/U age group and Finn Muldoon cut a second off his time in the boys event.

Despite the fact that first places were hard to come by, the solid relay swims, determination of all the swimmers and no disqualifications, ensured that Harwich finished in 3rd place behind Chelmsford the runaway winners and Brentwood.

Final points:
1st Chelmsford – 255 pts
2nd Brentwood – 185 pts
3rd Harwich – 170 pts
4th Hornchurch – 153 pts
5th Dunmow – 145 pts
6th Halstead – 119 pts