Harwich Swimmers Shine at Halstead Open Meet

A small but mighty team of 7 swimmers from Harwich competed at the Halstead Open Meet over the weekend, delivering an impressive 17 personal bests and 18 medals across the day.

Shaidon Higgon-Williams (12) set himself a challenge to swim in all 9 available events. He opened with a 1.5 second PB in the 200m freestyle (2:42.70, 6th place) and continued to impress in the 50m butterfly (40.37, 7th), 50m backstroke (39.62, 4th), and 50m freestyle (34.79). A standout moment came in the 100m butterfly where he cut 46 seconds off his time to finish 4th in 1:33.62. He also competed in the 100m backstroke, 50m and 100m breaststroke, and 100m freestyle — a huge achievement in stamina and focus.

In the 16+ age group, Clare Richardson achieved PBs in all four of her events, with her best result being 4th place in the 50m breaststroke. Her daughter, Molly Richardson, also impressed with a PB in the 50m butterfly (38.89), 2nd in the 100m freestyle, 3rd in the 50m breaststroke, and 4th in both the 50m and 200m freestyle.

Louie Brook (9) made his debut at an open gala, showing huge promise. He cut 2.5 seconds in his 50m freestyle (42.33, 3rd place), dropped 1.5 seconds in the 50m breaststroke (6th), and delivered his highlight performance in the 100m freestyle — smashing his PB by 10 seconds to finish 2nd in 1:34.96.

Luca Hilton (11) swam a strong 50m freestyle, taking 3rd place in 37.51, and followed up with 6th in the 50m breaststroke. Thomas Mackintosh also represented the age group well in the 50m butterfly and freestyle events, narrowly missing out on medals.

Finally, Beau Johnston (14) earned a well-deserved 2nd place in the 100m backstroke with a 1.5 second PB (1:20.13), and also achieved new personal bests in the 50m (4th) and 100m freestyle (6th).

Congratulations to all our swimmers for their outstanding effort, team spirit, and impressive results!