Worcester Swimming Club held off a fierce challenge from local rivals Stourbridge to retain the Worcestershire Winter League giving them a hat-trick of titles since 2014.
The Winter League final, held at Droitwich Leisure Centre, saw Worcester A and B teams drawn against some of the biggest clubs in the county including Stourbridge, Redditch, Halesowen and Pershore.
Stourbridge took an early lead in the final, and after 10 events found themselves on 42 points just ahead of Worcester A in second place on 38 points. Worcester A’s fightback came in the next 10 races, with several superb individual wins claiming maximum points and helping to eat into Stourbridge’s early lead. After 20 events, Worcester had managed to overhaul Stourbridge, edging into a two-point lead at the half-way stage and then extended their lead to 14 points after 30 events with more strong performances.
During the final, there were individual wins for Matt Richards (13/u 100m back, 13/u 100m freestyle), Will Gearey (13/u 100m fly), Lauren Annis (11/u 50m backstroke), Sam Hall (15/u 100m fly, 15/u 100m breaststroke), Olivia Fletcher (13/u 100m breaststroke, 13/u 100m freestyle), Aaron Cook (13/u 100m breaststroke), Charlotte Yates (15/u 100m breaststroke), Anthony Redfern (Open 100m freestyle), Lucy Clayton (Open 100m breaststroke), James Marsh (Open 100m breaststroke) plus relays wins for the mixed 13/u 6 x 25m free, mixed 13/u 6 x 25m medley, mixed 15/u 6 x 25m free, mixed 15/u 6 x 25m medley and mixed Open 6 x 25m medley.
The final scores were Worcester A 196 points, Stourbridge 172, Halesowen 148, Redditch 121, Pershore 109 and Worcester B 91.
Commenting on the result, Mark Stowe, Worcester’s head coach, said: “What a fantastic performance to win the trophy again, and three years in a row is special! I was especially pleased that our B team reached the final, ahead of many other clubs’ A team, and it’s clear that there is great strength in depth across the whole Worcester squad.”
Worcester “A”
Lauren Annis, David Annis, Sophie Pettit, Milo Reed, Aimee Monks, James Vaughan, Jenny Gearey, Matthew Richards, Olivia Fletcher, Aaron Cook, Megan Annis, William Geary, Hattie Goff, Charlotte Yates, Sam Hall, Charlotte Hall, Kai Gooden-Morris, Emily Stancer, Ben Holmes, Sophie Groves, Mike Adair, Lucy Clayton, James Marsh, Tabby Monkhouse, Anthony Redfern, Samantha Gearey, Joel Smith
Worcester “B”
Lydia Cooper, Jack Sweeney, Amelia Gearey, Henry Halford, Ciara Mahana, Michael Agoston, Daniel Kearney, Josie Armstrong, Baeli Fern, Emily Caldwell, Sam Hartley, Leyla Tatar, Isaac Shepherd, Lottie Trevethan, Louis Doyle, Sophie Davis, Craig Strachan, Eleanor Niel, Sean Mahon, Yasemin Tatar, Sam Clayton, Amber Harrison, Harvey Lloyd, India Fern, Matthew Rednern, Caitlin Adair, Glenn Strachan, Emma Lovesey, William Hadley