Worcester Swimming Club went one better than in 2009 winning this year's Mercian Summer League with a brilliant performance in the Final.
The Club led from event one, Lydia Tainty storming to victory in the Ladies Open 4x25m Individual Medley - the first of 3 wins, Lydia also finishing first in her 14 & Under 100m Butterfly and Breaststroke events.
Worcester never relinquished that early lead though eventual runners-up Nuneaton & Bedworth refused to "go away" - with the margin between the two top teams just 2 points entering the final relay events.
However, as always, the Worcester swimmers were magnificent in the relays, winning 8 and finishing second in 5 of the 16 relay races - so that at the end of the gala, the team had drawn 14 points clear.
The final scores were: Worcester 234, Nuneaton 220, Coventry 191, Lichfield, 143, Bilston 139 and Walsall 129.
There were many fine performances. In the 10/U age group, India Fern and Joseph Doyle were outstanding winners of their Backstroke events whilst Mia Tranter produced a stunning swim to win the Butterfly in a finger-tip finish, smashing her previous Personal Best.
The 12/U girls were in excellent form with Nixie Turner, Helen Rimell and Emma Lovesey all notching up individual wins in their Backstroke, Breaststroke and Freestyle races respectively whilst in the Open age group, Adam Whitaker (Butterfly) and Nicole Gasic (Breaststroke) delivered inspirational first places too.
There were several other eye-catching performances, with in particular Toby Elston (10/U), Becky Hodson (14/U) and James Allen (Open) all producing hugely impressive PB's in their Freestyle events.
The Club was missing a few key swimmers but others stepped up to the mark and team spirit was excellent, typified by the gutsy performance of 12-year old Kate Lovesey in the Ladies Open 100m Butterfly.
Head Coach Mark Stowe was delighted: "After recently regaining the County Relay Championships title, it looks like the swimmers have got the winning habit back, both individually and collectively. This was a splendid team performance, with every swimmer contributing to the win".
The full team was: Hope Rochell, Josie Morris, India Fern, Mia Tranter, Nixie Turner, Helen Rimell, Kate Lovesey, Emma Lovesey, Sarah Harrison, Lydia Tainty, Becky Hodson, Emma Thompson, Nicole Gasic, Joseph Doyle, Tyler McLean, Toby Elston, Jack Betteridge, Alastair Palmer, Daniel Clark, Thomas Wong, Matthew Rochell, Fred van Vuren, Yannick Pakeeree, Adam Whitaker, James Allen and Greg Everest.
Worcester Swimming Club enjoyed a superb County Relay Championships on Sunday 20th June, winning the much-coveted Top Club trophy.
This County competition consists of 4 x 50m Freestyle and Medley Relays across a range of age groups: 9/10, 11/12, 13/14, 15/16 and Open. Whilst the first 3 teams in each event receive medals, there is also an overall team competition with places in Finals earning Clubs points i.e. 1st 8 points, 2nd 7 points etc.
Every single Worcester relay squad made both the Freestyle and Medley Relay finals, with incredibly all but one also winning medals - a fantastic team performance that saw the Club break the stranglehold Halesowen has enjoyed for the last 4 years, narrowly winning the overall team competition by 4 points.
The 13/14 age group led the way. Both the boys & girls teams had to settle for second place in their Freestyle Relays but proved unstoppable in the Medleys, smashing previous Championship Best Times in the process. The girls' team of Alice O'Toole, Tabitha Monkhouse, Lydia Tainty and Cara Lee were dominant, Alice's 32.02 Backstroke leg giving the team a significant early advantage that the other girls steadily built on. By contrast, the boys' event was much tighter with the lead constantly changing hands between Worcester, Hereford, Halesowen & Stourbridge - Sam Allen getting the all important touch at the finish, to the delight of team mates Luke McCluskey, Fred van Vuren and Mike Adair.
The standard of competition was fierce - and no team managed to win more than one gold medal. The 15/16 boys' team of Jonathan Edwards, Rupert Monkhouse, Daniel Adair and James Allen had to settle for silver in the Freestyle event but won well deserved gold medals for their stunning win in the Medley, James storming through on the last leg to narrowly snatch first place.
Rupert and James then stepped up into the Open age group, teaming up with Joel Smith and brothers Ivo & Sergey Mandradzhiyski. Surprisingly, the strong Medley team could only finish 3rd but in large part due to an amazing 23.48 by Sergey on the last leg (exactly the same in heats and final) they won Gold in the Freestyle.
However, it was consistency that saw Worcester crowned team champions. The 11/12 boys of Jack Weston, Daniel Clark, Alex Steenson and Thomas Wong won Silver in both their relays - whilst the excellent performances of Josh Lane, Ethan Summerwill, Toby Elston & Max Ferriday in the 9/10 boys events, unfortunately just outside the medals, were absolutely critical in ensuring that Worcester finished as Top Club.
Incredibly every single girls team won two medals!
In the 9/10, Hope Rochell, India Fern, Lucy Clayton and Esme Weston showed enormous potential, picking up Silver & Bronze medals in the Freestyle and Medley relays respectively, while in the 11/12 age group, there was double Silver for the excellent quartet of Helen Rimell, Kate Lovesey, Sophie Groves and Emma Lovesey.
The older girls were no less successful, with the 15/16 team of Caitlin Clark, Nicole Gasic, Eloise van Vuren and Hollie Horton also collecting two Silver medals. Eloise and Hollie then joined Katherine Rollins and Hayley Weaver, both back from University to represent the Club, in the Open age group for another two Silver medals.
Head Coach Mark Stowe was delighted: "Swimming is a team sport and without exception, every swimmer contributed to this success. The atmosphere was fantastic and the swimmers responded magnificently to the challenge".
Twenty-four Worcester swimmers competed at the recent Midland Youth & Age Group Championships in Coventry, a record number.
As always, the standard of competition was exceptionally high with swimmers from across both the West & East Midlands having to achieve very tough Qualifying Times to simply get there.
Star of the show was the team's youngest member, Lucy Clayton. Competing at her first Regional Championships, she won the girls 10 & under 100m Breaststroke in a superb 1.35.39.
Although no other Worcester swimmers won medals, six others enjoyed top 8 finishes.
Jack Weston finished a highly creditable 8th in the 12/u boys 100m Backstroke whilst both Mike Adair (4th 100m Backstroke & 8th 100m Freestyle in 13/U age group) and Tabitha Monkhouse (8th 200m Breaststroke & 8th 200m Butterfly in 14/15 age group) showed good form ahead of National Championships in Sheffield at the end of July.
In the Open age groups, University of Worcester students Ivo & Sergey Mandradzhiyski reached the Finals of the 100m Freestyle and 100m Backstroke respectively, as did Katherine Rollins in the 200m Breaststroke.
There were also strong performances in the relay events with in particular, the Girls Youth team of Alice O'Toole, Tabitha Monkhouse, Eloise van Vuren and Hollie Horton swimming superbly to finish 5th, behind only the big elite county squads like Nova Centurion (Nottinghamshire).
Head Coach Mark Stowe was very pleased: "The increase in numbers qualifying for Midland Championships shows that the investment we have made to improve our programme with increased training hours, additional strength & conditioning work, etc is beginning to pay off. However, the swimmers now need to take that next step forward and convert those Regional qualifying times into National ones. Tabitha and Mike have already done it, and there are several others with the potential".
The full list of swimmers who competed was: Ivo Mandradzhiyski, Sergey Mandradzhiyski, Joel Smith, Rupert Monkhouse, Daniel Adair, Jonathan Edwards, James Allen, Luke McCluskey, Mike Adair, James Marsh, Jack Weston, Fred van Vuren, Sam Allen, Katherine Rollins, Hollie Horton, Eloise van Vuren, Caitlin Clark, Tabitha Monkhouse, Cara Lee, Alice O'Toole, Chloe Mabbett, Francesca Daniels, Caitlin Adair and Lucy Clayton.