Worcester’s junior swimmers travelled to Wolverhampton for the Division 1 Final of the Nuneaton & District Junior League, the premier team competition for 12/under swimmers in the Midlands.
Having qualified for the Final for the first time in 9 years, the team of youngsters were up against the very best age group junior swimmers in the West and East Midlands regions.
Worcester went into the Final ranked fifth after the three preliminary rounds in April, May and June and despite some stunning performances, couldn’t improve on that, finishing fifth on the night.
The final points were Leicester Sharks 216, Northampton 199, Leamington 196, Boldmere 183, Worcester 144 and Stafford Apex 132… with Leicester and Northampton therefore progressing to represent the Region in the National finals later this year.
As expected, the competition was fierce with some strong times recorded across the event, with wins were very hard to come. Worcester recorded six wins though on the night which was very impressed.
Star of the team was undoubtedly 10-year old David Annis who won his two individual races including the 50m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke, both in dominant fashion.
10-year old team mate Issy Wilkinson was also a winner, powering to a brilliant first place in the 50m Backstroke… whilst Alex Rosser-Barnett produced a strong 50m Butterfly to win the 12/u boys event.
Worcester’s two other victories came in the relays. The 10/u girls team of Issy Wilkinson, Olivia Eggleton, Jess Dobson and Emma McKay were narrowly beat Northampton by 0.11 seconds to take first place in the Medley Relay… whilst the quartet of Georgia Hill, Becky Yates, Sophie Pettit and Megan Bury also proved too strong for the opposition, grabbing first in the 12/u Freestyle relay.
Whilst not taking first places, there were many other excellent performances too, most notably from Maisie Lyons and Mike Agoston in the 10/u year old 50m breaststroke plus Becky Yates and Daniel Day in the 12/u 50m backstroke. At one stage, four consecutive second places in events 7-10 saw Worcester briefly second overall, only two points behind eventual winners Leicester!
Overall, though, this was a superb team effort and every swimmer, without exception, performed brilliantly, contributing fully to the Club’s success.
The full team was: Milly Hemming, Frankie Reed, Amelie Forsyth-Ball, Erin Morris, Libby Nawarycz, Emma McKay, Maisie Lyons, Jess Dosbon, Issy Wilkinson, Olivia Eggleton, Bryony Lowe, Lauren Annis, Aimee Monks, Lydia Cooper, Becky Yates, Sophie Pettit, Georgia Hill, Megan Bury, William Pridden, William Thomas, Evan Rogers, Oliver Clayton, David Annis, Mike Agoston, Jacob Smith, Sam Hawes, Milo Reed, Henry Halford, Daniel Day, George Glover, Alex Rosser-Barnett and Oliver Foster.