Worcester makes it four wins in a row!

Worcester Swimming Club’s A team powered its way to victory in the 2017 Worcestershire Winter League Final held at Droitwich, retaining its title for an incredible fourth consecutive year. 

Worcester had two teams qualify for the final, showing the club’s current strength in depth, with both its A and B teams battling it out against each other as well as Halesowen, Stourbridge, Redditch and Pershore.

The A team had a tremendous start to the final, winning the first five events and racing into a lead and opening a gap that proved too much for the other clubs to close.  The first win for Worcester A came at the hands of the mixed 11/u 6 x 50m medley relay team, with Bryony Lowe, Michael Agoston, Issy Wilkinson, David Annis, Jess Dobson and Harry Chandler winning in style.

Olivia Fletcher snatched victory on the touch in the girls 15/u 100m freestyle, while Matt Thomas added more maximum points in the boys 15/u 100m freestyle.  Megan Annis and Daniel Day won the girls and boys 13/u 100m back respectively – both with clear margins – to help open an early gap for Worcester A.

The mixed 15/u 6 x 50m medley team made it another relay win, with Jenny Gearey, Harvey Lloyd, Lily Merrell, Matt Richards, Fletcher and Will Gearey producing a powerful display across the individual strokes to win in dominant fashion.

After 10 events, Worcester A had stormed into an early lead on 53 points, with Stourbridge and Redditch back in joint second on 35 points each.

David Annis took gold in the boy’s 11/u 50m back, while Richards helped Worcester A to more maximum points taking the boy’s 15/u 100m fly with ease.  Kieran Cooper timed it to perfection in the boy’s 13/u 100m breaststroke, winning on the touch.

The mixed Open 6 x 50m medley team (J Gearey, Sam Hall, Lucy Clayton, Robin Williams, Fletcher and Anthony Redfern) also grabbed maximum points, and after 20 events at the halfway point, Worcester had extended their lead in first place on 98 points, with Redditch holding second on 75 and Pershore moving up to third place on 71.

Lloyd never looked troubled in the boy’s 15/u 100m breaststroke, winning with a clear margin and Redfern was unstoppable in the Men’s open 100m free showing tremendous speed.

The mixed 13/u 6 x 50m medley helped Worcester A to more maximum points, with Natasha Dobson, Cooper, Lauren Annis, Brodie Willetts, M Annis and Day, holding off Pershore.

And after 30 events, Worcester A had extended their lead to over 40 points on 152, with Redditch still in second on 111 and Stourbridge overtaking Pershore on 108 for third place.

Will Gearey easily won the boy’s 15/u 100m backstroke, while Day added his second victory with a superb win in the boy’s 13/u 100m free. Clayton, Worcester’s Club Captain, powered to victory in the Ladies Open 100m breaststroke, taking an early lead and winning comfortably.

With just the individual events remaining, Worcester A were not about to ease up and looking to close the final out.  The first relay win went to the mixed 15/u 6 x 50m, freestyle, with Charlotte Hall joining Richards, Fletcher, W Gearey, J Gearey and Thomas to add further maximum points.  The mixed 13/u x 60m freestyle added their second team victory, with M Annis, Cooper, Lauren Annis, Willetts, Natasha Dobson and Day winning strongly.

The last event of the final saw Worcester A finishing in style, with a fantastic win in the mixed Open 6 x 50m freestyle (C Hall, Redfern, Clayton, Alex Westwood, Fletcher and Williams).

Worcester B team showed real team spirit, battling hard for every point and running Halesowen close, with Oscar Brain recorded an individual win in the 100m backstroke.

The final positions / points were:

Full squad teams: