Ipswich quartet secure national spot
SWIMMING: Ipswich Swimming Club is celebrating securing a place in the National Relay Championships after a blistering victory at the recent Midland District Meet.
By Debbie Watson
SWIMMING
IPSWICH Swimming Club is celebrating securing a place in the National Relay Championships after a blistering victory at the recent Midland District Meet.
An outstanding swim by the boys freestyle team secured the position in the morning session of an all-day event at Coventry.
David Gallagher gave the Suffolk challengers a convincing lead on a time of 1.01.25, while Matt Paine continued the form in a time of 1.01.53.
Matt Vinter swam third in a storming 58.91 while Joe Rhodes clinched the anchor leg in 55.31.
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On a collective time of 3.56.90, the boys' victory and national placing was clearly a well deserved achievement.
Swimming alongside Ipswich, the region's strongest relay teams had come together for the Midland District event. Most teams had been selected on the basis of relay achievements in the latest round of county championships.
The afternoon session saw six of Ipswich's best girl's teams competing with the rest of the district.
The freestyle team of Sophie Poole, Kimberly Maskell, Sam Berry and Rachel Keeley swam a superb race to finish 6th place in the final in a time of 2.08.50. The medley team of Emily Thorrington, Abby Maynard, Rachel Keeley and Sophie Poole were just outside the finals in 11th place in 2.28.46.
The next age group saw Elisa Calver, Rebecca Harris, Abbie Thorrington and Natasha Downes storm through to finals in both the freestyle and medley teams. The freestyle team race saw the girls collect seventh place in 2.15.44, while the medley team race saw the girls finish in an impressive fifth spot in 2.01.08, again with some outstanding swimming from all the girls involved.
n SUFFOLK'S Masters proved themselves to be on fine form at the weekend, scoring some impressive victories in the 15th Suffolk Masters Swimming Competition, held at the Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre.
There were clean sweeps by Sue Holdich and Bobbie Wilson of Stowmarket and Len Phoenix of Diss, winning all seven of their races in their respective age groups.
Holdich had a very successful day, setting two meet records in the 4x25m IM and 50m Fly and also swimming a PB in her 200m frontcrawl.
In total there were 19 new meet records set including four by the Buck family of Sudbury – Ashley in the 50m back and 200m front crawl, Vicky in the 100m frontcrawl, and Carly in the 50m breast also equalling the record in the 50m butterfly.
Results
Local Age Group Category Winners, Female – 35-39 Years: Hannah Burch (Deben) 35 pts.
40-44 Years: Valerie Bull (Diss) 35 pts.
45-49 Years: Pauline Holland (Stowmarket) 29 pts.
50-54 Years: Sally Bettington (Diss) 30 pts.
55-59 Years: Sue Holdich (Stowmarket) 42 pts.
60-64 Years: Bobbie Wilson (Stowmarket) 42 pts.
Male – 19-24 Years: Tom Harrison (Stowmarket) and Ashley Buck (Sudbury) 23 pts.
25-29 Years: Jason Garnham (Diss) 22 pts.
30-34 Years: Clive Mitson (Stowmarket) 23 pts.
35-39 Years: Dave Elliston (Stowmarket) 36 pts.
40-44 Years: Adam Lelean (Diss) 40 pts.
45-49 Years: Andy Wright (Stowmarket) 38 pts.
50-54 Years: Len Phoenix (Diss) 42 pts.
70-74 Years: Neil Howell (Diss) 18 pts.
Top Clubs: 1 Stowmarket 280 pts, 2 Diss 229 pts, 3 Sudbury 169 pts, 4 Enfield 89 pts, 5 Deben 86 pts.
