THE Adwick Leisure Centre was the venue for the recent B Grade Open Meet hosted by Doncaster Dartes where eleven Gainsborough Dolphins swimmers were in competition. Between them they placed in the top six on 13 occasions over their collective 25 events with six top three places. These types of competitions are designed to allow first time entrants and with strict entry rules to avoid the very fast swimmers from competing, allowing success for those that would not normally achieve in other Meets. Taking advantage of the opportunity two of the Dolphin members competed for the first time in the girls 9 years age group. Sian Saunders swam a superb 50m breaststroke in a very creditable time to claim sixth place whilst team mate Lily Talbot finished 10th in this event. Whilst Sian only entered one event Lily combated her nerves to produce three more outstanding performances as she placed 11th in the 50m backstroke, 15th in the 100m Individual Medley (I/M) and 17th in the 50m freestyle. Held over two sessions the morning one definitely suited 11 year old Tom Humphries who impressed with four sensational life time best swims. An accumulative of over 25 seconds was taken off his previous personal best times as he placed fourth in the 50m backstroke, sixth in the 50m freestyle, 7th in the 50m breaststroke and 8th in the 100m I/M. This resulted in him finishing just outside the top six for his age group with an eight position overall. The most successful swimmer was Emily Wright in the girls 15/O age group as she claimed two victories in the 50m butterfly and 100m breaststroke with a second place in the 100m freestyle. All this culminated in her claiming the runner up spot overall in her age group. Molly Creed also achieved success with two second places in the girls 9 years 50m freestyle and 100m I/M whilst she placed 8th in the 50m breaststroke. Unfortunately she was also denied further glory by receiving a speeding ticket for swimming too fast in a time just outside the permitted cut off for this event. This placed her fourth overall in her age group in front of team mates Katie Bindon (9th) and Harriet Webster (12th). Katie swam a superb 50m backstroke to claim third place with a 9th place in the 50m freestyle and 11th in the 50m breaststroke in times just outside her life time bests. Producing some fantastic swims Harriet did manage to produce personal best times as she claimed fifth in the 50m butterfly, 8th in the 100m I/M and 11th in the 50m freestyle. In a very strong age group 12 year old Aidan Clover gained two personal best times in the 50m freestyle (12th) and 100m I/M (15th) but just missed out on his hat-trick of times with a 13th place in the 50m backstroke. In the most competitive age group 14 year old Tonicha Watson was another swimmer seeing the fruits of her hard work in training pay off as she too recorded new personal best times with sixth place in the 100m breaststroke and backstroke. She just missed out on the top six with a very impressive 100m freestyle to finish eighth whilst her best place came in the 100m I/M with a fourth place giving her 9th overall in her age group. In the same age group and despite struggling with a shoulder injury Lauren Zaitschenko battled through to record some very presentable times in the 50m butterfly (15th), 100m backstroke (17th) and 100m I/M (18th) with two 14th places in the 100m freestyle and backstroke. Amy Evans was too in excellent form producing some life time best times in the girls 14 years as she claimed a hat-trick of ninth place finishes in the 100m freestyle, breaststroke and I/M with tenth in the 50m butterfly and 11th in the 100m backstroke. For more information on the Club please visit www.gainsboroughdolphins.co.uk.
