PONDS Forge International pool was the venue for the recent Retford Swimming Club 18th Annual Open Meet which saw 13 Gainsborough Dolphin swimmers compete over 25m with the pool length reduced for this competition. Despite the early start they all produced some outstanding performances during the day totalling 21 top three places and a very honourable 7th club overall from the 32 that were represented. Days from his sixteenth birthday David Trickett was in superb form as he came away with six wins from six events in the boys 15 years age group. The magic minute was broken for the first time in the 100m freestyle as he clocked 58.96 seconds whilst he also produced personal bests in the 50m breaststroke and 100m butterfly. Victories were also achieved in the 100m Individual Medley (I/M), 50m freestyle and 200m I/M. The small posse of nine and ten year old girls in attendance were in the hunt for qualification times for next years Lincolnshire Age Groups and they didn’t disappoint as they all achieved at least one time. Nine year old Shannon Conway also swam an excellent 50m butterfly to claim victory in her age group whilst she had to settle for third in the 50m backstroke. In the same age group Katie Bindon placed sixth in the 50m backstroke, eighth in the 50m freestyle and 15th in the 50m breaststroke whilst Harriet Webster just missed the top six in the 50m breaststroke and butterfly events as she finished seventh in both. Harriet achieved two life time bests in the afternoon session for the 50m backstroke (14th) and 50m freestyle (12th). Competing as a ten year old for the first time Molly Creed came up against some very good competition as she claimed sixth place in the 200m freestyle and 50m backstroke. Even with a huge personal best in the 100m I/M she could only manage seventh while she also recorded ninth in the 50m freestyle and tenth in the 50m breaststroke. Also gaining some qualification times for the Lincolnshire Age Groups was 14 year old Tonicha Watson whose hard work in training proved dividends as she placed third in the 50m and 100m breaststroke events. A ten second personal best helped her to finish fourth in the 200m I/M whilst she secured a top six finish in the 50m backstroke. Completing a busy day she just missed the top six in the 100m backstroke and I/M finishing seventh in both with eighth in the 100m freestyle and ninth in the 50m freestyle. In very competitive age groups both 12 year old Aidan Clover and 11 year old Cammron Bower found it tough going as the former finished 14th in the 100m freestyle and I/M with 13th in the 50m freestyle whilst Cammron placed 11th in the 50m breaststroke, tenth in the 100m breaststroke and 12th in the 50m freestyle. The luckless Jack Boulton continued his mantle of finishing fourth in three of his four events in the morning session of the boys 13 years age group in the 50m breaststroke, 50m butterfly and 100m I/M but he made amends later securing three second places in the 50m and 100m freestyle and 100m breaststroke. In the same age group Aarron Smith achieved success in winning the 50m butterfly and backstroke events with second in the 100m I/M and third in the 50m breaststroke. An unfortunate slip on the turn cost him further glory in the 50m freestyle as he recovered to finish fourth when a third victory was more than achievable. The boy’s ten year old group also had two representatives as Ben Crookes secured three life time bests in the 50m freestyle (11th), 50m breaststroke (15th) and 100m freestyle (14th). In the 50m backstroke he just missed his personal best to place 13th whilst illegal movement on the blocks saw him disqualified in the 100m I/M. Following a very productive morning session where William Walmsley swam personal bests to claim victory in the 200m freestyle, second in the 100m freestyle and fifth in the 100m backstroke the schedule was anything but kind to him in the afternoon. A hat-trick of fourth places were achieved as he produced a life time best in the 100m breaststroke before he had to dig deep in the last two events of the day. Following a disappointing 100m butterfly he had only ten minutes to recover before producing the gutsiest swim of his life in the 200m I/M. Looking tired and lethargic he somehow found the energy to finish very strongly as he was just touched out of third place by eight one hundredths of a second. In the Mens 16/O age group 18 year old Peter Trickett had a very successful day as he placed in the top six in all his five events. Two personal best times saw him place first and sixth in the 200m and 100m freestyle events respectively with second place in the 200m I/M, third in the 100m backstroke and fourth in the 50m backstroke. For more information on the Club please visit www.gainsboroughdolphins.co.uk.
