THE opening round of this year’s National Swimming League, sponsored by Arena, saw a depleted Gainsborough Dolphins squad travel to Wellingborough. Competing in the second division of the East Midlands region they arrived to find a change to the original opposition as withdrawals in both divisions saw Melton Mowbray promoted before the start of the first round with Maxwell Swimming Club unable to raise a team. This resulted in a five team gala with Dolphins facing host club Wellingborough, Great Yarmouth, Thetford and Corby in what proved to be a very competitive and thrilling encounter. With several swimmers missing for the Gainsborough club it resulted in a busy night for those who travelled with some competing in six events as Dolphins tallied 31 top three places from the 50 races. The first victory of the night came from 16 year old David Trickett in the Mens Open 100m Individual Medley (I/M) who later secured a double victory as he stormed home in the 100m breaststroke. In the same age group James Smith exploded out of the blocks to lead all the way taking maximum points in the 100m freestyle whilst he was just edged into third in the 100m butterfly. Will Cawte made it a good night for the eldest age group as he recorded second place in the 100m backstroke and this trio alongside 47 year old Mark Smith finished second in both the freestyle and medley relays. In the boys 13/U age group both Henry Cawte and Aarron Smith secured victories in the 100m breaststroke and butterfly respectively whilst they both placed second in the 100m backstroke and freestyle events. Alongside Aidan Clover and Will Walmsley they came second in the medley relay with third place in the freestyle relay as Ewan McKay replaced Will. Both Henry (100m breaststroke) and Aarron (100m butterfly) claimed excellent third places as they both swam against competitors three years older in the boys 15/U age group. Also finishing third in this age group was Jack Boulton in the 100m freestyle whilst Harriett Baird capped a fine night with victory in the girls equivalent as she also produced excellent swims for second places in both the girls 15/U and Ladies Open 100m backstroke. The Ladies Open freestyle relay quartet of Harriett, Emily Wright, Sophie Blades and Lauren Zaitschenko produced a battling performance to place third with Emily in fine form to win her individual 100m breaststroke and Sophie third in the 100m freestyle. Dolphins final victory on the night came from Ewan McKay in the boys 10-11 years 50m freestyle whilst in the same age group Ben Ambrose just beaten on the touch into second in the 50m breaststroke with Will Walmsley third in the 50m butterfly. This trio was joined by Ben Crookes to finish second and third in their respective medley and freestyle relays. In the girls 10-11 years Lydia Waring gained second place in the 50m backstroke and third in the 50m freestyle with Georgia McKay swimming an outstanding 100m butterfly to claim third in the girls 13/U age group. Georgia was joined by Charlotte Smith, Heather Cooke and Zara Thomas for a third place finish in the girls 13/U freestyle relay with the club wishing to thank Molly Creed, Katie Bindon, Hollie Watkins, Aysha Simpson and Tonicha Watson for their magnificent contributions towards the final result. Final result: 1st Wellingborough 187 points; 2nd Great Yarmouth 170; 3rd Gainsborough Dolphins 149; 4th Corby 137; 5th Thetford 101. The Gainsborough outfit travel to Market Deeping in early November for the second round of three.
