Round 1 Nunaton Diddy League

Right then…first round of the diddy league and a first for the B team in Division 2, this time at Halesowen (a long pool).  We welcome this year’s nines to the team, as well as some new additions elsewhere, in particular Natalie Hodgetts, in her first swim for the club.

We all knew it would be a tough night and how right we were.  The team is severely depleted in numbers this year, due to the change in age of the league and the loss of some swimmers.  Our eleven year old boys therefore had a lot of work to do as they all swam up as twelve year olds as well.  This meant 8 or 9 races for some of them, so my thanks go to them for showing their stamina and determination.

The opposition was Leicester Neptunes (lane 1), Evesham (lane 3), Nuneaton & Bedworth ‘B’ (lane 4), Northgate (lane 5) and Bilston (lane 6).  There was a clear divide during this gala, with Bilston, Northgate and Evesham fighting for the top spot, and the remaining teams fighting for fourth place. 

Stourbridge achieved two first places on the night, a huge achievement considering the competition; one came from Kate Fletcher in the girls 12 years 2 lengths breaststroke and the other in the girls 12 years freestyle relay (Kate Fletcher, Lauren Evans, Natalie Hodgetts, Alice Maycock). 

There were also several second places achieved, the first in the boys 11 years medley relay (Sam Donaldson –back, Sam Knowles – breast, Connor Meehan – fly, Jarryd Aston-Baugh – free).  The boys repeated this feat in the freestyle relay, also achieving a sound second place, this was cracking swimming lads, thanks for the effort, there were a lot more swims to come from these boys yet.

The girls 10 years medley relay team, largely unbeaten in division 3 last year as nines, also came second, showing that they are able to hold their own in this division too (Eva Cook – back, Becky Bradley – breast, Megan Dudley – fly, Beth Small – free).  Time for those eleven year old boys again, this time it’s Sam Donaldson in the two lengths backstroke, and Jarryd Aston-Baugh in the two lengths freestyle, good second places, well done.

This was a tough gala for the team, with a lack of numbers, and a long pool to contend with, it was going to be difficult.  There were a few disqualifications this time around, so if we can sort those out for next time I am confident we can better this performance.  As a team we now need to work on improving our stamina in the longer pools, as these are a common feature of division 2 swimming.  This leads me on to my selection for the swimmers of the gala, this week going to Kim Yates and Connor Meehan.  These two both swam as tens last year in the league on butterfly, and therefore only swimming one length of a 25m pool.  However, this year with the step up to eleven and longer pools they both had to swim 67m of fly in this gala, a big ask and I am very proud of both of them for doing the business last night, well done.

The final points result of the gala was:

1^st -   Bilston                       – 229 points

2^nd -  Northgate                   – 219 points

3^rd -  Evesham                     – 208 points

4^th -  Nuneaton & Bedworth ‘B’   – 150 points

5^th -  Stourbridge ‘B’               – 129 points

6^th -  Leicester Neptunes         – 123 points

Well done to all swimmers who competed, the team was:

BOYS – Jordan Yates, Joseph Crozier, Adam Hunt, David Birnie, Greg Rogers, Stephen Cole, Josh Evans, Ryan Sharpe, Frank Jones, Sam Knowles, Sam Donaldson, Jarryd Aston-Baugh, Connor Meehan, Paul Chandler

GIRLS – Molly Wood, Roseanna Rought, Grace Fellows, Harriet Meehan, Ruth Brookes, Eva Cook, Beth Small, Megan Dudley, Becky Bradley, Phillipa Watton, Emily Sheppard, Beth Hendy, Kim Yates, Kate Fletcher, Alice Maycock, Jessica Hickman, Lauren Evans, Natalie Hodgetts and Phoebe Cook.

Next Round of the League for the B team is at Wombourne (25m pool!) on the 12 th May.  Please keep it free. If you cannot swim that night please tell Becky as soon as possible please.