On Saturday 13^th May the B team swam in the second round of the Nuneaton Diddy League at the Dolphin Centre in Bromsgrove.  After a cracking win in the first round no one knew what to expect from this gala, although we knew that Worcester B would be stiff competition.  Other teams on the night were Pershore Penguins, Broadway and Perry Beeches/SSS B. 

It was a tough gala, especially as Stourbridge had two key swimmers missing, but it was a very exciting one!  At first it did seem that Worcester were going to walk away with victory, with their swimmers winning eleven of the first twenty events.  However, Stourbridge remained strong with seven 2^nd places and three wins.  The first victory of the evening was taken in superb style by the girls’ 9 years medley team.  The swimmers were Beth Hickman, Rebecca Bradley, Hannah Irwin and Megan Dudley.  Going into the last leg of the race the team were in second place, a good quarter of a length back on the Broadway swimmer, but Megan powered to victory in a fantastic spilt time, beating the Broadway girl by only two tenths of a second! 

The other two wins in this section of the gala came from Emma Rhodes in the 12/u 2 lengths butterfly with a PB, and Kate Fletcher in the girls 11/u 2 lengths backstroke.  After twenty events Worcester were leading with 104 points, we were in second place with 88 points and Broadway were not far behind with 79 points.  So, we needed some more wins, and the team did not disappoint!

Phoebe Facer and Dan Sheppard won the 12/u 2 lengths breaststroke, Phoebe with a PB, well done!  The 10/u boys won their freestyle relay by only four hundredths of a second, they were Jacob Anson (swimming up), Sam Knowles, Connor Meehan and Jarryd Aston-Baugh.  A fine swim from Jarryd here to take victory.  Kate Fletcher then took her second win of the evening in the 11/u 2 lengths butterfly, this was a convincing win from Kate who was three seconds clear of the rest of the field.  Rebecca Irwin took first place in the 12/u 2 lengths freestyle, also in a PB time, well done Rebecca!

Now it was time for one of my favourite races of the evening, the 8 x 1 girls’ freestyle relay.  I enjoy this race as anything can happen, and I know we have some very strong female freestylers!  I was most certainly not disappointed with this race on Saturday.  The girls stormed to victory, five seconds ahead of the rest of the teams, with a lot of the girls doing PB splits.  The swimmers were Megan Dudley, Hannah Irwin, Beth Hendy, Emily Sheppard, Kate Fletcher, Jess Hickman, Steph Piper and Rebecca Irwin.  Fantastic result girls, well done!

 After forty events then and the points were as follows; 

Worcester B                     181 points

Stourbridge B                   180 points

Broadway                         172 points

Perry Beeches B                 94 points

Pershore                            72 points

Now I was getting stressed out, with only one point in it between us and Worcester, and Broadway quite capable of catching us at only eight points behind!  The atmosphere at the gala was fantastic with each team having a loud group of supporters.

Stourbridge went on to have two more victories at the gala, Jess Hickman won the 11/u 2 lengths freestyle, I believe in a PB time, and the 12/u girls won their medley relay by three tenths of a second, just snatching victory from Worcester B.  They were Steph Piper, Phoebe Facer, Emma Rhodes and Rebecca Irwin.

Final points were;

1^st   Worcester B                 233 points

2^nd  Stourbridge B               230 points

3^rd   Broadway                    220 points

4^th   Perry Beeches B           120 points

5^th   Pershore                      100 points

With only three points in it and only thirteen points splitting the top three teams it had been a fantastic gala, even if it was somewhat stressful!  Stourbridge B now have one win and a second place in this league ready to head into the final round. 

All members of the team swam their hearts out on the night, and special mention must go to Beth Hendy (8 swims), Megan Dudley (7 swims), Jarryd Aston-Baugh (7 swims) and Jacob Anson (8 swims) who were all competing in their own age group as well as swimming up in the relays.  Well done you four, I know I tired you out!

 Other members of the team were; 

Robert Chandler, Ryan Sharpe, Tom Warner, Abby Byrne, Luke Shaw, William Rennicks, Sam Donaldson, Alice Maycock, Jack Whyle, Scott Janes and Jake Sawyer.

As always thank you to the parents for their support during the gala, to Maria and Toni for their help on poolside and to the officials who represented Stourbridge; Glyn Dudley, Sian Hickman and Heather Janes.  Oh and thank you also to Gaynor Rennicks for standing in last minute and helping Broadway on the recorders desk.  The next round is on the 17^th June, the venue is yet to be decided.  The information will be posted on the web and on the notice boards as soon as we know.

Becky Simkins
B Team Manager

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