THE second round of the Cornwall and West Devon League at Meadowlands was an uphill struggle for an under-strength squad from Tavistock Swimming Club.
Many competitors were swimming up into an older age group. They fought strongly against Plymouth Leander, Bodmin and Carn Brea but finished in fourth place.
Richard Freedman gave Tavistock their first win in the 100m open backstroke, closely followed by a convincing win by Jake Broome in the 13/under 50m freestyle in a personal best time of 29.92. Jake also went on to improve his 50m butterfly time by more than one second. Michael Best swam strongly and touched first in the 15/under 100m breaststroke after a close race and although Richard was unable to match his personal best time in the open 100m freestyle he still won the event in convincing style.
The boys? 15/under 4x2 freestyle relay team of Michael Best, Nicholas Jarman, Jake Chinn and Will Crocker were just edged out of first place. In both the boys? open 4x2 medley relay and 4x2 freestyle relay, the team of Richard Freedman, James Lake, Chris Ralph and Sebastian Lee were just beaten to first place.
Tavistock?s spirit never flagged and 21 personal best times were recorded with Millie Chinn slicing seven seconds off her 50m freestyle, Joshua Stephens three seconds off his 50m backstroke time and two seconds off his 50m freestyle.
Rachael Kelly and Ross Williams both improved their time by two seconds in the 100m butterfly and 50m backstroke respectively. Paul Chinn, Tavistock?s head coach, said that although it was disappointing to finish fourth he was impressed by the effort of the swimmers, especially those swimming up an age group, as they had not been intimidated by the strength of the opposition.
Representing Tavistock for the first time was Catherine O?Boyle and Abigail Best, both of whom competed in relay events. Abigail was also awarded Swimmer of the Gala as she stepped in part way through the gala when one of the squad felt unwell.
Squad members (number of personal bests achieved) - Richard Freedman (Boys? Captain), Alison Kelly (Girls? Captain), Olivia Eadie, Francesca Gould, Tamar Preston, Joshua Stephens (2), Ross Williams (2), Will Crocker, Kirsty Best, Tom Waddington (1), Rachael Kelly (3), Adam Browner, Jake Broome (2), Amy Warnett, Tabitha Gould, Felicity Browner, Laura Radgick , Michael Best (2), Nicholas Jarman (1), Jake Chinn, Chris Ralph, James Lake (2), Sebastian Lee, Millie Chinn (3), Rebecca Windemer, Catherine O?Boyle, Abigail Best, Joshua Hughes (2), Alice Warnett (1), Rufus Gould, Laura Aspen (1), Alice Warnett, Tom Crocker.
Masters swimmer, Liz Webb, represented National HASSRA in the Civil Service Championships at Ponds Forge, Sheffield over the weekend, competing in the individual and relay open and masters events.
It proved to be an extremely successful weekend for Liz who achieved first places in the women?s masters 100m individual medley, 50m breaststroke, 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke and women?s (open) style swimming with the relay team taking first place in the 100m event in a new record time of 53.79 and second place in the 100m medley relay.