A PACKED Parklands Leisure Centre in Okehampton witnessed a closely fought Imps gala between the Otters, Exmouth, Launceston and Bude on Saturday. Competition was fierce as behind the eventual winners, Exmouth, second place fluctuated between the Otters, Bude and Launceston swimmers. By the close only eighteen points split the final three positions. On the night the Otters took nine poll positions with ten runners up. Firsts fell to Tom Aylen (100m IM and 50m backstroke), Martha Bright (25m freestyle, butterfly and backstroke,) Kim Balsdon (50m backstroke), Sam Collett (50m backstroke), Isabelle Ewen (25m breastroke) and 9 yrs 4x 25m medley relay (Robert O?Neil, Martyn Allen, George Roberts and Jonathan Aylen). Twenty-four of the 37 individual swims finished with personal bests and one age group record fell to Sam Collett in the 25m butterfly. Exceptional performances on the evening were displayed by Tom Aylen, Sam Collett and Martha Bright. Relative newcomers to the squad of Jake Jendon, Hannah Cox, Alex Hurley, Kim Balsdon and George Roberts all performed well as did young Molly Bush and Chloe Blackmur, both displaying confidence and enthusiasm despite the first gala nerves.
