A “Great Weekend” for Runnymede as the Club finishes in the Top 6 at the Essex County Age Group Championships
Runnymede Swimming Club finished the final weekend of the Essex County Age Group Championships with another impressive haul of Medals and top 6 finishes from it’s swimmers. The Club’s members won 29 Top 6 awards throughout the weekend with 5 Gold medals, 3 Silver, 7 Bronze and 14 other top 6 places.
Runnymede finishes in 5th position in the overall Top Club standings with 607 points, the best performance by the Club in their history. Throughout the Age Group Championships, Runnymede swimmers have won 20 Championship titles for Gold medals, 16 silver medals, 18 bronze medals, and swum to a total of more than 100 top 6 finishes for awards and points.
The Club’s Head Coach Paul Eveleigh was ecstatic about the final results and commented, “Last year we saw the signs of improvement throughout the club that my team of coaches’ lead by Nathalie Brown and Stuart Jago have been building on for the previous couple of years. This year it all came together and we have taken a huge step forward as a club and hope to be challenging for a top 3 place over the next few years. However we haven’t finished yet and there is still more for these individuals and the Club to achieve if they continue to put in this sort of effort. Our members have been improving their technique and working hard in training for a sustained period of time and their results in all competitions speak for themselves. I am really delighted for this group of swimmers and applaud them for their dedication they have shown in the training pool and their determination to win.”
The outstanding swimmer for Runnymede at the final weekend of the Championship was Barton Townley who has dominated the Boy’s 10-year age group. Barton’s class shone out as he won the overall top 10-year Boys Championship and proved he is a real prospect for the future. Leading the 10-year table going into the final weekend, he upped his game again and won all 3 of the 10-year events and a hat-trick of Gold medals in the 400m Individual Medley, the 200m Backstroke and the 200m Freestyle. Barton will hope to take this form in to Regional Championships at Norwich later this year. In the same age group Rory Geoghegan achieved 4th place in the 200m Freestyle and also finished in a very good overall 4th place in the 10-year Boy’s Championship.
Another of Runnymede’s top performers at the last weekend was 12-year Chloe Davis. Chloe stormed home to win the Gold medal in the 800m Freestyle with a massive personal best performance. Chloe also rounded off a successful Championships by winning the Silver medal in the 200m Backstroke, 2 Bronze medals in the 200m Freestyle and the 100m Backstroke and 4th place in the 100m Individual Medley Final. Her performances throughout the Championships lifted her to overall 3rd position in the 12-year table.
Ryan Daniels won a Championship title with an impressive swim when he romped home to take 1st place for Gold in the final of the 12-year 100m Butterfly. Ryan followed up this great performance to take 4th place in the 200m Butterfly event and cemented his overall 3rd place in the 12-year boys table.
Ellie Pirrie produced two very good swims in her final events of the Championships to win the Top 9-year Girl’s title. Ellie has lead from the first weekend of the Championships in January and finalised her victory in the table by winning the Silver medal in the 200m Individual Medley and Bronze for a hard fought 3rd place in the 200m Backstroke. 11-year Ellie Townley completed an extremely successful Championship with another two top 6 finishes. Ellie won the silver medal for 2nd in the 200m Freestyle with a huge personal best improvement and also took the 4th place award in the 800m Freestyle.
15-year Charlotte Delicata has performed well throughout these Championships and was amongst the medals at the final round. Charlotte won the bronze medal in the Girl’s 400m Freestyle event and another bronze for her swim in the 200m Breaststroke, both with personal best performances. She was also unlucky not to finish on the top 6 for her swim in the heats of the 100m I/M finishing 7th, 0.02 outside finals qualification and again for 7th in the 200m Freestyle. Charlotte Davis was just outside her personal best time when she won 4th place in a very close final of the 15-year 100m Butterfly. 16-year Rebecca Scott produced another personal best swim in the 16-year and over 200m Breaststroke to claim a podium spot and the Bronze medal and looks in excellent form going into the Regional Championships.
Madison Townley has swum consistently well in all 4 weekends of the Age Group Championships and the last round was no exception. Madi looks strong over the longer distance events and won the bronze Medal in the Girl’s 10-year 400m Individual Medley race and also picked up points and County pennants for 6th places in the 200m Butterfly and 200m Freestyle events. 14-year Jason Daniels was again looking for a top 6 finish in his events and was not disappointed. Jason achieved 5th place in the 200m Butterfly in a new personal best and took 6th position in the final of the 100m Butterfly, again with a new bet performance.
Runnymede’s Henry Newton finished in overall 3rd position in the 11-year Boy’s Championship with his final weekend swim for 4th in the 12-year and under 100m Butterfly final ensuring the top 3 position. In the boy’s 13-year age group Alex Delicata produced his best swim of the Championship to take 6th position in the 200m Individual Medley with a huge personal best improvement. Alex also won the 6th place pennant in the 400m I/M event and will be looking for further improvement when the season moves on to the Regional Championships level. Another of the club’s 13-year swimmers in the top 6 was Patrick Neary with 2 good performances for 6th place in the 100m and 200m Breaststroke events.
Other Runnymede swimmers who swum well with most achieving personal best times but finished outside the top 6 positions were: Matthew Davis (9yr); Murphy Talbot (10yr); Kelsey Ellerby (10yr); Elliot Hart (10yr); Lloyd Burton (10yr); Zach Beale (10yr); Daniel Nobes (11yr); Sonny Canham (11yr); Ellie Honeysett (11yr); Shannon Wennington (11yr); Melissa Knighton (11yr); Thomas Giles (11yr); Alice Robinson (12yr); James Carter (14yr); Charlie Beale (15yr) and Howard Clarke (15yr).
Runnymede is looking for 1998, 1999 and 2000 born swimmers of all abilities who would like to join their successful Swimming Club. Anyone interested in taking up this type of sport which is excellent for improving overall fitness levels should contact the Club Secretary Heather Davis on 01702 478380 to arrange an assessment by the coaching staff and free trial sessions. Runnymede Swimming Club has between 1 and 14 hours of fully coached sessions available to it’s members dependant on ability. The continued success and expansion of the club means that they are looking for qualified ASA level 3 Coaches or level 2 Teachers who are willing to work 6-8 hours per week at some of the clubs sessions. Those interested should also contact Heather to arrange an interview and discuss terms.
Runnymede Swimming Club is an Amateur Swimming Association Swim 21 and Essex County Council SportSX Accredited Club. More information on the club can be found at www.runnymede.co.uk