Sharks cruise into Speedo Premier Final.

Sharks made the trip to Exeter for the 2 nd round of the Speedo League & put in another series of excellent performances to ensure their qualification in the Premier Final on 10 December at Millfield School.

With Millfield establishing an early lead the battle for the places was occurring between Exeter City, Swindon Dolphins & Tigersharks with the 2nd, 3rd & 4th positions changing no less than 5 times making it a thrilling competition for swimmers & spectators alike.

Dean Williamson (13) carried on from where he left off in Round 1 with victories in both the 100m Breaststroke & 100m Fly again in personal best times & Jazmin Carlin was in stunning form to claim top spot in the 100m Freestyle in the 15 &U age group. 10 year old starlet Jason Butt devastated the opposition in the 11&U 50m Freestyle & joined forces with Kane Baker, Ciaran Alstowe & Joshua Wheeler to head the field home in the medley relay.

With Millfield in dominating form first places were in short supply but the young Sharks recorded a total of 57 personal best times & a string of very creditable 2 nd places. In the 11& U category Kane Baker claimed the 2 nd spot in the back stroke in a new personal best time, which was matched by Lauren Jones & Rosemary Broad in the breaststroke & freestyle respectively. Jones & Broad were joined by 9 year old Sophie Roberts & Eleanor Hussey to claim the runners up spot in both the medley & freestyle relays & the boys quartet of Wheeler, Baker, Eddie Donmez & Butt had to settle for 2 nd in the freestyle relay.

Sophie Hawkins grabbed the runners up spot in the 13&U 100m Freestyle in another pb time & Jazz Carlin recorded another pb on her way to 2 nd place in the Open 100m freestyle. The 15&U boys quartet of James Magness, Frankie Peters, Aaron Lee & Alex Jones could not quite overturn the opposition for the top spots in the freestyle & medley relays but held comfortable 2 nd places in all of their individual events- Peters in the Breaststroke, Jones in the freestyle & Lee in the backstroke & fly.

This was a true team performance and credit to Matthew Jones who has just returned to the pool following a fractured collar- bone & Natalie Montezuma who has just returned to training who put in stunning performances . With the points all level with Swindon Dolphins going into the last event- the open 6x50m freestyle- it was inevitable that the young sharks team would finish in 3 rd spot. However, Coaches McGuigan & Leffers were delighted with their young charges & a final spot in the Premier Division is just rewards for their efforts.

Final Points
Millfield 262
Swindon Dolphins 200
Tigersharks 196
Exeter City 183
Hereford 117
Weston-s-mare 84