TIGERSHARKS FINAL SURGE TO VICTORY

The Link Centre was the venue for the second round of the Moonraker Winter League & drew the top 2 teams from the 1st round- Tigersharks A & Swindon Dolphin A- together with Chippenham, Corsham, Swindon & Wroughton. The lane draw pitted the 2 local rivals next to one another resulting in outstanding racing from both teams with Tigersharks claiming 21 1st positions compared to 18 from Swindon Dolphins in the 39 event competition. It was nip & tuck all the way but in the final third of the competition the young Sharks applied the pressure by securing top spot in 8 out of the 13 events to claim victory on the night by 7 gala points.

The Sharks boys were in outstanding form claiming victories in all their events at U13, U15 & U17 level. The U13 quartet of Ciaran Alstowe, Kane Baker, Eddie Donmez & Jason Butt showed a clean pair of heels in the backstroke, breaststroke, medley & freestyle relays & are aiming to emulate their U15 counterparts- James Magness, Matthew Jones, Dean Williamson & Alex Jones- who continue to remain unbeaten for the 3 rd season in a row. The U17 boys squad of Aaron Lee, Shaun Bracey, Kris Langley, Alex Jones, Magness & Williamson stamped their authority in all their events showing clear water at each finish.

The squadron fly & backstroke quartets of Butt, Williamson, Lee & Bracey with Butt & Williamson replaced in the backstroke by Baker & Magness showed the way home. One of the races of the night was the squadron breaststroke & had the appreciative spectators on their feet. Alstowe, Williamson & Langley combined to good effect to hand over a slight lead to Open swimmer Dave Quinlivin. With breaststroke specialist Nigel Masters on the final leg for Swindon Dolphins the race was on. With the packed gallery on their feet Quinlivin held his nerve & touched home with over half a second to spare.

The Open 4x50 backstroke was equally exciting as Matt Buck, Shaun Bracey & James Theobald joined forces to give 15 year old Aaron Lee a slight lead going into the final 50. With 26 year old backstroke supremo Jon Audis on the final leg for Swindon Dolphins it was a monumental task for the young Shark. Audis came back at Lee with every stroke but the youngster held his nerve to touch home in first place.

The U15 girls quartet of Natalie Montezuma, Stacey Wood, Sophie Hawkins & Hayley Towner matched the boys by claiming top spot in all their events. The final sharks victory came courtesy of the U13 quartet of Eleanor Hussey, Lauren Jones, sophie Roberts & Rosemary Broad.

With 34 top 2 finishes out of a possible 39 events the Sharks were worthy winners on the night.

Tigersharks B were disappointed when their gala was cancelled as a result of problems with the pool but Tigersharks C made the journey to Salisbury where they co-hosted the event with Warminster. The young sharks faced stern competition from the opposition but finished a creditable 7 th place & notching up a host of personal best times.

Link Centre

Tigersharks A 208
Swindon Dolphins A 201
Chippenham 144
Wroughton 109
Corsham 97
Swindon ASC 58

Salisbury

Trowbridge B 263
Wootton Bassett A 251
Warminster 223
Swindon DolphinC 202
Durrington 172
Devizes 132
Tigersharks C 85
Pewsey 76