Tigersharks Western Delight
Tigersharks first weekend of Bagcat competition at the 2005 Western Counties Age Groups got off to a sparkling start. Tigersharks hailed two new National Qualifiers, 2 gold, 3 Silver and 5 bronze medallists and a staggering 39 top eight finishes. This saw the young sharks emerging as the leading Wiltshire club after the first of two weekends on competition.
Alex Jones was the first to set the standard for Tigersharks with a perfect swim in the boy 13 years 1500m FC. Jones took the gold medal with ease and bagged his Long Course National Qualifying time with time to spare.
The girls 400m Individual Medley saw four young sharks finish in the top eight. Eleanor Hussey (10), Rosemary Broad (11), Siobhan Tierney and Hayley Towner (12) all swam great races to mix in the top eight. In the girls 100m Backstroke Lauren Jones and Eleanor Hussey (10) finished 7th and 8th respectively in their final and Natalie Montezuma (13) also swam a strong race to finish 8th.
The boys were not to be outdone on the first day and Tigersharks had some fantastic swims in the 200m Butterfly. Joshua Wheeler (10) stormed to the silver medal in a huge personal best time with teammate Jason Butt (10) finishing a creditable 8th in the same final. Dean Williamson and James Magness (13) both swam personal best times with Williamson taking the Bronze and Magness 4th place.
In the girls 200 FC Eleanor Hussey and Lauren Jones battled their way to 6th and 7th in the final of the 200m Freestyle while Natalie Montezuma (13) took 8th in her final. Sophie Hawkins (12) sneaked into the final in only 8th place after a poor heat swim. However, she was in determined form and blasted her way through the field to snatch not only the Bronze medal but also her first National Qualifying time of 2:21.82 to secure her place in Sheffield in July.
The second day started as well as the first when Rosemary Broad (11) stunned everyone when she swam a blistering 800m freestyle race to claim her first National Qualifying time in 10:44.76 to join her team mates at Sheffield.
Joshua Wheeler (10) narrowly missed his fourth NQT in the 400m Individual Medley but was rewarded with the Silver Medal for a great swim. Jason Butt and Kane Baker also ten took 4th and 5th respectively in the same event with Alex Jones, Dean Williamson and James Magness (13) placing 5th, 7th and 8th with Jones cementing his NQT.
Lauren Jones (10) swam a scintillating 100m Breaststroke to snatch the Bronze medal in a very strong field, in a time of 1:33.95 and Natalie Montezuma (13) claimed 7th in the same event in her final.
True to form in the 100m Backstroke event the boys showed their strength. Joshua Wheeler (10) took Bronze with Kane Baker and Jason Butt (10) moving up the field to place 5th and 6th in the same final. James Magness (13) swam a superb final in a personal best time to snatch the Bronze medal by 100th of a second and Aaron lee moved from 7th to 4th with a great swim in the fourteen years age group.
The girls 200 Butterfly once again saw a strong showing from the sharks. Lauren Jones and Eleanor Hussey (10) swam well in their final to finish in 5th and 8th respectively, Rosemary Broad (11) finished her final in 4th and Hayley Towner swam well to take 8th place in the twelve-year-olds.
In the final event of the day the 200 Freestyle ten year old Joshua Wheeler brushed aside a strong field to take the Gold medal by a full 2 seconds. Team mate Jason Butt, also 10, confirmed his status as a great freestyler to take the 4th spot. In the 13 years age group Alex Jones finished a great weekend with the Silver medal while Dean Williamson moved from 7th to 5th narrowly missing his 3rd NQT by .43 of a second.
The boys & girls produced some great team performances in the 4x 100m Medley with the boys team of James Magness, Dean Williamson, Aaron Lee & Alex Jones finishing in 5th place in a very strong field & the girls team of Siobhan Tierney, Steph Millin, Hayley Towner & Sophie Hawkins a very creditable 6th.
16 year old Hayley Wood increased her personal tally of NQT’s by adding the 800m Freestyle at the Long Course Meet in Swansea at the end of May with a magnificent display of distance swimming cruising under the NQT by a full 6 seconds. Coupled with the results from the first Bagcat competition weekend the young Sharks tally of National swimmers has increased to 11 individuals making the coveted trip to Sheffield.
Other personal best times came from: Amy Thrush 10 (100 BK, 200 Fly, 100 BR), Alissa Johnson 12 (100 BR & 200 Fly) & Olivia Gingell 10 (100 BK).
