Event: Southern Junior League Round 2
Venue: Link Centre
Date: 22nd May 2010
A packed Link Centre played host to the second round of the Southern Junior League last Saturday evening. With one victory under their belts, Swindon Dolphin were up against all-new opposition with three of last year’s “A” finalists Yeovil, Weston-super-Mare and Southwold likely to be the ones to watch.
In contrast to round one, Dolphin got off to a good start in the opening block of relays with three wins out of eight races and maintained a slender lead in the early part of the contest. However, both Weston-super-Mare and Yeovil proved to be troublesome for Dolphin with the majority of first placed shared amongst the three clubs and Weston briefly took the lead towards the end of the middle block of individual swims due largely to some costly lower places for Dolphin. However, a strong run of wins in the final block of relays and no disqualifications throughout the evening finally handed victory to the host club.
Top individual points scorers for Dolphin were Rebecca Matthews (50m backstroke and 50m butterfly) and Georgina Pitts (50m butterfly and 50m breaststroke). Others touching home first with single wins were James Chantler-Mayne (50m breaststroke), Noah Kirby (50m freestyle), Georgia Dicks (25m backstroke), Katy Coleman (25m butterfly) and James Watson (50m freestyle).
Georgina Pitts ~ 2 wins from 2 swims
Eight of the lucrative nine relay wins came from the girls 9 years Katie Coleman, Abigail Ross, Denice Gardo and Georgia Dicks (freestyle and medley), the girls 10 years Rebecca Matthews, Amber Davies, Charlotte Brooker and Georgia Dicks (freestyle), the boys 10 years Conor McGilligan, James Chantler-Mayne, James Watson and Ben Sarachi (medley and freestyle), girls 12 years Maddie Easter, Georgina Pitts, Victoria Tainty and Lucy Bailey (medley and freestyle) and the boys 12 years Alex Chanter-Mayne, Adam Coleman, Jerzy Pilipczuk, and Noah Kirby (freestyle).
The final race of the evening, the 8 x 25m cannon, saw the lead change several times and the volume of poolside support from all clubs steadily increase to fever pitch, with Dolphin putting on a final show of speed to take the six points and the overall contest.
Round 2 Final Points: Swindon Dolphin 217, Weston-super-Mare 215, Yeovil 213, Southwold 157, Trowbridge 114, West Dorset 107
