SPEEDO SWIM SUCCESS
Bridgend County Swim Squad was once again successful, this time in the 'B'¯ Final of the Premier Division Speedo National League (Western Region) swimming gala held at Soundwell, Bristol on Saturday.
Bridgend had narrowly failed to make the 'A'¯ Final after last month's gala, held in Newport, alongside the likes of Cardiff, Millfield and Plymouth Leander; however had a chance to win the 'B'¯ Final.
The competition for Bridgend consisted of Carmarthen, Keynsham, Thornbury (who they had already beaten in previous galas) and City of Exeter who, after the two galas, were level on points with Bridgend, but were an unknown quantity. Keynsham were promoted from Division One last season along with Bridgend and were therefore expected to feature along with City of Exeter for top spot.
The gala got under way, as usual with the Ladies Open 200m Individual Medley and Bridgend's Helen Smale finished in 4th place with Adam Rees also finishing out of the top three in the Men's Open event, despite a two and a half second PB. The Girls 11/under Freestyle Relay team went the same way before the Boys 11/under Freestyle Relay team of Matt Sullivan, Alastair Richards, Daniel Owen and Cameron Jones secured Bridgend's first of many first place finishes.
The 13/u Girls Medley Relay Team of Bethan Davis, Sara Lougher, Hayley Roberts and Victoria Howell along with the Boys 13/u team of Luke Parkes, Kieran MacKenzie, Josh Thomas and Mark Ennis also scored success beating the opposition in thrilling style.
In typical fashion the acoustics in most swimming pools is far from satisfactory, Soundwell being no exception, and there was a struggle to hear the scores that were announced after every ten events. Although the scores were close after ten and twenty events Bridgend were in fourth place, ahead only of local rivals Carmarthen. However with five first place finishes in the next ten events Bridgend moved into first place by just one point, ahead of Exeter with Keynsham one point further back but the other two teams some ten and twenty points adrift.
The relay success was repeated by the same group of swimmers later in the gala where the 11 year old boys swam Medley and the 13 year olds swam Freestyle. There were changes to the teams which saw Rebekah Jones come in for Sara Lougher and Lloyd Jerwood replaced Kieran MacKenzie. The Girls 15/u Medley Relay Team of Bethan Davis, Sara Lougher, Bronnie Dunn and Rebekah Jones also won their event.
The Bridgend squad consists of many younger swimmers and therefore some had to swim in several other events as they filled in for the older age groups.
There were a number of individual event winners for Bridgend and these were as follows:
Sara Lougher 100m Breaststroke 13/u and 15/u; Mark Ennis 13/u 100m Butterfly and 100m Freestyle; Craig Thomas 15/u 100m Backstroke; Alastair Richards 11/u 50m Butterfly; Bethan Davis and Luke Parkes 13/u 100m Backstroke; Bronnie Dunn and Hayley Roberts 15/u and 13/u 100m Butterfly, respectively; Matt Sullivan 11/u 50m Freestyle and last but by no means least Victoria Howell the 13/u 100m Freestyle.
After forty events the tables were turned and Bridgend were six points behind Keynsham and three ahead of Exeter. After the 11 and 15 year old boys and the 13 and 15 year old Girls Relay Teams' wins, Bridgend were merely two points ahead of Keynsham with the Men's Open 6 x 50m Freestyle Relay to conclude the gala. Bridgend finished fourth but Keynsham could only manage third and therefore Bridgend won the gala by just the one point.
As they had won Head Coach Phil Melhuish relented and allowed the swimmers to replace their 'carbs'¯ at a nearby McDonalds (had he not, he may well have been checking out the tiles at the bottom of the swimming pool!)
Once again it must be said that although swimming is an individual sport there are times, like on Saturday, where swimmers are part of a team and each swimmer swam as part of that team and all deserve the success that goes with the winning. However, like with all team sports there has to be those that perform better than others on certain occasions and this gala was no different to the others. A big thank you, once again goes to The Odeon Cinema, Nike and Pizza Hut at the McArthur Glen Shopping Complex, Sarn who donated prizes for the swimmers. There were prizes for the swimmer who had the most improved time, the second most improved and the most improved Relay Team. The prize of a meal for two at Pizza Hut going to Adam Rees with Daniel Owen taking second place with two cinema tickets along with the Boys 11/u Medley Relay Team (Cameron Jones, Daniel Owen, Alastair Richards and Matt Sullivan) winning the Team Award of Nike T-shirts.
The other team members, without whom there would be no 'team', were as follows: Emilie James, Kerstin Watts, Chloe Laforges, Lucy Davis, Emma Moran, Ceri Cheeseman, Matt England, Rob Sullivan, Samantha Eagle, Cerys Ruddall, Nick Thomas, Gareth Pritchard, Craig Robinson, James O'Leary and Rhian Thomas.
Well done and Merry Christmas to all. (Alun Howells)
EVENT SWIMMER TIME POS. P/B?
Ladies 200m IM Helen SMALE 2.31.22 4th N
Men's 200m IM Adam REES 2.23.11 5th Y
Girls 11/u Freestyle Relay (4 x 50m) Emilie JAMES Kerstin WATTSChloe Laforges Lucy DAVIS 2.22.22 5th
Boys 11/u Freestyle Relay (4 x 50m) Matt SULLIVAN Alastair RICHARDS Daniel OWEN Cameron JONES 2.12.23 1st
Girls 13/u Medley Relay (4 x 50m) Bethan DAVIS Sara LOUGHER Hayley ROBERTS Victoria HOWELL 2.10.69 1st
Boys 13/U Medley Relay (4 x 50m) Luke PARKES Kieran MacKENZIE Josh THOMAS Mark ENNIS 2.10.95 1st
Girls 15/U Freestyle Relay (4 x 50m) Emma MORAN Rebekah JONES Ceri CHEESEMAN Victoria HOWELL 2.00.22 2nd
Boys 15/U Freestyle Relay (4 x 50m) Craig THOMAS Matt ENGLAND Rob SULLIVAN Mark ENNIS 1.47.20 2nd
Ladies Open Medley Relay (4 x 50m) Samantha EAGLE Sara LOUGHER Helen SMALE Cerys RUDDALL 2.11.17 4th
Men's Open Medley Relay (4 x 50m) Nick THOMAS Gareth PRITCHARD Craig ROBINSON James O'LEARY 1.57.72 5th
Girls 11/U 50m Backstroke Emilie JAMES 41.26 5th N
Boys 11/U 50m Backstroke Matt SULLIVAN 37.05 2nd N
Girls 13/U 100m Breaststroke Sara LOUGHER 1.16.48 1st N
Boys 13/U 100m Breaststroke Kieran MacKENZIE 1.26.72 3rd N
Girls 15/U 100m Backstroke Bethan DAVIS 1.08.28 2nd N
Boys 15/U 100m Backstroke Craig THOMAS 1.03.63 1st N
Ladies Open 100m Butterfly Helen SMALE 1.08.59 3rd N
Men's Open 100m Butterfly Craig ROBINSON 1.01.53 4th N/A
Girls 11/U 50m Butterfly Chloe LAFORGES 40.72 5th N
Boys 11/U 50m Butterfly Alastair RICHARDS 37.53 1st N
Girls 13/U 100m Backstroke Bethan DAVIS 1.08.77 1st N
Boys 13/U 100m Backstroke Luke PARKES 1.10.94 1st N
Girls 15/U 100m Butterfly Bronnie DUNN 1.10.66 1st N/A
Boys 15/U 100m Butterfly Craig THOMAS 1.03.79 2nd N
Ladies Open 100m Backstroke Samantha EAGLE 1.10.06 3rd N/A
Men's Open 100m Backstroke Nick THOMAS 1.07.97 4th N/A
Girls 11/U 50m Breaststroke Kerstin WATTS 45.63 5th N
Boys 11/U 50m Breaststroke Daniel OWEN 43.77 2nd Y
Girls 13/U 100m Butterfly Hayley ROBERTS 1.10.63 1st Y
Boys 13/U 100m Butterfly Mark ENNIS 1.08.41 1st N
Girls 15/U 100m Freestyle Emma MORAN 1.05.38 4th N
Boys 15/U 100m Freestyle Matt ENGLAND 59.04 3rd N
Ladies Open 100m Breaststroke Emma MORAN 1.31.09 5th N
Men's Open 100m Breaststroke Gareth PRITCHARD 1.14.69 5th N
Girls 11/U 50m Freestyle Lucy DAVIS 34.97 5th Y
Boys 11/U 50m Freestyle Matt SULLIVAN 31.06 1st N
Girls 13/U 100m Freestyle Victoria HOWELL 1.03.56 1st N
Boys 13/U 100m Freestyle Mark ENNIS 57.69 1st N
Girls 15/U 100m Breaststroke Sara LOUGHER 1.16.53 1st N
Boys 15/U 100m Breaststroke Kieran MacKENZIE 1.29.50 5th N
Ladies Open 100m Freestyle Cerys RUDDALL 1.03.87 4th N/A
Men's Open 100m Freestyle James Oā€™LEARY 56.14 3rd Y
Girls 11/U Medley Relay (4 x 50m) Emilie JAMES Kirsten WATTS Chloe LAFORGES Lucy DAVIS 2.43.77 5th
Boys 11/U Medley Relay (4 x 50m) Cameron JONES Dan OWEN Alastair RICHARDS Matt SULLIVAN 2.25.41 1st
Girls 13/U Freestyle Relay (4 x 50m) Bethan DAVIS Rebekah JONES Hayley ROBERTS Victoria HOWELL 2.00.22 1st
Boys 13/U Freestyle Relay (4 x 50m) Luke PARKES Mark ENNIS Josh THOMAS Lloyd JERWOOD 1.56.72 1st
Girls 15/U Medley Relay (4 x 50m) Bethan DAVIS Sara LOUGHER Bronnie DUNN Rebekah JONES 2.11.33 1st
Boys 15/U Medley Relay (4 x 50m) Craig THOMAS Kieran MacKENZIE Matt ENGLAND Rob SULLIVAN 2.08.19 3rd
Ladies Open Freestyle Relay (6 x 50m) Cerys RUDDALL Helen SMALE Emma MORAN Rhian THOMAS Hayley ROBERTS Victoria HOWELL 2.57.75 4th
Men's Open Freestyle Relay (6 x 50m) James O'LEARY Gareth PRITCHARD Craig ROBINSON Nick THOMAS Mark ENNIS Craig THOMAS 2.36.56 4th
FINAL POSITIONS:
BRIDGEND 162
KEYNSHAM 161
CITY OF EXETER 154
THORNBURY 145
CARMARTHEN 'A'¯ 127
