Stocksbridge Sprints - A Tonne of Medals!
Recently a team of Rotherham swimmers competed in the Stockbridge sprints. The event is split into age groups with some competing in the morning and the others in the afternoon; all events are over 50 metres with the top six in each age group contesting the final. Rotherham swimmers came away with a magnificent haul of 101 medals of varying colours and also taking the top boy and girl awards in all sessions.
FINALISTS Morning Session
Fourteen year-old Mathew Sotheran was once again in outstanding form coming away with Gold medals in all four events and also set two meet records as well has winning the top boy for the morning session. In the 9-year-old girls section latest swimming sensation Debbie Cocking came away with Gold medals in the Fly, Breaststroke and Backstroke and in doing so also set new meet records in all these 3 events and followed this up with a 5th position in the Freestyle. Fourteen year-old Emily Shone scored a hat-trick of Gold’s in the Fly, Breaststroke and Backstroke and was just piped into the Silver position in the Freestyle, Emily also came away with the top girl trophy for the morning session. In the 12-year-old girls section Holly Sotheran also gained 3 Gold medals in the Freestyle, Backstroke and Fly where she also set a new meet record, Holly was also placed 4th in the Breaststroke. Jack Whitehirst (9) was once again on the medal trail coming away with Gold’s in the Backstroke and Freestyle and was just touched out in both the Fly and Breaststroke final thus gaining Silver medal’s in both these events. Alice Aucott (12) gained Silver medal’s in the Freestyle and Fly with a Bronze in the Backstroke and was involved once again in a titanic battle in the Breaststroke where she managed to outsprint Rotherham’s other Breaststroke specialist Alicia Hartley taking Gold with Alicia taking the Silver medal to go with her 5th position in the Backstroke. Twelve year-old Robert Pearson set a new meet record in the heats of the Backstroke and went on to win Gold in the Fly and Silvers in the Freestyle and Backstroke, also twelve Josh Hillman came away with Silver in the Backstroke and Bronzes in the Fly and Freestyle with 6th position in the Breaststroke. Also putting in a very good performance was Connor Neal (12) who was placed 4th in the Breaststroke and Backstroke with 5th in the Freestyle and 6th in the Fly where Owen Lawrence (12) finished in 4th as well as 5th in the Backstroke. Another very busy girl on the day was Shannon Eades (14) who reached all four finals gaining Silver in the Backstroke and Bronze medals in the Fly and Freestyle with 4th position in the Breaststroke. Kayley Britten (10) reached 3 finals in a very competitive age group were she gained Silver in the Fly followed by 4th and 5th position in the Backstroke and Freestyle respectively. One of the outstanding performances of the morning session involved Ellisha Dawson who was the slowest qualifier going into the final of the ten year-old girls Breaststroke, she almost managed to snatch the Gold medal however was just piped and came away with the Silver in a tremendous race. Fourteen year-olds Sam Pearson and James Newton had a very successful meet with James winning Bronze in the Fly and also finishing 5th in the freestyle event with Sam finishing 4th in the Freestyle and Backstroke and 6th in the Breaststroke. Bethany Woodcock (14) finished 5th in both the Freestyle and Backstroke having just competed earlier in the morning at Ponds Forge and finally nine year-old winning Isobel Stewart put in a solid performance to take 5th place in the Breaststroke competition.
FINALISTS Afternoon Session
Two boys of vast age difference Benjamin Cliffe (11) and Dale Waterhouse (19) both achieved a full house of Gold medals in the afternoon session in two very competitive age categories with both also claiming top boy awards. Charlotte Pearson sixteen claimed Gold medals in the Fly, Backstroke and Freestyle as well as Silver in the Breaststroke thus gaining the top girl award for the afternoon session. Also scoring another hat-trick off Gold medals was George Russell (13) in the Fly, Freestyle and Backstroke and Silver in the Breaststroke. Eleven year-old Rebecca Finnie gained a speeding ticket in the Fly and Gold in the Freestyle and Backstroke with a 4th place finish in the Breaststroke. Pushing Rebecca all the way in the 11 year-old age group was Rebecca Bamber who claimed Silver in the Fly and Backstroke with a Bronze in the Freestyle and a 5th place in the Breaststroke. In the open section category Simon Worne (18) claimed Silver in the Breaststroke, Bronze in the Fly and Freestyle and 4th place in the Backstroke, also in the open category Aaron Waterhouse (18) won Silver in the Freestyle with 4th places in the Fly and Breaststroke with 5th position in the Backstroke. Eleven year-old Jack McGann was in fine form claiming Silver in the Freestyle, Bronze in the Fly with 4th and 5th place in the Backstroke and Breaststroke respectively. In the open section nineteen year-old Thomas Nelson claimed Silver in the Backstroke with 5th place in the Fly and 6th place in the Freestyle, also in the open section Adam Parkes (16) claimed Bronze in the Backstroke. In the girls 13 year-old section Chloe Rooker won Silver in the Freestyle and 5th position in the Fly where Fiona Connell also 13 took the Bronze medal, also in this age group Rebecca Britten claimed a well earned Bronze in the Backstroke with Abbie Hull taking 5th position. In the girls open section Kelsey Longden (15) took 4th places in the Fly and Backstroke with Kimberley Bush taking 5th place in the Freestyle, also taking 5th position’s in an extremely competitive 11 year-old age category was Rebbeca Durn in the Fly and Backstroke.
Also competing were:
Molly Gervis, Brodie Brewster, Holly Empson, Hannah Burgess, Megan Lowe, Jacob Parkes, Adam Hedge, Caitlan Wallis, Luke Hamstead, Thomas Hesling, Madeline Jones, Sophie Jones, Scott Mason, Ben Bainbridge, James Shiel and William Bailey.