REDDITCH Swimming Club competed in the recent Worcester County Relay Championships which were held at Wolverhampton Central Baths and the town’s squad returned with plenty of medals.
Despite numerous swimmers being unavailable, and gaps in some age groups, it was possible to enter teams for half of the 32 events.
Redditch still assembled some strong teams, all of which qualified for their respective finals and contested the medal places. Apart from one disqualification, all of the 16 Redditch teams secured a top five position.
Club captains Paul Wilkes and Laura Cranshaw managed to get there in time for the morning session, having only arrived back in the country at 2am and getting just three hours’ sleep.
Despite their lack of sleep, they still led the Redditch masters team to victory in the medley relay and second place in the freestyle relay.
Redditch’s eight medal winning teams were: 9/10 girls 4x50m freestyle – Katie Rolph, Georgia Fisher, Louise Osborne, Sophie Manley – bronze; 9/10 boys 4x50m medley – Dan Holmes, Dawson McDonagh, Josh McCluskey, Oliver Brown – silver; 11/12 girls 4x50m freestyle – Hollie Richmond, Amelia Rodd, Megan Griffiths, Lizzie Kingham – silver; 11/12 girls 4x50m medley – Lizzie Kingham, Megan Griffiths, Hollie Richmond, Amelia Rodd – silver; 13/14 boys 4x50m freestyle – Ben Lewis, Dan Noke, Tom Page, Will Moss – bronze; 13/14 boys 4x50m medley – Will Moss, Ben Lewis, Dan Noke, Tom Page – bronze; Mixed masters (140+ years) 4x50m freestyle – Laura Cranshaw, Alison Willis, Martin Potter, Paul Wilkes – silver; Mixed masters (140+ years) 4x50m medley – Alison Willis, Laura Cranshaw, Paul Wilkes, Adrian Rodd – gold.
The overall winners this year were Worcester, followed by Stourbridge, Wyre Forest and Ledbury, with Redditch close behind in fifth place, out of the 11 competing clubs from all over Worcestershire and Herefordshire.
Redditch head coach Chris Britt said: “Unfortunately we were missing too many swimmers and several of our teams were under-strength, but I was delighted with the performances of all of our swimmers. I really could not have asked any more of them.
“Will Moss swam despite a hand injury and our club captains, Paul (Wilkes) and Laura (Cranshaw), again showed their amazing commitment to the club by turning out almost directly from the airport after very little sleep.”
Redditch Swimming Club’s various squads train regularly at Abbey Stadium, Tudor Grange Academy (formerly Kingsley College) and Studley and talented young swimmers are always welcome to attend a free trial session.
Anyone interested can contact Chris Britt on 01527 853257 or via e-mail at [email protected].
