25 Jul 2019

A strong Deepings Swimming Club team travelled to Derbyshire over the weekend of July 13-14 to compete at the level 3 Chesterfield Summer Splash in Matlock.

It was the final meet of the season for most of the swimmers and, despite heavy training in recent weeks, they all put in outstanding performances, achieving multiple personal bests and county qualifying times. The team won 44 medals over the two days, with 10 gold, 14 silver and 20 bronze medals.

Collecting the biggest haul was 14-year-old Harry Cardell with eight medals. He struck gold in the 50m backstroke and 200m butterfly, added a hat-trick of silvers in the 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle and completed the medal-set with bronze in the 50m and 100m butterfly, and 50m freestyle.

All 10 golds came from the boys’ squad. Alex Sadler touched home first three times in the 12yrs age group, in the 50m breaststroke, 100m butterfly and 100m freestyle. He also won a brace of silvers, in the silver 200IM and 200m freestyle, and took bronze in the 50m backstroke, despite only competing on the Saturday.

On Sunday, Alex joined his teammate Lilly Tappern on the East Midlands Talent Pathway in Nottingham, part of the Swim England Pathway, selected as one of the top swimmers in the region.

Alex’s medal feat was equalled by Christian Rollinson in the 14yrs category. He also won three golds, in the 50m and 100m butterfly, and 50m freestyle, two silvers in the 200m butterfly and 200m backstroke, and one bronze in the 400m freestyle.

Eleven-year-old Jacob Briers completed the gold-medal performances. He topped the podium in the 100m and 200m breaststroke and showed his mid-distance strength by winning silver in the 200m backstroke and bronze in the 200m butterfly, his first time swimming the event.

Competing in only his second open meet away from his home pool in Deepings was nine-year-old Aaron Sadler. He had a super weekend, winning bronze medals in the 200m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 50m butterfly. All three were new personal bests.

Concluding the boys’ medal tally was Bailey Jackson-Chilvers with bronze in the 50m breaststroke 14yrs age group.

While the boys dominated the gold medals, the girls’ team also enjoyed an excellent weekend, winning 16 medals.

Eight were shared by Grace Edwards and Holly Leggott, competing at opposite ends of the age categories.

Grace, in the 10yrs age group, consistently displayed outstanding underwater skills off her turns in winning silver in the 200IM and 200m backstroke. She followed that with bronze in the 50m breaststroke and 100m backstroke.

Meanwhile, Holly also won a couple of silvers, in the 15/over 50m backstroke and 200m freestyle, and added bronze in the 200IM and 100m butterfly.

The medals kept flowing in the top age group, with Hannah Matthews achieving silver in the 100m and 400m freestyle and Emma Wilde winning bronze in the 200m butterfly. Hannah narrowly missed out on more medals with several fourth-place finishes.

Holly Roffe and Molly Briers added the final five bronze medals. Holly’s came in the 200IM, 50m breaststroke and 100m butterfly, while Molly touched third in the 100m butterfly and 400m freestyle. All were swam in new personal bests.

Lynn Chapman, Deepings Swimming Club head coach, said: “This open meet was a great way for these swimmers to end their season on a high. There was some excellent racing and well-deserved personal bests achieved throughout the team. I was delighted with the attitude on poolside and the medal success was the icing on the cake.”

Over the same weekend, Deepings Swimming Club hosted round four of the Junior Fenland League. The young development squad put in its best performance of the campaign so far to finish second of the five teams.

First place finishes were achieved by Freya Chiva (50m freestyle), Anthony Hall (50m backstroke), Ryan Weise (100IM) and Ella Gerrard (100IM).

The team goes into the final round in September in a strong position to make the B Final in October.

Summer Splash medallists in full:

GIRLS

• Grace Edwards (10yrs): silver 200IM, 200m backstroke; bronze 50m breaststroke and 100m backstroke
• Holly Roffe (11yrs): bronze 200IM, 50m breaststroke and 100m butterfly
• Molly Briers (13yrs): bronze 100m butterfly and 400m freestyle
• Holly Leggott (15+): silver 50m backstroke and 200m freestyle; bronze 200IM and 100m butterfly
• Hannah Matthews (15+): silver 100m and 400m freestyle
• Emma Wilde (15+): bronze 200m butterfly

BOYS

• Aaron Sadler (9yrs): bronze 200m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 50m butterfly
• Jacob Briers (11yrs): gold 100m and 200m breaststroke; silver 200m backstroke; bronze 200m butterfly
• Alex Sadler (12yrs): gold 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly and 50m breaststroke; silver 200IM and 200m freestyle; bronze 50m backstroke
• Harry Cardell (14yrs): gold 50m backstroke, 200m butterfly; silver 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle; bronze 50m and 100m butterfly, 50m freestyle
• Bailey Jackson-Chilvers (14yrs): bronze 50m breaststroke

Christian Rollinson (14yrs): gold 50m and 100m butterfly and 50m freestyle; silver 200m butterfly and 200m backstroke; bronze 400m freestyle

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