The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A team of 32 from South Lincs Competitive Swimming Club collected a total of 83 medals at the Robin Hood Open Meet at Ponds Forge in Sheffield.
The swimmers from the Spalding-based club went home with 27 golds, 29 silvers and 27 bronzes, as well as numerous personal best (PB) and county qualifying times over the course of the two-day event.
Joe Lund got the weekend off to a fine start by taking the silver medal in the boys’ 15 years age group 400m freestyle, with Ed Skells just behind to take bronze.
Both boys posted new PB times – as did Oliver Sorrell en-route to taking bronze in the boys’ 11 years age group over the same distance.
Ellisha Cookson was the first gold medal winner in the girls’ 15 years 200m IM, leading a clean sweep for South Lincs with Aurinija Maliauskaite taking silver and Dusty Saines bagging bronze.
Isobel Gosling (11 years) and Beatrice Finch (13 years) won silver in the same event, while Emma Croker (14 years) took the bronze medal.
In the boys’ 50m backstroke Lund (15 years) was once again a medallist, this time taking bronze in a new PB. There were also PBs for Oliver Lloyd, Haydn and Seb Lewis, Anish Suwarneraj and Alfie Robinson.
Meanwhile, Lucie Lund (11 years) flew down the pool in the girls’ 50m fly to win the gold medal. She was followed home by Gosling (silver).
Mollie Briggs (14 years) took bronze in the girls’ 14 years age group, while once again it was a South Lincs clean sweep in the 15 years group for Cookson (gold), Maliauskaite (silver) and Esther Skells (bronze).
Bronze winner Nitesh Anbazhagan (13 years) was the only medallist in the boys’ 100m breaststroke, but Oliver Lloyd (nine years) posted a fantastic new PB. Anbazhagan was also the only South Lincs swimmer to contest the 200m fly – and was rewarded with a gold.
There was then a third clean sweep by the South Lincs 15 years girls in the 100m freestyle.
Maliauskaite took gold, with Daisy Rummery (silver) and Saines (bronze) just behind. Briggs (14 years) took silver with a new PB, while Finch (13 years) clocked a PB to win bronze and Gosling won silver in the 11 years group.
Andre Ubaviciute (15 years) then claimed the silver medal in the girls’ 200m breaststroke. There were also new PB times from Lucy Wilson (nine years) and Finch (13 years).
Next, there were medals in the boys’ 100m backstroke at both ends of the age groups.
Frank Lamb (10 years) took gold in a PB, while Lund (15 years) repeated the trick, also in a new best time. There were also new PBs for Alfie Robinson, Haydn Lewis, Seb Lewis and Suwarneraj in the same event.
The girls’ 50m freestyle saw a host of new PB times being set by the club’s younger swimmers. Sophia Shackleston (nine years) shone in her first open meet, while Emily Briggs and Lucy Wilson clocked new bests in the same group. Grace Ravell also lowered her best by two seconds.
The older swimmers achieved medals with Cookson and Maliauskaite (both 15 years) tied for the gold and Saines taking the bronze. Gosling also took bronze in the 11 years group.
The boys’ sprint event in this session was the 50m breaststroke, with Lamb (10 years) and Anbazhagan (13 years) both picking up silvers.
There was a hat-trick of gold medals for the South Lincs swimmers in the girls’ 100m fly. Gosling (11 years) was a winner, with Lucie Lund taking the silver just behind.
In the girls’ 14 group, Croker swept to gold in a PB, with Mollie Briggs third. It was also a gold for Cookson (15 years), with Maliauskaite taking the silver.
Lamb (10 years) was the only medallist in the boys’ 200 freestyle, bagging bronze in a new PB.
Robinson, Haydn Lewis, Suwarneraj (3.09.38), Nathan Hyden and Seb Lewis all set PBs in the same group.
Emily Briggs (nine years) then claimed gold in the 200m back stroke, a feat matched by Rummery in the girls’ 15 years group.
Gosling took silver in the girls’ 11 years age group with Lucie Lund just behind taking bronze in the 11 years age group. Croker also claimed bronze in the girls 14 years age group.
Then, in a tremendous race, Mollie Briggs and Rummery both claimed gold medals in the 400m freestyle.
Briggs just managed to hold off Rummery, with taking gold in the 14 years group and Rummery taking gold in the 15 years group. Esther Skells (15 years) also took the silver.
There was another gold for Lamb (10 years) in the 200m IM with a new PB, while team-mate Luke Sorrell took bronze in a PB of his own. Anbazhagan (13 years) and Ed Skells (15 years) took bronze and silver respectively too, while Luke Blanchard won silver in the men’s open age group.
The next category saw Rummery strike gold again in the 50m backstroke, with 15 years group team-mate Cookson collecting the bronze medal.
There were plenty of PB times in this event for the club’s younger swimmers, including Sophia Shackleston, Lucy Wilson, Emily Briggs and Erin Siggee.
Blanchard led the charge in the boys’ 50m fly with a superb gold (PB). Anbazhagan (13 years) took the silver and Lamb (10 years) was again on the podium with a bronze.
Meanwhile, Cookson dominated the 100m breaststroke event as she sped her way to the gold in a PB. Team-mate Ubaviciute also posted a new PB as she grabbed bronze in the same 15 years group.
Lamb (10 years) was the only medallist in the boys’ 100m freestyle with a silver and a fresh PB. Team-mate Robinson produced an excellent swim to post a new PB in the same event, as did Will Vere, Hyden and Aidan Evans.
In the demanding 200m fly, Esther Skells won gold (15 years) and Mollie Briggs sealed silver (14 years).
After a host of fourth and fifth places, Robinson (12 years) finally won a medal in the boys’ 200m breaststroke with bronze in a PB time.
Lamb (10 years) was back at the top of the podium with another gold, while Blanchard swam a PB to claim gold in the men’s open.
Ed Skells struck silver in the boys’ 15 years age group and Anbazhagan (13 years) took bronze.
Rummery (15 years) was back on form in the 100m backstroke with gold ahead of Cookson, who took silver.
The PB times flowed in the boys’ 50m freestyle with Vere, Oliver Lloyd, Hyden, Evans and Luke Sorrell all on-song. Anbazhagan (13 years) and Lamb (10 years) also clocked new PBs en-route to a silver and bronze respectively.
Maliauskaite (15 years) led the girls in the 50m breaststroke by taking silver, while Esther Skells followed home to take the bronze in a big new PB. Shackleston, Lucy Wilson, Sophie Wilson and Siggee all managed PB times, too.
Blanchard led the four boys contesting the 100m fly, with all of them finishing on the podium. He set a PB to claim the men’s open gold.
Lucas Garlike posted a new PB to take silver in the boys’ 15 years age group, while Anbazhagan claimed silver in the 13 years age group and Lamb (10 years) collected another bronze.
There was another South Lincs clean sweep in the girls’ 15 years group in their final event of the weekend. In the 200m freestyle, Maliauskaite managed to hold off Rummery (silver) and Esther Skells (bronze) to clinch the gold medal.
The final event of the weekend was the 200m backstroke, and South Lincs finished in style as Lamb managed to claim silver in the boys’ 10 years group and Ed Skells (15 years) collected the gold medal.
