South Lincs Competitive Swimming Club got their new season under way with a very impressive outing at the 69th Lincolnshire County Championships last weekend.
The Spalding-based club had no less than 16 swimmers competing over the weekend – with many of them doing the double and competing in both of the arduous distance freestyle swims of 800m and 1,500m.
Mollie Briggs and Alex Sadler led the way as both claimed double gold over the weekend, winning the 800m and 1,500m swims in their respective age groups.
Briggs produced two excellent swims and, on the Saturday, lowered her personal best (PB) time in the 800m freestyle by six seconds to set a new mark of 9.16.66mins.
She was back in action in the 1,500m freestyle on day two and lowered her PB by five seconds to stop the clock in a strong time of 17.47.17mins.
The brilliant Briggs swept to gold in these events in the girls’ 15 years age group and also collected two silver medals in the ladies’ senior championship, having posted the second fastest time in both events in the meet.
Sadler matched that performance with a brace of gold medals.
He swam a stunning 800m freestyle race, working hard throughout and holding a fast pace from start to finish to touch home in a new PB time of 9.33.62mins, an improvement of 24 seconds.
In the 1,500m freestyle, Sadler led his heat from start to finish from an outside lane and once again showed his ability to maintain a fast pace touching the wall in a huge 35-second PB of 18.27.24mins.
As well as those medals won in the boys’ 13 years group, he took two silver medals in the boys’ junior championships as the second fastest 14-year-old and under swimmer.
Meanwhile, Isobel Gosling was a double medallist – taking silver in the girls’ 13 years age group in both the 800m and 1,500m freestyle.
She swam excellent races and set significant new PB times. In the 800m, an improvement of 35 seconds saw her post a new mark of 9.51.60mins, while in the 1,500m event there was a 31-second PB as Gosling stopped the clock in 18.58.50mins.
In the boys’ 16-years and over age group there were multiple medallists for the South Lincs team.
Atticus Strickland took the silver medal in the 800m freestyle and was followed home by team-mate Luke Blanchard, who claimed the bronze medal. In this event, Strickland also claimed the bronze medal in the men’s senior championship with the third fastest time of the night.
He added to his medal collection taking bronze in the 1,500m freestyle behind team-mate Joseph Lund, who claimed the silver medal.
It was a strong swim from Lund in one of the outside lanes that saw him set a new PB time of 17.19.10mins and also take the bronze medal in the men’s senior championship.
Elsewhere, Beatrice Finch and Oliver Sorrell were double bronze medallists taking third spot in both events.
Finch took her medals in the girls’ 14 years age group, both with new PB times of 9.45.60mins in the 800m freestyle and 18.48.83mins in the 1,500m freestyle.
Sorrell matched his team-mate claiming his medals in the boys’ 13 years age group and again showed significant improvements on his best times, stopping the clock in 9.52.95mins in the 800m freestyle and 18.50.28mins in the 1,500m freestyle.
Fellow South Lincs talent Daisy Rummery took the silver medal in the 800m freestyle in the girls’ 16 years and over age group, also in a new PB of 9.21.91mins.
She claimed the bronze medal in the ladies’ senior championship with the third fastest time of the night, too.
Rummery was followed home in the 800m freestyle by team-mate Esther Skells, who claimed the bronze medal in the girls’ 16 years and over age group.
Nitesh Anbazhagan was also a medallist over the course of the weekend.
He bagged bronze in the 1,500m freestyle in the boys’ 14 years age group with a solid swim of 19.13.46mins.
There were also PB times over the course of the event for Anya Strickland and Jess O’Herlihy in the 800m freestyle, while Owen Sadler also managed to lower his best time in this event.
Edward Skells swam an excellent race in the same event to set a big new PB, only to beaten out of the medals by less than a second by his team-mate Luke Blanchard.
