South Lincs Competitive Swimming Club’s talented young squad enjoyed a weekend of medals, records and Midland qualifying times (MQT) at the second round of the Lincolnshire ASA County Championships.
Held at Louth’s Meridian Pool, head coach Callum Lawson admitted it was another event that made him feel “proud” to be associated with the Spalding-based team.
Saturday kicked off with four personal best (PB) times in the girls’ 200m IM for Hannah Willis, Mollie Briggs, Ellisha Cookson and Dusty Saines.
Success followed in the boys’ 100m breaststroke, with Luke Blanchard, Colin O’Reilly and Tim Wakefield recording new PBs and both Blanchard and Calvin Wilson progressing to the finals.
Then came a real highlight in the 50m freestyle as Aurinija Mauliskaite recorded a huge PB and secured her first MQT. Willis, Cookson, Briggs, Saines, Mauliskaite and Cheryl Wilson all progressing to the finals, too.
Meanwhile, Calvin Wilson and Blanchard both recorded PBs in the 200m backstroke and picked up the silver medals in their age groups.
It was also silver in the 100m breaststroke final and an MQT for Blanchard, while Mauliskaite took bronze and Cheryl Wilson the silver in their 50m freestyle finals.
In the afternoon it was the reverse events with PBs for the boys in the 200m IM, while Cookson, Samantha Millington, Lucy Houghton, Rebecca Mckenzie and Serena Leadbeater all progressing to the finals of the 100m breaststroke.
The boys’ 50m freestyle then saw PBs for O’Reilly, Ryan Horrocks, Calvin Wilson and William Swain, although only the latter progressed to the final.
A stand-out showing came in the girls’ 200m backstroke, with Willis breaking the club record and taking the gold medal in the 11-years age group.
Saturday’s action closed with Swain finishing the 50m freestyle final in seventh place and an improved showing from Cookson in the girls’ breaststroke final.
Sunday began with a bang as Briggs broke the club record and bagged the bronze medal in the 200m butterfly.
Saines also achieved her MQT in the same event, while there were big PBs for O’Reilly and Calvin Wilson in the 100m backstroke. The latter progressed to the final.
More fine swims followed as Saines, Cookson and Cheryl Wilson all progressed to the 50m butterfly finals.
Elsewhere, PBs came from Blanchard, Wakefield, O’Reilly, Horrocks, Calvin Wilson and Swain in the men’s 50m breaststroke.
Blanchard also progressed to the finals after securing an MQT.
The 100m freestyle event saw the younger girls record yet more PBs while Willis, Mauliskaite, Cookson and Mckenzie all progressed through to the finals.
There, Willis took the silver and Mauliskaite managed the bronze.
After that, Calvin Wilson improved his backstrome time again in the final en-route to securing the silver medal.
His older sister Cheryl claimed victory in the 50m butterfly and also took the championship trophy.
The men’s breaststroke final followed with, Blanchard swimming to fifth place.
In the final session of the weekend, Atticus Strickland secured his coveted MQT in the 200m butterfly with a silver medal winning show.
Blanchard also took silver, with Horrocks finishing fourth in their respective age groups.
In the women’s 100m backstroke the girls recorded many more PBs as Emma Croker, Willis, Saines, Georgia Roberts, Leadbeater and Wilson all booked their place to the finals. There, Willis took silver and Wilson – again in fine form – won the championship title.
Matthew O’Reilly, Strickland, Blanchard, Colin O’Reilly and Calvin Wilson all recorded great times in the men’s 50m butterfly too, with both O’Reilly boys narrowly missing their MQTs by 0.2 seconds.
There was another chance for the younger O’Reilly brother Matthew as he and Blanchard progressed to the finals – and this time he clinched that elusive MQT. Blanchard, meanwhile, swam to a creditable fifth place and improved his heat time.
In the women’s 50m breaststroke Mauliskaite, Houghton, Leadbeater and Mckenzie all reached the finals, with Leadbeater securing her MQT.
Houghton missed her mark by 0.2seconds, though.
The men’s 100m freestyle saw Strickland just miss his PB, with Blanchard, Swain and Colin O’Reilly all recording PBs.
O’Reilly got under the magical one minute barrier with an impressive 58.70secs, while Blanchard and Swain both made it through to the finals.
There, Blanchard finished fifth and Swain recorded an impressive 53.90 to take third place and secure a time that ranks 26th in Great Britain.
Coach Lawson said: “All told it was an excellent weekends racing with PBs, MQTs, club records and many medals all collected in the process.”
