Peter and William lead medal chase with sprint success
Shrewsbury ASC swimmers had prepared well for the final individual gala in the Shropshire Age Group series which featured the 50m sprints at all strokes. An outstanding haul of 18 gold medals were won by Shrewsbury swimmers with nearly as many silvers plus a host of bronze and near misses.
Some age groups feature strength in depth and the ASA 13 swimmers certainly did the club proud. Peter Williams held nothing back in the freestyle leaving the rest of the field in his wake and finishing in a very respectable 29.21. The butterfly event saw Shrewsbury clinch the top three places, Will Russell lead the charge with Oliver Henry and Peter close behind. Not to be outdone, the ASA 13 girls scored their own 1-2-3 in the breaststroke, Georgina Grandfield coming out on top followed by Rebecca Shelly-Hitchen and Philippa Hatton. Philippa went on to win the backstroke event and Rebecca took gold in the butterfly. Two of the older competitors were almost invincible. Andrew Meredith (17) was edged out of first spot in the fly but claimed top spot in the other three events, including a midland qualifying time in the freestyle. Charlotte Grandfield (15) was also very close to a clean sweep of victories, just missing out in the breaststroke but also recording another midland QT in the freestyle.
Imogen Griffiths (16) was out on her own in the breaststroke and backstroke, she also claimed victory against all ages in the final of the backstroke. Kate Almond (14) missed out on a midland time in the freestyle by 0.05 of a second but held her form, winning the backstroke.
The younger squad members continued their winning ways, Gemma Almond (10) picking up gold for butterfly, silver in the breaststroke and bronze at freestyle. Natalie Baer (10) secured her first title with a fine freestyle sprint and Ellis Salisbury-Davis (11) outpaced everyone in the backstroke. Alex Charlesworth (9) showed great promise collecting silver medals at freestyle and backstroke. Twins, Emily and Harriet Grandfield (9) following in the footsteps of their sisters took silver and bronze respectively in the breaststroke. Will Johns and James Morris (10) powered their way to the success, with Will collecting silver in the freestyle and James likewise in the backstroke.
Many swimmers have a weaker stroke but Sophie Whittingham (11) worked hard all day, showing supreme consistency whilst securing silver medals at all four strokes, quite an achievement. Emma Whittingham (15) and Chris Barber (12) completed the list of medal winners, each adding bronze for backstroke.