A small group of Monson Youth swimmers travelled last weekend to the K2 leisure centre in Crawley for the South East Region Youth swimming Championships.

Competing against the cream of the South East they produced some fine performances.

Beth Hathaway (17 years) led the way with three Bronze medals in the 17 & Over age Group in the 100m, 200m and 800m Freestyle events. She also narrowly missed a further bronze in the 400m by just 0.11 of a second. Beth also finalled in the 50m Freestyle and swam inside National Qualifying times on no less than five occasions over the weekend. Beth’s time in the 200m Freestyle was a new Personal Best (PB) and Club Record.

Callum Ryan (16 years) competing in the 16-17 year old age group also produced some fine performances finalling for the first time in the 50m Breaststroke and establishing new senior club mark in the process. Callum also swam PB’s on the 200m & 400m Individual Medley and a very well paced 200m Freestyle.

With his debut appearance in these championships Johua Harrison (15 years) performed well with a solid 400m Freestyle and massive PB in the 100m Freestyle agonisingly missing going under the magic minute barrier for the first time by just 0.03 of a second.
National Junior Swimming League (M11) Division 1

Meanwhile Head Academy Coach Simon Killick travelled to Hendon in North London with the Monson Academy swimmers (12 and under) to compete in the opening round of The National Junior Swimming League (M11) Division 1. Monson had a tough first round draw and found themselves against some previous National final winning teams but held their own despite the strong competition.

Monson got off to a fine start with a win in the first event, the girls 12&U medley team, comprising: Caitlin Fearon; Anna Bayley; Anna Wessels; and Stephanie Andrews, the first of seven wins, seven second and nine third place finishes in the 49 event programme.

In the 12&U age group there was a double win for Junior Girls Captain, Caitlin Fearon in the 50 Freestyle and 50m Butterfly, a win for Anna Bayley in the 50m Backstroke. Junior boys Captain Harry Green produced a captain’s performance to take second place in the 50m Freestyle and there was a very creditable third place for Stephanie Andrews in the 50m Breaststroke. There was also a good display of strength in depth with second place in the girls Freestyle relay of Fearon, Wessels, Bayley and Alice Killick and third in the equivalent boys event with Green joined by Thomas Leman, Aiden Crewe and Josh Cruz.

The 11&U age group played their part with outstanding swims from Thomas Leman winning the boys 50m Breastroke, and Ella Ryan adding two second places in the girls 50m freestyle and 50m Backstroke. There were also thirds for both the girls teams where Ella was joined by Mia Burns, Emily Das and Emma Sneddon and the boys Freestyle team where Thomas was joined by Dan Solomon, Toby Dray and Maxim Irving.

In the 10yr old age group Kody Bradbury achieved a fine second place in the boys 50m Freestyle and making his debut for Monson Cole Bridges finished a very respectable fourth in the boys 50m Backstroke. Both the boys teams finished third in this age group where Kody and Cole were joined by George Pepper and Freddy Cunningham. The girls squad of Betty Smith, Rebekah O’Brian and Hannah Lambert were joined by Anna Leman , who swam up accrediting themselves well.

The stars of the day were Monson’s future stars in the 9yr old age group, many of who were swimming competitively for the first time in a competition of this level. Ann Leman and Izzy Hillsdon led the way with wins in the Breaststroke and Backstroke events with Anna adding a third place in the 50m Freestyle. They were joined by Isabella Wessels and Ruby McNamara-Yorke in the both the age group relays which finished a very honourable second. The boy’s squad of Charlie Crewe, Bertie Barwick, Alex Turton, Toby Yates and Jacob Draper were making their debut appearances for the club and swam exceptionally well.

Final scores: Camden Swiss Cottage 208; Romford Town 185; Chelmsford 182; Enfield Swim Squad 181; RTW Monson SC 165; Anaconda 99. Monson will be in action again in the second round at Blackshots Pool, Grays, Essex on Sunday 19th May.