Annual Gala A Great Success

Norton Radstock Swimming Club held its Annual Gala Finals last Saturday. The evening began with the Mini Gala for the very youngest swimmers. There were wins for Tamzin Stammers, Ben Beechener, Hannah Garrett, Byron Morris, Charlotte Tucker, Sam Pepler and Joseph McLachlan.

The Main Gala Finals followed, for which qualification had begun in October. Some of the events were affected by late withdrawals due to illness but the evening was a great success with some terrific racing. The Club is grateful to Les Debenham for refereeing, the staff at South Wansdyke Sports Centre and all coaches and parents who covered the numerous roles needed to run a gala.

Both the Boys and Girls 14/15 years age group provided some of the most exciting finishes of the evening. The highlight was a new club record for Martin Lenihan in the 100m Butterfly in a thrilling finish with Tim Inns. Tim then won the 100m Breaststroke in another exciting finish with Matthew Whatley. The Girls also had many close races with Alice Bowden winning the 200m Medley after being neck and neck with Molly Barter for most of the race and Ginny Gay winning the 100m Breaststroke in a very close three-way finish with Alice Bowden and Holly Sadler.

In the Boys 16 and over 100m Freestyle James Harvey held off a strong last 25 metres from Ben Routhorn and the positions were reversed in the 100m Butterfly where Ben held off James’ late challenge.

Congratulations to Andrew Mateer, Mary Inns, Liam Willcox and Sarah Britton, who were victorious across all the strokes.

The full list of winners is:

Girls: Georgia Vause, Georgia Wheeler, Rio Montgomery, Georgia Hennessy, Connie Glover, Cosima Burgess, Mary Inns, Hannah Brooks-Scully, Willow Wyatt, Molly Barter, Ginny Gay, Alice Bowden, Sarah Britton.

Boys: Christian Gregory, Lewis Bond-Kendall, Jacob Brooks-Scully, Michael May, Andrew Mateer, George Hobbs, Jack Dando, Liam Willcox, Tim Inns, Martin Lenihan, Jack Walker, Matt Dark, Ben Routhorn, James Harvey.