Swimmers make a splash in their season opener

Swimming

SEVENOAKS Swimming Club have made their best-ever start in the Kent Junior League.

The A team travelled to Margate to take on the top clubs in Division 1, and after some great displays came away tied in third place with Black Lion.

Meanwhile, the B team went one better, at Strood, in Division 5, where they secured second place against a number of A teams.

Individual A team wins came from 13-year-old Emily Lobely in the 100m breaststroke, 10-year-olds Hannah Crofts in the 50m butterfly and Rory Davies in the 100m individual medley.

Then the 12-year-old boys swam to victory in the 4 x 50m freestyle relay. Ben Earl and William Luckham-Down were joined by Andrew Jessop and Rory Davies.

Other great swims included 13-year-olds Cecilia Fenner in the 100m butterfly, Fred Biggs and Zoe Harding in the 200m freestyle and Hugo Caven in the 100m backstroke; all made personal-best times.

In the 12 year age group, there were pbs from Ellen Benn in the 100m butterfly and individual medley, while newcomer Murray Davies repeated Ellen’s feats for the boys in the same events and Ben Earl notched up his first 100m freestyle swim in a creditable 1min 10.62sec. In the 11 year age group, new girl Sophie Alcock swam very well in the 50m freestyle, as did Rebecca Harris in the 50m backstroke.

Hamish Johnstone covered these events well for the boys and Andrew Jessop did the butterfly and the breaststroke.

Ten-year-olds making their debut were Charlotte Hook, Pollyanna Rimell, Hannah Crofts and Charlotte Clifford, Cameron Hill, Alexander Boomla, Callum Goater and Rory Davies. All produced very creditable performances.

Final results: Thanet 234 points, Beckenham 232, Sevenoaks 197, Black Lion 197, Orpington 182.

Meanwhile, for the B team, there were wins for Anna Bayley (10 years, 25m butterfly), Eve Hume (11 years, 50m butterfly), Kiri Marsh (12 years, 100m butterfly), Polly Martin (13 years, 100m freestyle), Jack Zijdenbos (11 years, 50m freestyle) and Charlie Brunton (12 years, 100m freestyle). Many of these wins were secured in the final metres of the race, which shows that the increased number of training hours for all the swimmers is paying off.

Other strong swimmers with excellent pbs were Katerina Chrysostomou (second, 100m freestyle), Molly Merson (third, 100m breaststroke), Thomas Lewis (second, 25m butterfly) and Toby Atteridge (third, 100m butterfly).

In the relay events, there were wins for the girls in the 11, 12 and 13 year age groups.

Sevenoaks are one of only two clubs, who field a B team in the Kent Junior League.

Final results: Greenwich 129, Sevenoaks B 124, Herne Bay 120, Black Lion B 111.