This year’s expedition to Calais left behind a cold, wet Britain on Friday for the journey by bus and ferry to the France port for a weekend of enjoyment and swimming. In a very friendly atmosphere Cinderford swimmers reaffirmed their acquaintances with swimmers from France, Holland and Dover, with some of the newer swimmers meeting for the first time. The swimmers behaviour throughout was exemplary and a credit to their families and to the club.
In a very relaxed atmosphere the gala was held over 2 days, on the Saturday the swimmers were in impressive form. In the 10 year olds 50m butterfly Morgan Peck came 3rd, Frazer Montague came 11th Mitch Savage came 14th and Chris Owston 16th. In the 12 year butterfly Todd Montague came 8th, Josh Peck came 12th, Danny Collins came 13th, James Owston came 15th and Luke Seager came 19th. George Fear (age 13) came 13th, Billy Harris (14) came 3rd, Alex Collins (14) came 9th, In the 15 years butterfly Jake Parker came 2nd, Dean Embling came 7th and Adam Clarkson came 9th; Jason Games (17) came 8th, and Nathan Peck (17) came 4th. With trepidation 2 Masters Swimmers competed well in the butterfly for the men – Monty Montague coming 8th and Kristoff Fraszczak coming 9th.
The girls 50m butterfly saw 12 year olds Paige Bowles and Catherine Burn coming 11th and 17th respectively; 13 year old Ashleigh Embling came 3rd; Rebecca Toomer (15) came 2nd; Nia Westlake (15) came 2nd; Kim Briscoe (16) 3rd; Lauren Mitchell (15) 4th; Ceris Westlake (18) and Ruth Wozencroft (25) both took 1st place; whilst competing in the Masters section and taking 1st, 3rd, 4th, 6th and 7th places were Kim Owston, Sue Jones, Anne Seager, Nikki Hall and Nikki Clarkson.
The boys backstroke produced some good results: the 10 year age group saw Mitch Savage 8th and Chris Owston 12th. The 12 year backstroke saw Todd Montague in 5th place, Josh Peck in 9th, James Owston 14th and Luke Seager 18th. George Fear came 13th; Billy Harris (14) came 3rd; Alex Collins (14) came 8th; Dean Embling (15) came 6th; Jake Parker (15) came 2nd and 17 year olds Jason Games and Nathan Peck both came 4th; Monty Montague and Kristoff Fraszczak were 8th and 9th.
The girls were not to be disappointed in the backstroke races with 12 year olds Paige Bowles coming 3rd and Catherine Burn 16th; Rebecca Toomer (15) 2nd; Nia Westlake, Lauren Mitchell and Kim Briscoe achieving a 1st, 2nd and 3rd in their age group. More backstroke winners in their respective age groups were Ceris Westlake, Ruth Wozencroft and Sue Jones.
The day’s competition finished with the home club hosting a disco for all, which was a great opportunity to extend the entente cordiale with many friendships being forged. The next day’s competition began in earnest with the 50m breaststroke.
For the boys Frazer Montague came 10th; Josh Peck came 8th; Danny Collins 12th; Dean Embling 1st; Jake Parker 2nd; Jason Games 4th; Nathan Peck 4th; Monty Montague 8th and Kristoff Fraszczak came 9th. The girls breaststroke saw Ashleigh Embling come 2nd; Anne Seager came 3rd and first places went to Nia Westlake, Ceris Westlake, Ruth Wozencroft and Sue Jones.
The 50m freestyle saw Mitch take 7th and Frazer 9th. Josh came 6th; Billy 1st; Jason and Nathan 4th; and Monty and Kristoff 6th and 9th. Nia, Ceris, Ruth and Sue again took first place for the girls in the 50m freestyle boding well for the finals which beckoned with 26 Cinderford swimmers having won their place.
For the finals the 100m IM was the order of the day. In the 10 year age group Mitch and Frazer finished 9th and 10th respectively. Todd and Josh swam in the 12 year olds final finishing 5th and 8th. Billy, Dean and Alex swam into 5th, 6th and 9th places; Jake, Jason and Adam competed for 3rd, 4th and 10th places; Nathan took 4th place and Monty and Kristoff in their first ever swimming event took 7th and 9th place for the Masters.
The girls 100m IM finals saw Ashleigh come 2nd, Paige came 9th; Rebecca came 3rd; Nia, Kim Briscoe and Lauren came 1st, 3rd and 4th; Ceris and Ruth both won their age groups. For the Masters Sue took first place, Kim Owston 3rd; Anne 4th and a very reluctant Nikki Clarkson who entered her first competition this weekend took 7th place with a good swim. Nikki Hall being our oldest competitor of the weekend got into the finals but had to pull out through an injury sustained taking on the youngsters at rugby on the beach earlier that weekend!
All the Cinderford team performed outstandingly well and we finished a very credible 2nd place to Dover, with the prospect of more to come next year.