County Blocks 2010 Sessions 1 – 4

An excellent weekend saw more medals and personal best times being achieved at the 2010 Gloucestershire County Championships by Cinderford swimmers.

The first medals came in the 50m backstroke, superb swims from Rebecca Toomer (15) in a new time of 32.73 sec and Nia Westlake (16) in a new time of 32.97 sec saw both girls win gold, with Rebecca making it through to the championship finals.

Nia and Rebecca also took on one of the most demanding races, the 400m IM, Nia finishing in outstanding gold medal position and Rebecca coming a credible 6th in her age group with a new PB.

Strong swims from Billy Harris gave him a 5th place in the 15 year old 50m backstroke with a time of 31.61 sec and 8th in the 50m freestyle in a fantastic new time of 27.11 sec.

Dean Embling smashed his previous time in the 100m breaststroke to take the gold in a time of 1min 10.94 qualifying for the championship final where he became the junior champion for being the fastest junior competitor (under the age of 16). After a mix up with the lane order at the start of his 50m breaststroke race which meant Dean had to swim in a later heat, he dug deep and kept his concentration to win gold by 1/100th second, making it into the championship final and achieving the junior champion award at 50m as well.

Lauren Mitchell worked hard to improve on her times, coming a well earned 4th in the 100m IM and 100m breaststroke. A determined race by Ashleigh Embling saw her achieve a personal best time in the 100m breaststroke and a deserved 6th place medal.

Morgan Peck came 8th in the 50m butterfly before gaining 7th place in the 200m freestyle, with teammate Mitch Savage taking 8th place, both boys achieving excellent personal bests of over 10 seconds. Twelve year old Josh Peck swam to a new PB of 30.99 sec in his 50m freestyle just finishing 1 place outside the medals.

Nia Westlake swam in the daunting 200m butterfly race achieving a terrific 2nd place, Nia also won bronze medals in the 50m breaststroke, 50m freestyle and the 100m IM. Rebecca came 4th in the 100m IM, 5th in the 50m breaststroke (both in new times) and 8th in the 50m freestyle.

Other achievements in the 50m breaststroke came from Lauren Mitchell and Ashleigh Embling both coming 6th in the respective age groups and Cassie Smith with 8th place and a new time. A courageous Casey Davis brought the spirit of a true athlete to the poolside, starting all her races in the water after an operation on her foot and still walking with crutches. Swimmers taking part in individual races in their first County Championships were Kurtis Nash, Frazer Montague, Sam Jenkins and Maddie Worgan who all had great swims achieving new PBs.