A team of YCBC swimmers competed in the Yorkshire Winter Short Course Competition at the John Charles Centre for Sport, Leeds, in October.
For some of the swimmers it was their first time at a County level event, while for others it was a return to familiar surroundings.
Some of our swimmers went home with silverware hanging around their necks; others achieved Top Ten finishes; and a host of PBs were clocked up.
On Day One of the competition for the lower age swimmers, aged nine to twelve years, Mollie-Jo Garratt came away with an impressive silver in the 12yr Girls 100m backstroke and a fourth place in the 50m freestyle. Simon Robson clinched two bronzes in the 11yr Boys 200m IM and the 50m freestyle.
Mollie-Jo and Simon were back in action on Day Two. Mollie-Jo took gold in the 50m backstroke, while Simon secured bronze in the 50m backstroke. On the same day, Beth Gibbons won bronze in the 12yr Girls 100m butterfly. Additionally, Beth took Top Ten spots in the 50m butterfly and 100m freestyle.
Samuel Pickup, who qualified for nine races over the weekend, an incredible achievement, came inside the Top Ten in both the 50m and 100m butterfly events for 12yr Boys.
A new name in the YCBC racing write ups is Thomas Scholefield. Thomas secured Top Ten finishes in three 12yr Boys events: the 50m backstroke; the 100m backstroke; and the 100m freestyle. Over in the Girls competition, Ruby Allitt, came 9th in the 9yr Girls 100m breaststroke.
The upper age swimmers, aged 13 years and over, competed two weeks after the lower age swimmers. The weekend got off to a flying start as Bethan Morris qualified for her first North-East Region event with a time of 33.53 in the 14yr 50m backstroke. Jason Robson jingle-jangled back down the A64 in the evening after winning gold in both the 13yr 200m IM and 50m breaststroke events. He also took fifth place in the 50m freestyle. Harry Devlin took bronze in the 100m breaststroke. Marcus Walker came fourth in the 14yr 50m breaststroke. Erin Wilkes touched in sixth place in 14yr 50m backstroke and eighth in the 14yr 50m breaststroke. Ella Fisher achieved an eighth place in the 14yr 100m butterfly and swam a massive PB of 6.5 sec in the 14yr 200m IM.
On the second day of older swimmers’ competition, Neola Thorpe took bronze in 15yr 50m butterfly and sixth place in the 100m butterfly. Lauren Roberts also clinched two Top Ten places, coming eighth in the 15yr 50m butterfly and ninth in the 100m butterfly. Also training and competing side by side were Eleanor Howcroft and Erin Wilkes who came ninth and tenth, respectively, in the 14yr 100m breaststroke. In the 16yr age group, Nicola Merrett raced home to fifth place in the 100m backstroke.
Successfully swimming into the Top Ten in the Boys’ camp on Day Two were Joshua Mathias, who snatched tenth place in the 15yr 100m butterfly. He was joined by Marcus Walker who touched in for eighth place in the 14yr 100m breaststroke.
The Club sends a huge “well done” to all the swimmers mentioned above and, of course, to each and every one of the others swimmers who took part in these competitions.