Robin Hood Meet - Sheffield: Report A team of West Suffolk (WSSC) swimmers travelled up to Sheffield this past weekend to compete in the Level 1 Robin Hood Open Meet at the prestigious Ponds Forge 50m pool. It was a great opportunity for the swimmers to lay down a benchmark in the long course pool, in what was a tough, competitive environment, after a month’s block of training following the summer break. Leading the way for WSSC was Emily Wood (15), who won a total of 5 medals from the nine events that she competed in. Emily stormed to victory with a win in the 50m freestyle event, setting a new personal best time (pb) in the process. Emily also picked up silver medals in the 200m IM, 200m breastroke and 50m breastroke events and a bronze in the 100m breastroke. She just missed out on the medals with two 4th place finishes in the 50m and 100m butterfly, also coming home 7th in 50m backstroke and 8th in the 100m freestyle. Emily finished 13th overall in the top girls category over the weekend, which was a great way to start the new season. From the three events that Danny Proffitt (20) competed in, he took home three medals, with two silvers (50m backstroke and 50m butterfly) and a bronze in the 100m freestyle. All 3 events were on or under his pb’s which was great to see so early on in the season. Danny headed back from Sheffield on Saturday evening, to compete in the inaugural Haverhill Triathlon on Sunday morning. Sixteen-year-old Alex Proffitt was also on form, with some fast swimming in the 8 events that he competed in. Alex picked up a medal in the 16yrs and over 400 freestyle (bronze). His other top 10 finishes, included 5th in the 100m backstroke and 200m backstroke, 8th in the 200 freestyle, 9th in the 50m backstroke and 10th in the 100m butterfly. Hannah McNaul (13) also made the podium with 3 medals in the 200m breastroke (2nd), 50m breastroke (3rd) and 100m breastroke (3rd). Hannah’s other top 10 finish came in the 50m freestyle, finishing in 10th position in her age group. Not to be outdone, Molly Ollington (16) also picked up 3 medals from the weekend, winning a silver medal in the 200m freestyle and two bronze medals in the 50m backstroke and 100m freestyle. Molly finished just outside the medals in the 50m freestyle and 100m backstroke with two 4th places. Other top 10 finishes came in the 50m butterfly (7th), the 100m butterfly (8th) and 200m IM (8th). Further medals came from Charlie Eshelby (15) in the 50m backstroke (2nd) and 200m butterfly (3rd), Charlie Whyte (13) in the 200m butterfly (3rd) and Myles Turner (14) in the 200m freestyle (3rd). The three boys also had top 10 finishes with Charlie E securing 6th place in the 100 backstroke, 7th in the 50m butterfly and 200m freestyle, 8th in the 100m butterfly and 200m IM and finally 10th in both the 50m and 100m freestyle events. Myles picked up a 5th in both the 400m freestyle and 100m backstroke, 6th in the 200m backstroke and 200m IM, 7th in the 50m and 200m breastroke events, 8th in the 100m freestyle and 9th in both the 50m freestyle and 50m backstroke. Charlie W also finished 9th in the 50m buttefly. Also competing over the weekend was Taylor Bowen (13) who just missed the medals in the 100m butterfly with a fourth placed finish. He also swam to a 6th placed finish in the 200m butterfly, 7th in the 50m butterfly and 9th in the 50m backstroke. Other top 10 finishes went to Hannah Brecknell (14) in the 50m backstroke (5th), 50m freestyle (5th) and 100m backstroke (8th). Olivia Nicolai (13) in the 200m breastroke (6th) and 50m breastroke (9th). Chloe-Jeane Parsley (13), who was competing in her first competition since an injury in May, finished 10th in both the 50m backstroke and 100m breastroke, Edward Briars (16) who finished 5th in the 200m breastroke and Ailsa Eshelby (12) who finished 10th in the 200m breastroke. To add to the excitement in the pool, there was a surprise visit from Britain’s most decorated female swimming Olympian Rebecca Adlington. She was on hand to share her experiences of growing up in the sport and took the opportunity to sign caps, tee shirts and have photo’s taken with a long line of swimmers. Next up to West Suffolk is the National Arena League competition, which sees the team travel to Peterborough this coming weekend.
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 18:35:14 +0000