City of Oxford ‘A and B Teams’ both competed in the third and final round of the south east regional Milton Keynes Junior League for swimmers aged 9 to 12, on the evening of Saturday 9 September 2017.
Competition was fierce for City of Oxford ‘A Team’ as they travelled to Guildford, having qualified for the final cut of the top six swimming clubs in the south east region.
Guildford Swimming Club stole the show but Oxford swimmers performed well with 27 Personal Best times and some great relay performances coming straight after the summer break. Pearl Sophistaphong played a key role winning both her individual races in the girls U10 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle. Her team mate Zara Porter claimed two well deserved 2nd places in the U10 50m breaststroke and 50m butterfly. Oxford’s other 2nd places went to Zofia Conway (U9 25m breaststroke). Rosie Hilton-Dew (U12 50m breaststroke) and finally Kayden Sillah U11, who swam an amazing 50m freestyle race just missing out on first place by a finger tip touch.
The ‘A Team’ were awarded a finalist cup on the evening to recognise their achievement and add to the trophy cabinet. All the swimmers gave their best and there was great support from Oxford Coaches, Team Managers and Parents.
City of Oxford ‘B Team’ meanwhile, hosted five other teams at home at Leys Pools and Leisure Centre. Drawn against Chesham, Newport Pagnel, Brompton, St Ives and Bicester Bluefins, Oxford ‘B Team’ put in some strong performances to bag a fifth place team finish.
The first individual win of the evening came in the boys 12-year-old 50m freestyle with Joseph Watkiss taking first place. Later on in the evening Joseph also cruised to victory winning the 12 year-old boys 50m backstroke. Ellen Bagley put in a first-class performance in the girls 12 year-old breaststroke, looking very strong from the outset she had an excellent swim taking first place. This was followed by another decisive victory for Thomas Johnson in the boys 11-year-old 50m breaststroke. The team’s fifth first place of the evening came in an exciting performance from the boys 9 year-old medley relay team (Edward Vennis, Dylan Palmer-Weight, Deniz Kocak and Samuel McDouall Saw).
Other notable and second place finishes came from the boys 9 year-old freestyle relay team (Dylan Palmer-Weight, Deniz Kocak, Edward Vennis and Samuel McDouall Saw), Erin Bannerman in the 9 year-old girls 25m freestyle, Ellen Bagley in the girls 12 year-old 50m butterfly, Neretva Spengler in the 9 year-old girls 25m breaststroke, Ella Joyce in the 11 year-old girls 50m freestyle, Sophie Litchfield in the girls 9 year-old 25m butterfly, Liva Barlow-Olsen in the girls 12 year-old 50m backstroke and finally the boys 11 year-old medley relay team (David Feng, Thomas Johnson, Arsham Abyaneh and Harry Jones) and the boys 12 year-old freestyle relay team (Joseph Watkiss, Thomas Sherwood, William Healey and Alfie Bone).
There were some great performances and excellent skills demonstrated from all of the team – well done to everyone!