Swimmers from Cleethorpes And
Scunthorpe Aquatics (CASA) have had a busy time in the pool recently. Competing
at the Yorkshire County Age Group Championships, held over a number of weekends
at the prestigious Ponds Forge Pool in Sheffield and John Charles Centre for
Sport in Leeds, 50 of the club’s younger swimmers tested their skills against
the best young talent the Yorkshire and Humberside region has to offer.
These Championships, for girls aged
9 to 13 and boys aged 9 to 14, brought 32 different swimming clubs together,
including all of the big cities in the region and over 700 swimmers obtained
the necessary qualifying times to compete. Last year CASA achieved third place
overall and these Championships were one of the first real tests of whether the
club could enjoy similar success under new Head Coach, Dan Higgon.
The CASA swimmers produced some
outstanding swims, along with a host of personnel best times and District
Qualifying Times. Out of a total of 503
individual swims, they were placed in 122 finals and achieved a staggering 51 individual
medals, including 16 Gold, 18 Silver and 18 Bronze.
These performances not only resulted
in the team holding on to its third place position but also saw the gap close
between CASA and the leading two clubs of City of Leeds and Borough of
Kirklees. Until the final weekend CASA were holding second place behind Leeds
but Kirklees showed more strength in depth for the sprints and relays to take
second place. CASA finished the Championships with 110 points, up from 82 last
year, despite three of the clubs top swimmers being absent at various stages
through illness and injury.
Other strong performances came from
Hull who improved their points haul from 29 last year to 57 this year and
Doncaster Dartes who made a big improvement with 102 points up from 39 last
year. The final positions of the top ten clubs were:
1.
City
of Leeds 304
points
2.
Borough
of Kirklees 150 points
3.
CASA 110 points
4.
Doncaster
Dartes 102 points
5.
City
of Sheffield 85 points
6.
Kingston
upon Hull 57 points
7.
York
City 40
points
8.
Harrogate 39
points
9.
City
of Wakefield 19 points
10.
City
of Rotherham 17 points
The first Gold medal of the
Championships came from 9yr old Sam Legge in the 200M Butterfly. Other Gold medals were won by Scott
Zimmerman – 9yrs 50M Butterfly, James Burke 11yrs 50M Backstroke, Thomas Paine
– 14yrs 400 Freestyle and 200 Butterfly, Leah Altoft - 13yrs 200 and 400M Individual Medley and 50MButterfly. Oliver Webster and Keiran Skinner took home
4 gold medals each, Oliver in the 11 yrs 200
and 400 Individual Medley, 200M Freestyle and 200 Butterfly, Keiran
medals gold’s came in the 12yrs 100 and 200M Butterfly, 100 Backstroke and 50M
Butterfly.
For Leah Altoft and Thomas Paine
there was the added success of achieving a National Qualifying Time. Leah in the 100M and 200M Breaststroke and
200M Individual medley, Thomas Paine in the 800 Freestyle. Thomas’s involvement in the County Champs
were abruptly cut short with a dislocated knee playing that ‘dangerous
sport football’!!. Although now back in the water he his hoping
to be back to full fitness in time for the forthcoming District Championships
Not content with individual success
CASA swimmers also produced the goods in the County Relays. 14 CASA teams swam in the finals, with a
Gold medal for the Girls 13yrs 200 Medley Team and a Silver for the Girls 13yrs
200M Freestyle team, along with four Bronze medals in the Boys 11yrs 200M Freestyle and Medley Teams along with the
Girls 12yrs 200 Medley Team and Boys 12yrs 200M Medley Team.
Swimmers were awarded ‘BAGCAT’
Points (British Age Group Categories) for their all round swimming performance,
10 CASA swimmers were place in the top ten for their respective age groups,
most notability Oliver Webster who came first in the 11yrs Boys age group, Sam
Legge with 2nd place in the 9 yrs Boys Age Group and Leah Altoft 3rd
place in the Girls 14yrs age group.
The swimmers are now busy training
for the District Age Group Championships which will be held over the first two
weekends in June at Ponds Forge complex in Sheffield.
Reflecting on the performances over
the Championships, Head Coach, Dan Higgon said “This was the first big
Championships that the club has been involved with since I started and I was
delighted that we did so well. It is inevitable that there will be some
disruption when there is a change in coach as not only does it take time for
the swimmers to get used to different coaching methods but it also takes the
coach time to get to know the swimmers. That we have improved on last years
showing during this transition bodes well for the future.”
A full list of Individual
medal winners can be found below:
|
Sam |
Legge |
9yrs |
200 |
Butterfly |
|
Scott |
Zimmerman |
9yrs |
50 |
Butterfly |
|
Oliver |
Webster |
11yrs |
200 |
Individual
Medley |
|
Oliver |
Webster |
11yrs |
200 |
Freestyle |
|
Oliver |
Webster |
11yrs |
400 |
Individual
Medley |
|
Oliver |
Webster |
11yrs |
200 |
Butterfly |
|
James |
Burke |
11yrs |
50 |
Backstroke |
|
Keiran |
Skinner |
12 yrs |
100 |
Butterfly |
|
Kieran |
Skinner |
12yrs |
200 |
Butterfly |
|
Keiran |
Skinner |
12yrs |
100 |
Backstroke |
|
Keiran |
Skinner |
12yrs |
50 |
Butterfly |
|
Leah |
Altoft |
13yrs |
200 |
Individual
Medley |
|
Leah |
Altoft |
13yrs |
400 |
Individual
Medley |
|
Leah |
Altoft |
13yrs |
50 |
Butterfly |
|
Thomas |
Paine |
14yrs |
400 |
Freestyle |
|
Thomas |
Paine |
14yrs |
200 |
Butterfly |
Silver Medals
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sam |
Legge |
9yrs |
200 |
Individual
Medley |
|
Sam |
Legge |
9yrs |
200 |
Freestyle |
|
Sam |
Legge |
9yrs |
50 |
Butterfly |
|
Oliver |
Webster |
11yrs |
200 |
Backstroke |
|
Oliver |
Webster |
11yrs |
200 |
Breaststroke |
|
James |
Burke |
11yrs |
50 |
Freestyle |
|
Callum |
Galdding |
12yrs |
100 |
Butterfly |
|
Callum |
Gladding |
12yrs |
400 |
Freestyle |
|
Keiran |
Skinner |
12yrs |
200 |
Backstroke |
|
Georgia |
Cragg |
12yrs |
1500 |
Freestyle |
|
Sophie |
Long |
13yrs |
800 |
Freestyle |
|
Leah |
Altoft |
13yrs |
200 |
Breaststroke |
|
Leah |
Altoft |
13yrs |
100 |
Breaststroke |
|
Sophie |
Long |
13yrs |
1500 |
Freestyle |
|
Leah |
Altoft |
13yrs |
50 |
Breaststroke |
|
Thomas |
Paine |
14yrs |
100 |
Butterfly |
|
Thomas |
Paine |
14yrs |
800 |
Freestyle |
|
Thomas |
Paine |
14yrs |
400 |
Individual
Medley |
Bronze Medals
|
|
|
|
|
|
James |
Burke |
11yrs |
200 |
Freestyle |
|
Caitlan |
Bower |
11yrs |
200 |
Breaststroke |
|
Maisie |
Legge |
11yrs |
400 |
Individual
Medley |
|
Caitlan |
Bower |
11yrs |
100 |
Breaststroke |
|
Caitlan |
Bower |
11yrs |
50 |
Breaststroke |
|
Oliver |
Webster |
11yrs |
50 |
Freestyle |
|
Keiran |
Skinner |
12yrs |
200 |
Indiviual
Medley |
|
Josh |
Jones |
12yrs |
800 |
Freestyle |
|
Kieran |
Skinner |
12yrs |
400 |
Individual
Medley |
|
Keiran |
Skinner |
12yrs |
50 |
Backstroke |
|
Leah |
Altoft |
13yrs |
200 |
Backstroke |
|
Leah |
Altoft |
13yrs |
800 |
Freestyle |
|
Leah |
Altoft |
13yrs |
50 |
Backstroke |
|
Thomas |
Paine |
14yrs |
200 |
Freestyle |
|
Thomas |
Paine |
14yrs |
200 |
Butterfly |
|
Thomas |
Paine |
14yrs |
200 |
Individual
Medley |
|
Thomas |
Paine |
14yrs |
100 |
Backstroke |
|
Thomas |
Paine |
14yrs |
1500 |
Freestyle |