Cheers and Tears as CASA Win Lincolnshire Junior League Click here for pictures

A twenty seven year domination of the Lincolnshire Junior Swimming League by teams from Lincoln was broken when Cleethorpes & Scunthorpe Aquatics (CASA) won the title on Saturday 13^th September at the Yarborough leisure centre in Lincoln. In the history of the competition from 1981 only two teams had previously won the title; City of Lincoln Pentaqua (1981 to 1985 and 1989 to 1997) and Lincoln Vulcans (1986 to 1988 and 1998 to 2007).

It was a night of extreme emotion and there was an electric atmosphere right from the start. Not only because CASA had a realistic chance of taking the crown from Lincoln Vulcans and breaking their ten year run of titles, but also because this was the last day that Cleethorpes Chief Coach, Nathan Hilton, would be at the club before taking up a new role in the West Midlands.

Six teams had reached the final; defending champions Lincoln Vulcans, CASA “A”, CASA “B”, Louth Dolphins, Lincoln Pentaqua and South Lincs. CASA “A” and Lincoln Vulcans had both recorded straight, big margin, wins in the previous two rounds and this was, in effect, a direct head to head competition between the two teams for the title. Lincoln Vulcans have dominated the Lincolnshire swimming scene for a long time and are one of the top clubs in the country but year on year CASA have been bridging the gap and came a close second last year. Could CASA go one better this year?

The CASA swimmers were determined to do their utmost to win the title and say goodbye to their Coach in the best possible way. Added to this, the massed ranks of parents and supporters, complete with CASA flags, were out in force and seemed to fill three quarters of the spectator area and make 90% of the noise. This combination led to a highly charged sense of anticipation and the gala certainly didn’t disappoint.

The tension in the air was high as the first event, the girls 12/u medley relay, got underway. In a pattern that was to be repeated many times during the night Vulcans and CASA “A” soon led the rest of the field and in a very tight race Vulcans just touched first. The CASA twelve years and under boys medley team hit back straight away though by winning the next race. With Louth in second place and Vulcans in third CASA “A” now had their noses in front by one point.

The next five races (Girls 9yrs front crawl relay, boys 9 years front crawl relay, girls 10 yrs medley relay, boy s 10 yrs medley relay and girls 11 yrs front crawl relay) were all won by Vulcans and they built up a six point lead. Were they going to be too strong for CASA?

In the next race the CASA “A” 11/U boys front crawl relay team came back in style by winning their race and with Vulcans finishing fourth the gap was back down again to three points.

Vulcans won three of the next five races but CASA “A” consistently came second and this limited the points gap to keep the leaders in sight. The next race, the boys 11 yrs/u 50m backstroke, proved to be significant being won by Callum Gladding of CASA “A” with the Vulcan’s swimmer coming in sixth place. This five point difference meant Vulcans led by a single point after fourteen of the night’s forty nine events.

Vulcans won three of the next five events but once again had a sixth place meaning the gap stayed at one point. In the next event, the boys 10 yrs 50m backstroke, Charlie Spencer of CASA “A” dominated his race and came home more than three seconds ahead of the rest of the field to win. This put CASA “A” one point ahead of Vulcans after twenty events. From this point on CASA never looked back and never relinquished the lead.

Vulcans went on to win a further 13 races against CASA’s 9 but CASA proved to be the more consistent and held the lead right through to the end of the gala eventually winning by ten points with 245 points to Vulcans 235 points to take the crown.

The venue erupted with the CASA swimmers, parents and coaching staff all celebrating a famous victory. Soon afterwards Nathan was “encouraged” to enter the water in traditional style by Scunthorpe Head Coach Dave Leeman and was soon followed by most of the CASA swimmers. Eventually order was restored enough for the presentation to be given but it was a bitter sweet moment for all concerned as the joy of the win was mixed with an outpouring of tears and emotion as the swimmers said goodbye to a Coach that had played a major part in their young lives and in many cases had coached them from the age of six or seven. Nathan then overcame his fear of heights and clambered to the high board to do his Tom Daley impression.

After he had calmed down, Nathan said “I knew we would give Vulcans a run for their money tonight and we had a chance of winning but in reality I thought we might just miss out this year. For this to happen on my last day is amazing and in all my years of swimming and coaching I have never witnessed an atmosphere at a gala like tonight.”

Chairman Mike Hart said “When we appointed Nathan six years ago we knew that he would improve the club but never dreamed that we would achieve the level of success we have. To have beaten Lincoln Vulcans on his last night is incredible and couldn’t have been scripted better. The partnership between CADS and Scunthorpe Anchor is working really well and is giving all our swimmers the chance of competing at the highest level. To have two CASA teams in the final shows how strong CASA has become.”

Lincoln Vulcans were magnanimous in defeat congratulating CASA on their win, commenting on the electric atmosphere during the gala and praising the fantastic support that CASA enjoyed during the night. They wished the team well for the Northern Final.

CASA will now take part in the Northern Final which will be held in Liverpool on the 5^th October and if they finish in the top four places will go on to compete in the National Finals in November at the same venue. CASA are appealing for help in sponsoring the transport to Liverpool – if anyone can help please contact Chairman Mike Hart as detailed below.

Final results:

1^st CASA “A” 245 points

2^nd Lincoln Vulcans 235 points

3^rd City of Lincoln Pentaqua 164 points

4^th Louth Dolphins 136 points

5^th South Lincs 124 points

6^th CASA “B” 121 points

CASA winners on the night were:

· Boys 12 yrs/u 4 x 25m medley relay team

· Boys 11 yrs/u 4 x 25m front crawl relay team

· Boys 11 yrs/u 50m backstroke – Callum Gladding

· Boys 10 years 50m backstroke – Charlie Spencer

· Boys 11 yrs/u 50m butterfly - Callum Gladding

· Boys 9yrs 25m backstroke - Sam Legge

· Boys 11 yrs/u 50m freestyle - Oliver Webster

· Girls 9 yrs 25m butterfly - Niamh Legge

· Girls 11 yrs/u 50m breaststroke - Caitlin Bower

· Boys 11 yrs/u 50m breaststroke - Josh Jones

· Boys 12 yrs/u 50m backstroke - Kieran Skinner

· Girls 9ys 4 x 25m medley relay team

· Boys 11 yrs/u 4 x 25m medley relay team