Kingston Upon Hull Swimming Club held its annual Open Meet at the weekend. The gala saw teams from Scarborough, Beverley, South Holderness, Leeds and a large entry for Cleethorpes and district, these clubs along with 11 others club provided Hulls top swimmer the chance to compete against the top swimmers in the area.

Eighteen-year-old National swimmer Jack Harrison was in outstanding form and was the stand out swimmer at the open meet. Jack collected a staggering four gold medals and two second place finishes. Jack won the 200m butterfly in a time of 2.14.51 along with the 100 fly 1.00.91, 100 breaststroke 1.09.94 and the 100 backstroke in a time of 1.00.62. It came as no surprise that Jack took the top open boy award at the meet. His training partners Matty Sleight and Meric Inan pushed Jack all the way, with Matty swimming an astonishing 1.56 for his 200m freestyle swim and Meric weighing in with some eye-catching swims especially in the backstroke.

National Squad

National report to follow..

Regional Development Squad

The regional development squad was well represented, with all the squad attending the gala. 21 year old Adam Winder produced a number of eye catching swims especially in the 100m and 50m freestyle, Adam took gold in both events swimming a time of 24.27 in the 50m swim and clocked a time of 53.11 in the 100m race, Adam also backed this up with a gold in the 50m butterfly and a silver in the 100m fly. James Rodmell who competed in 7 events over the two day meet, collected 7 top three finishes, his best swims came in the 100m and 200m freestyle events where he lowered his personal best times in the 200m to 2.04.63 and swam a time of 57.02 in the 100m event. Dale Booth and Tom Clark were also among the medals with Tom bagging gold's in the 50m breaststroke in a time of 33.81 and also the 50m backstroke in a time 30.28. Dale also walked away with a fistful of medals collecting silver medals in the 50m breaststroke and 50m butterfly in a time of 28.78 seconds, 50m backstroke and 200m-freestyle events.

The medal haul was completed by Vieri Thonet and Danny Brown. Vieri had 3 top three finishes with his best been in the 50m and 100m freestyle events. The squad as a whole managed to gain around 23 Yorkshire Qualifying time in what was a very successful meet for them. Top swimmers from the girls came in the shape of Emily Wright who collected gold in the 100m backstroke and the 50m freestyle event and it was nice to see Emily Winter take a gold medal in the 50m-breaststroke event.

Age 3 Squad

Age group 3 also had a large entry at the gala, and there were plenty of PB's achieved. The stand out performer was Matthew Dixon, 9 years, who gained two Yorkshire qualifying times, the 50m free earning 6th place, and in the 50m backstroke, gaining 4th place. Matthew also swam well in the 50m breast obtaining a 4 second PB.

In the 10 year age groups, Frances Tait managed to knock a fantastic 10 seconds off her 100m breaststroke time, and 5 seconds off her 50m backstroke. Not to be outdone was Heather Harrison gaining 4 PB's, including a brilliant 28 seconds off her 200m breast. Kila Caprani continued with PB's, knocking 3 seconds off her 100m freestyle. Natasha Clark was competing in her races for the first time, swimming strongly in all her events.

For the 9-year-old boys was Gabriel Larkin, earning 2 PB's, including 5 seconds off his 50m-breaststroke time. Callum Wright also competed in certain events for the first time and put in a great performance. The 9 year old girls were also in good form, Emily Wilkinson gained a 3 second PB for her 50m breaststroke, Maddie Tait had really good swims in her two events that she had not previously competed in, getting close to her Yorkshire times. Hannah Bird and Molly Marritt had a great weekend as well, Hannah gained 8th place in the 50m back, with a 4 second PB. Molly got a PB in the 50m free.

Age 2 Squad

Age group 2 swimmer Aleah Ross swam her way to five medals, she claimed the bronze medal in the 50m free, she then went on to claim the 4th place medals in the 50m backstroke, 50m Butterfly and 100m individual medley. Aleah finished her medal rush with a 5th place medal in the 50m breaststroke. To top a great weekend of swimming off, Aleah managed to gain all her 9year Yorkshire qualifying times. Lewis Collins put in some great swims to claim 4 medals over the weekend. Lewis got two 4th place medals in the 50m breaststroke and 100m individual medley and two 5th place medals in the 50m free and 50m backstroke. Lewis's efforts gained him 3 Yorkshire qualifying times. Emily Sydall managed to claim 3 medals and a Yorkshire qualifying time. Emily knocked 11 seconds off her 50m freestyle to get the 6th place medal also getting the 6th place medal in 50m butterfly, she picked up a 5th place medal and her Yorkshire qualifying time in the 50m backstroke. 10-year-old Ben Chapman claimed the bronze medal in the 10/11 years 50m backstroke and his Yorkshire qualifying time Ben also swam his way to his 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle Yorkshire qualifying time.

Age 1 Squad

Age group 1 swimmer also rose to the challenge of a big event with Hannah Falkinder taking 1st place in the 200m IM in a time of 2:46.35 and also the 200m freestyle event. Eleven year old Shannon McGahey took home a couple of gold medals in the 100m freestyle event in a time of 1.09.25 and also improved her personal best in the 100m butterfly and took the gold in a time of 1.18.20 seconds. The first place finishes did not stop there for the age group1 swimmers. Emily Bailey (11) took both the 100m breaststroke and the 200m backstroke events. Mia Larkin took both the fly event with the best been the swim in the 100m butterfly where she clocked a time of 1.25.92, and was the top girl in the 14/15 years age group over the weekend. Will Thompson and Bailey Hairsine complete the gold medal haul for the Hull club. The girl's 50m breaststroke saw Eva Kirkwood getting 2nd place in a time of 40.85 and Dervla Curran 3rd place in a time of 42.04. Dervla swam even better in the 50m butterfly where she took gold in a time of 35.34. Will Dennis came in 2nd place in the 50m backstroke in a time of 34.81.

Thirteen-year-old Oche Igoche was the stand out swimmer from the age group 1 squad, Oche collected 3 gold medals in the 50/100 and 200 freestyle and also silver medals in the 200im and 50 breaststroke events.

Age group 1 boys saw Nathan Greenwood taking 1st in the 50 and also in the100m breaststroke in a time of 1:30.82. In the same event, Joe Morris kept up the good work coming 3rd in the 12/13 years in a time of 1:30.30. The 200m freestyle saw Daniel Stone swim into 1st place in a time of 2:32.03. Training partner Rhys Dodds also took a gold in the 11/12 Year's 200im event.

If anyone is interested, we have also received a small report as written by the Beverley Barracuda squad who competed in the Meet. You can view the report by clicking here.