The 3rd Hull & District of 2010 was held at Ennerdale Leisure Centre on the 11th July 2010.

With most of the clubs swimmers swimming in their last gala before the summer brake they, might have been excused for not being focused on the gala but this was not the case. All the swimmers where outstanding which is testament to the outstanding coaching set up that the club has assembled under the guidance of head coach Pete Richardson. The National Performance squad will bring the curtain down in early August at the British National Championships on the best season the club has had for many years.

Age 1 Squad

The Hull and District 50m sprint gala at Ennerdale got off to a great start with the age group 1 swimmers battling for places. Bailey Hairsine got two gold medals for the 50m fly in a time of 36.17 and the 50m back in 39.12. Nathan Greenwood won two gold medals in the 50m breast in a time of 42.17 and in the 50m freestyle in a time of 32.23. Joe Morris kept up the great work for Kingston and won silver in the 50m breast in a time of 41.66 and two 3rds in the 50m back, 36.20 and 50m free in 31.97.

Hannah Falkinder won all 4 gold’s in her four 50m races for 11 year olds and Emily Bailey won 4 silvers from her four races in 12 years old age group. Amy Beadle won 3 gold’s in free, back and fly and won bronze in 50m breast in 12 years old age group. Hannah Willingham won silver in 50m breast with a 4 sec pb in a time of 44.52 in the 11 years old age group.

Dervla Curran won gold in 50m back in a time of 37.01; she also won silver in the 50m fly and 50m breast and a bronze in 50m free in 13 years age group. Eva Kirkwood won Gold in 50m breast, silver in 50m back, joint silver in 50m free and bronze in 50m fly in 14 years.

Mia Larkin won Silver in 50m free and bronze in 50m back in 14 years Whitney Larkin swimming in 13 years old age group also did well. Whitney took gold in both 50m free and 50m breast. She also won a silver in 50m fly and got a 1 sec pb in her 50m back coming 4th.

Age 2 Squad

9 year olds Kennedy Akrill and Luke Taylor have a fantastic day for the age group 2 squad at the Hull and District 50m sprints gala.

Kennedy managed to claim Three medals getting the gold in her 50m butterfly by knocking 8 seconds of her time to come in at 46.98, Kennedy got 2 bronze medals in the breaststroke and freestyle managing pb’s in both races. Kennedys fantastic swims gave her all five of her Yorkshire times. Luke managed to claim 3 medals in the 10years category his best achievement been a huge 20 seconds of his butterfly to get a time of 46.49 this gained him the bronze medal.

Luke got pb’s in his other 2 races to claim the 4th place medal in the backstroke and 6th place medal in the freestyle.

9 year olds Lewis Collins and Aleah Ross both scooped gold medals; Lewis got the gold in the backstroke and silver in the freestyle, while Aleah got gold in the freestyle and silver medals in the backstroke and breaststroke.

10 year old Ben Chapman had a great day managing to claim 2 gold medals and a silver, he got his gold’s for backstroke and butterfly and his silver for freestyle. Jack Woodcock’s pb in the freestyle gained him the 4th place medal. Lewis Masters pb gained him the 6th place medal in the butterfly. 11-year-old Alistair Clougher claimed the 6th place medal in the 11years Butterfly.

10 years Old Melissa Machin had a good day winning 3 medals her pb in the butterfly race gained her the 4th place medal, she got the 4th place freestyle medal with another pb Melissa also claimed the 6th place medal in backstroke. Emily Tate managed to produce two pb’s one in the butterfly and one in the freestyle. Amy Greenacre continued the pb’s knocking time of her freestyle. 11year old Abigail Malton had a good day managing to get three pb’s in freestyle, backstroke and butterfly, Abigail’s efforts brought her close to her age 1 rivals. Jessica Mowthorpe managed 2 pb’s in breaststroke and Butterfly. With Laura Bailes putting in four good swims.

The H&D gala also gave a great opportunity for the Age 3 swimmers to further the great improvements that they have been making over the last couple of months. All the swimmers on the day did a fantastic job and there were plenty of pb's.

Age 3 Squad

To start the day, Maddie Tait, 9 yrs, swam a brilliant race in the 50m Breaststroke gaining a 10 sec pb and a 6th place medal. Natasha Clark gained a pb in the 10 yr old group, and Frances Tait raced to a 7 second pb. Emily Wilkinson also swam well in the 10 yr age group.

The 9 yr boys had a great race as well; Samuel Bailey earned himself a silver medal, and Matthew Dixon the bronze and Gabriel Larkin 6th place, with all the boys improving or gaining pb's.

The 50m Freestyle was up next, Maddie won a 5th place medal, and in the 11 yr group, Ellie Windas got a new pb. For the boys, Samuel also got a new pb and a 4th place medal.

In the 50m backstroke, Hannah Bird, 9 yrs raced to a new pb and a 5th place medal, with Molly Marritt coming in at 7th place. Heather Harrison in the 10 yr group gained a new pb. Samuel continued his fantastic swimming streak with a 7 second pb, in a Yorkshire time of 47.56 sec, gaining a silver medal. Matthew came in with a 5th place medal.

The 50m Butterfly wrapped up a great day for age 3 swimmers, with Heather swimming in the event for the first time and had a great swim. Samuel and Matthew were also swimming in the event for the first time and gained a bronze and 4th place medal respectively.

Regional Development

Seven swimmers from the Regional Development Squad attended this gala, a reduced number of individuals due to GCSE pressures for some of the older members and therefore missed training sessions.

In the boy’s events James Rodmell, Dale Booth, Liam Webster and Ben Annis all rounded of a successful season and all swam well and between them took home three medals and a number of personal best times. The highlights included silver and a bronze medal for James in the 50m freestyle in a time of 26.34sec and 50m breaststroke respectively, silver for Dale in the 50m butterfly in a time of 28.41sec and improvements in all three of Ben’s submitted times with a huge 4 and a half seconds off his 50m fly time.

The girls also finished the season on a high note and were represented by Eleanor Johnstone, Emma Beadle and Zoe Webster and each swimmer achieved two improved times, Eleanor and Zoe in the 50m breaststroke and 50m backstroke, and Emma in the 50m breaststroke and 50m butterfly, in which event she narrowly missed out on the bronze medal. The girls swam particularly well in the 50m breaststroke, swimming in adjacent lanes and this good natured competition ensured that just over a second separated them at the finish and all three achieved improvements on their submitted times.

The biggest cheer of the day went to coaches Mike Dervey, Tom Rhodes and Nick Mills who dusted of their Speedos to swim in the gala and raise much needed fund for the Hull club. All three swimmers showed the kids just how it is done with some good swims.