Swimmers from the Kingston Upon Hull Swimming Club returned to the pool after the summer break. The first gala of the new swim year was the 5th Hull and District gala at Ennerdale Pool where Hull had representatives from all of their squads swimming.

This gala was special for one swimmer, 14-year-old National Development swimmer Eva Kirkwood. This was Eva's last Hull and District gala before Eva and her family emigrate to Melbourne in Australia. Eva who has been at the club from a very young age went out in style. Sshe took her first ever gold medals at the Hull and Districts in the 200m backstroke in a time of 2.47.50, four seconds in front of the second place finisher. Eva backed this up with a great swim in the 100m breaststroke also taking first place in a time of 1.29.8.

Regional Development

Regional Development swimmer also produced some encouraging swims. 13 year old Emma Beadle continued to improve her times knocks 12 seconds off her 200m-backstroke entry time. Training partner Dale Ferriby looked to be returning to form knocking 3 second off his 100m-breaststroke time, Jess Kelsey also had an impressive swim knocking 7 seconds off her breaststroke time as well. It was down to senior swimmers James Rodmell to claim the squads gold medal remarkably taking a gold medal in his least favourite event 200m breaststroke.

Age 1 Squad

Age group 1 swimmers got the new season off to a good start with trophies medals and PB's. 12 years old Emily bailey and Lauren Hall battled it out for gold in the 200 free coming in a dead heat in a time of 2.30.68 claiming joint first place. In the 100m backstroke Emily got a PB to claim the gold in a time of 1.16.78 with Laurens PB gaining her the silver medal in a time of 1.19.37

In the 11 year old age group Hannah Falkinder claimed gold in both the 200m freestyle and 100m backstroke gaining PB's in both races. While Hannah Willingham took the 5th place medal in the 200m free and her PB in the 100m backstroke got her the 4th place medal. 10-year-old Leoni Bull hit her time from before the summer to claim the 4th place medal in the 100m freestyle.

In the 10 year old boy’s, Ben Chapman gave a great effort and came 3rd in the 100m free in a time of 1:23.59. Jack Woodcock also had a great swim and got a time of 1:24.95, giving him a 3 second PB. Ben also achieved 2nd place in the 200IM in a time of 3:27.82.

For the 11 year age group Nathan Greenwood achieved 3rd place in both the 200 free and 100 back. He got a 3 second PB in the back in a time of 1:29.09. Bailey Hairsine got two firsts and got the overall cups in both of these events. Bailey got a 2 second PB in the back in a time of 1:22.78.

The 13 year boy’s kept up the momentum and Aram Sharp was joint 3rd in the 200 back in a time of 2:42.55 and he got a 9 second PB in the 100m breast in a time of 1:34.71. Jo Morris came 2nd in the 100m breast in a time of 1:29.93 and in the 200 back he got a time of 2:50.29.

Age 2 Squad

On returning from the summer break Age 2 swimmers pick up where they left off with Medals and PB galore.

The 9 year olds girls got the ball rolling with Aleah Ross winning Gold in the 25m free, with a time of 16.59, taking 3 seconds off her pb. Kennedy Akrill and Emily Sydell came 3rd and 5th respectively. The boys kept the ball rolling with Lewis Collins taking silver and knocking 3 seconds off his PB while Samuel Bailey broke the 19-second barrier

The PB's kept coming in, the girls 100m freestyle Francesca Cone improved by 15 secs, Emily Tate by 3 secs, Alex Millington by 4 secs, Emma Newmarch by 7 secs, whilst the Boys put in a sterling performance with Matthew. Longhorn taking 4th in 1:24.07 and Luke Taylor at 1:28.01 achieved a PB by some 4 Secs

Laura Bailes added to the success by achieving a 5 sec PB improvement in the 200m freestyle, whilst in the 9 yrs 200 IM Aleah Ross achieved her Yorkshire time and a PB of 3:32.36 winning Gold and Kennedy Akrill won Bronze in 3:46.26 a PB by some 11 secs, this was followed by PB's for Emily Tate 4 secs and Francesca Cone a wonderful 22 secs

Luke Taylor achieved his second PB of the meet in the 200 IM beating his previous best by 9 secs. Overall a great performance by all and sets the challenge going forwards.

Age 3 Squad

What a great start to the Hull & District gala with both the new girls to age group 3 starting off in the girls 9yrs 25m freestyle Megan Batterbee and Aimee Naylor both swam really well finishing 7th & 8th respectively, with times of 19.80 for Megan and 19.89 for Aimee. In the same race Molly Marritt finished 9th earning herself a new pb in a time of 20:66

In the girls 10yrs 100m freestyle Emily Wilkinson and Natasha Clark both swam really well and both gained new PBS in times of 1:42.33 for Emily and 1:46.97 for Natasha. In the boys 10yrs 100m freestyle Michael Anderson swam really well in a hard fought race earning himself a new time of 1:47.16