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JOHNNY SPARKLES AT BARNET
Killerwhales Johnny Congdon took top honours at Barnett Copthall.

Rising Star Johnny Congdon took top honours for the Killerwhales at the Barnet Copthall Middle Distance Meeting on Saturday the 6^th November. Despite being the day after bonfire night the Killerwhales showed they had plenty of sparkle left and swam brilliantly across the squad.

13 year old Johnny powered his way to a gold medal in the 400m freestyle and repeated the performance winning the 200 medley by half a length. The long wait until the final event of the evening took its toll and Johnny was beaten into silver in the 400 medley but still managed to pick up his qualifying time for the Essex Championships to be held later in the season.

Also among the boys 12 year old Lewis Clifford Stephenson dominated the 400 freestyle winning Gold by a massive 12 second margin before being pipped into silver in the medley at the same distance. Lee Parker also showed well in the same event grabbing 5^th.

For the girls Jodie Momodu picked up her customary Gold medal, this time in the 400 medley. After a strong first 100 in the fly Jodie trailed in the backstroke leg to a Barnet swimmer. Turning hard into her favoured breaststroke Jodie faced a 15m deficit but kicked on after her rival from the home club. By 250 metres she had drawn level and pulled away to lead by 10 metres going into the final free style section. To the cheers of the Killerwhales fans Jodie dug in and finished well clear of the field to claim her win.

Katie Miles won the battle of the 13 year old girls taking bronze in the two 400 metre events just ahead of team mates Kalei Andrews and Katinka Merchan, who both recorded top six finishes. This was just reward for the solid training Katie has been putting in of late and her smile following her final race told it all. Kalei turned the tables in the 200 medley also picking up a bronze.

There were some solid performances from the rest of the Killerwhales with personal best times being slashed across the squad. 13 year old Charles Wood posted some creditable times swimming in his first Gala and 11 year old Tom Skingsley chopped an amazing 45 seconds off his personal best time in the 400 freestyle.