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KILLERWHALES TALK OF THE TOWN
Killerwhales edge out local rivals in a nail biter. Division 2 Round 1.

Killerwhales Swim Club of Havering went head-to-head with local rivals Romford Town SC and Becontree Bees at round one of Essex ASA Division Two League Gala at Runneymede Pool, Thundersley on Saturday 19^th November. Trailing going into the final session of races the Killerwhales swimmers showed deep resolve to claim a momentous victory by 6 points over second placed Romford in the 5 strong field. The key to Killerwhales success was in the relay events of which they won 10 out of 17 races, this was backed up by some strong individual performances with every swimmer contributing points to the total. Nobody epitomised Killerwhales spirit more than Lauren Rouffe who swam aggressively throughout the night taking first place in her individual 100m freestyle and also winning each of her relay events.

In the Open Section (16yrs and over) Lauren Andrews got the club’s first victory of the evening in the 50m butterfly, boys vice captain David Haynes took a very creditable 3^rd place. Imperious Kirsty Forbes took the field apart in the 100m backstroke to coast home seven second ahead of the second placed Runneymede swimmer. Dean Smith was also first in the boys 100m back winning by 1.5 seconds ahead of his old club Becontree Bees SC. Henny Andrews was courageous in her 100m breaststroke giving absolutely everything to finish third. Boys Captain Dan Hime took the honours in the men’s 100m breaststroke ahead of the man for Basildon SC. Girls Captain, Laura Andrews swam fluently to take the Ladies 100m freestyle by two seconds whilst Ben Clifford-Stephenson was just touched into fourth place. In the Ladies 4 x 1 length medley relay the quartet of Forbes (back), Andrews sisters Henny (breast) and Laura (free) and Lauren Andrews were dominant throughout to win by 3 clear seconds. In the Men’s event the lads Smith (back), Hime (breast), Haynes (fly) and C-Stephenson (free) finished a good length clear of second place. In the 4 x 50m freestyle, Lauren Rouffe replaced the ailing Henny Andrews, she set the early pace to hand on to Lauren Andrews then to Laura Andrews who gave Kirsty Forbes the privileged task of cruising home to win by nearly five seconds ahead of Runneymede. The boys quartet of Smith, C-Stephenson, Haynes and Hime were just as dominant beating second placed Romford by nearly two seconds.

The under 15 girls and boys quartets were just as dominant as there senior team-mates. The quartet of Katinka Merchan (backstroke), Ellen Scott (breaststroke), Robyn Beadel (butterfly) and Lauren Rouffe (freestyle) were clear winners over Town by over 3 seconds in the 4 x 50m relay. The team of Dan Bleach (back), Tom Bircham (breast), and Johnny Congdon (fly) were brought home by the busy Dean Smith (free) in a similar winning margin as the girls over Town. The freestyle relays were as impressive, the boys in the same race order were up against a good Becontree quartet, at the first change the Bees had the advantage with Whales and Town battling for second, When Bircham hit the water he had one goal, catch Becontree, a very powerful freestyle saw him pull away from the Town swimmer and give Congdon a real chance to stay on the Bees heels, a well paced 50 m saw Smith hit the water a second behind his ex-Becontree team-mate, his knowledge of the other swimmers ability saw him cruise through at the final turn to win by a  2 seconds. Arguably the performance of the night came from Rouffe on the anchor leg of the girls 4 x 50m freestyle, gutsy swims by Scott, Beadel and then Merchan saw Whales in second spot to Town by nearly three lengths at the final change-over. Rouffe leapt from the blocks and hit the water like a torpedo launched from a swordfish plane, she obviously had a point to prove to her ex-team-mates at Romford. At the 25m turn a great tumble and superb kick saw her surface on the heels of the Town girl one lane outside her. With all her might she pulled and kicked to draw level with 10m left, the Town girl must have sensed Rouffe coming but as hard as she tried there was no denying Killerwhales victory as they came home half a second in front to the delight of the Whales supporters. Rouffe had earlier also won the individual 100m freestyle, Merchan was extremely impressive winner of the 100m backstroke, Beadel was just pipped to first place in the 50m butterfly and Scott was also second in the 100m breaststroke. In the individual events for the boys Bircham and Smith were second in the breast and free, whilst Congdon (fly) and Bleach (back) were third.

In the girls under 13 Georgia Shaw won the 50m freestyle in impressive style, Molly Scott took a fine second place in the 50m breaststroke race, Jodie Momodu was a very respectable 3^rd in her 50m butterfly and Heather Wilson was all smiles when she attained her Essex age group qualifying time when finishing 4^th in the 50m backstroke. The girls combined well in the 4 x 50m medley relay to finish in a superb second place. They couldn’t quite match their medley form in the 4 x 50m freestyle relay, a gallant effort by all saw them come up just short of third to finish in 4^th place. The boys under 13’s quartet of Lewis Clifford-Stephenson, Lawrence Greenway, Toby Andrews and Tom Webb were just second to an equally impressive Romford Town team in the 4 x 50m freestyle relay. The lads however turned the table in the 4 x 50m medley relay when Andrews (backstroke), C-Stephenson (breast) and Greenway (fly) gave Webb on the final freestyle leg a lead which he held onto for two lengths to win by 3 clear second. C-Stephenson was triumphant in his individual 50m breaststroke, Andrews, Webb and Greenway all swam well in their individual races each taking third place.

In the youngest age group the under 11years most of the swimmers were competing in their first gala, each performed very well especially in such an intense atmosphere of the constricted pool. In the first race of the night, the girls 1 length freestyle relay Cassie Beadel, Sophie Doyle, Rosie Baynes and Katie Butler all tried their hardest and their efforts were rewarded with a fine third place. The boys followed next, Aiden Robinson, Sean Houlihan, Jake Jobson and George Crow battled all the way with Basildon and Romford constantly swapping places for third, fourth and fifth, a gallant effort on the final leg saw them touched out for third by Basildon for fourth place. The four girls combined again in the Medley Relay, Katie lead off on the back stroke handing to Cassie on the breaststroke, Sophie was next in for the butterfly leg and then Rosie brought the girls home again in third place. The boys were unfortunately disqualified in their effort to secure third spot. In the individual races Katie showed good form throughout the 50m backstroke to finish in second place. Cassie ran out of steam at the end of the 50m breaststroke to finish fourth. Both Rosie and Sophie were up against some good swimmers from the other clubs and were just touch out into 5^th place in their respective 50m freestyle and 1 length butterfly races. In the boys races Sean had the hard task of swimming 1 length butterfly as he tired towards the end his arms erred and his was unfortunately disqualified. Jake was unlucky in the breaststroke, a strong surge at the end wasn’t quite enough to grab fourth place being beaten by only 2 tenths of second. After a promising start in the 50m backstroke a slow turn dropped George to fifth place from where he could not recover enough ground before the end. Aiden in the boys 50m freestyle held his own down the first leg with 3 other swimmers as the boy from Runneymede sped off, a struggle to execute the turn gave the other 3 enough of an advantage to keep Aiden in fifth place.

As always the final event of these galas is the 8 x 1 length squadron relay where a girl and boy from each age group compete in a crescendo of splashing to a backdrop a fervent support. Runneymede made all of the headway with the boys leading off and setting a clear lead in the early changeovers. Sophie Doyle on the lead off managed to keep good pace with the other teams handing to George Crow in equal third place, George kept pace with third until the final few metres handing to Georgia Shaw in fourth, Georgia battled back slightly for Lewis Clifford-Stephenson to take 3^rd and give Lauren Rouffe sight of second, a powerful leg provided Dean Smith with the impetus to cement second and chase first, he handed to Kirsty Forbes who although against the man from Runneymede did not allow him to lengthen the lead. The last leg girl from Runneymede enter 2 lengths ahead of Dan Hime who leapt from the blocks to take 3 meters out by halfway and then drawing level with 5m left, powered past to take the team home in first place by nearly half a second clear. Wow.

Well done to all Killerwhales swimmers each contributed valuable points to secure overall victory by six points.

Final Positions