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A MARVELLOUS PERFORMANCE BY KILLERWHALES NOVICES SAW THE CLUB HOME IN SECOND PLACE.

Killerwhales novices were in astounding form at Bishop Stortford SC Bonne Sante Challenge on Saturday evening. In the team event for 9, 10, 11, 12 year age groups they finished second behind the hosts A Team with Harlow Penguins in 3^rd. With the competition being time banded the final result would have been even better as the young squad had seven disqualifications for swimming ‘Too Fast’.

In the nine year old section the girls Medley team of Grace Day (back), Mikaela Kennedy (fly), Emma Parker (breast) and Amy Carthy (front crawl) come home in a fine second place. The same quartet combined to come home again in second place in the 4 x 1 length freestyle relay. The boys Connor Kearns (back), Gareth Pownall (fly), Billy Pounds (breast) and Charlie Fox (front crawl) came home in third but was later disqualified. Daniel Robinson combined with Kearns, Pownall and Fox to take 3^rd in the 4 x 1 freestyle relay.

The 10 year old girls were in sparkling form, Olivia Stratford (50m free), Danielle Rooke (50m breast) and Cassie Beadel (50m back) were all time-faulted for being too fast. Danielle Rooke faired better in the 50m butterfly finishing in a deserved 1^st place. Aiden Robinson repeated the feat for the boys in the same 50m fly event finishing 1^st as did Alex Merchan who same in the 50m backstroke, Michael Sanchez took 3^rd place in the 50m freestyle and Joe Sparks like a few of his team-mates was time faulted for being too fast in the 50m Breaststroke. The girls 4 x 1 length  medley relay were brought home in first place by Olivia Stratford after Mikaela Kennedy (back), Danielle Rooke (fly) and Cassie Beadel (breast) had all swam well. The same four combined in the 4 x 1 length freestyle relay with Beadel bringing them home victorious again. The of boys freestyle relay quartet of Joe Sparks, Michael Sanchez, Alex Merchan and Aiden Robinson sped home to 1^st place. The same four had competed earlier in the 4 x 1 length medley when Merchan (back), Robinson (fly), Sparks (breast) and Sanchez were just pipped to 1^st place and settled for second.

The 11year olds also gave a good account of themselves. Demi Smith and Sean Houlihan were both time faulted for being too quick in their respective 50m breaststroke races. Houlihan faired better in the 50m butterfly where on this occasion he was within the time and took 1^st place. Jack Carter showed good potential in his 50m freestyle event where he took 1^st place. Daniel Laffey showed good technique to claim 2^nd in the 50m backstroke. The same lads combined in both the 4 x 1 length medley and freestyle relays. In the former race Laffey (back), Houlihan (fly), Robinson (breast) and Carter (front-crawl) came home in 3 place, a feat they repeated later in the freestyle relay. The girls relay quartet  of Rosie Baines (back), Annabelle Jolly (fly), Demi Smith (breast) and Katie Butler (free) could not quite emulate the boys and had to settle for 4^th place in the medley relay and latter on in the 4 x 1 length freestyle relay. Annabelle Jolly went on to have a fine individual swim taking second in the 50m butterfly. Rosie Baines and Katie Butler both swam strongly in the respective 50m backstroke and freestyle races, both coming home in 3^rd place.

The 12 year olds kept up the quality of swimming shown by the youngsters. Tom Skingsley was timed as too quick in both the 50m backstroke and butterfly. His team-mates Lawrence Halsey (50m freestyle) and Sam Sparks (50m breaststroke) were as impressive in their events but finished within the time banding picking up some vital points with a 2^nd and 3^rd place respectively. The 3 were joined by Sean Houlihan for the relays, in the 4 x 1 length medley Houlihan (back), Skingsley (fly), Sparks (breast) and Halsey (front-crawl) were just beaten to second place by Bishop Stortford B squad. The lads however got revenge by piping the same team to second place in the 4x1 length freestyle relay. Sophie Congdon swam to a great second place in the 50m freestyle. Danielle Butterworth finished 3^rd in her 50m backstroke, as did Alison Congdon in the 50m breaststroke and Georgia Beadel in the 50m butterfly. The four remained consistent in the two relays were Danielle Butterworth (backstroke), Georgia Beadel (fly), Alison Congdon (breast) and twin sister Sophie (front-crawl) finished 3^rd in the medley and also 3^rd in the freestyle relay.

The final race of the evening was the 8 x 1 length mixed squadron freestyle relay where a boy and girl of each age group represent the squad. The eight of Mikaela Kennedy, Billy Pounds, Danielle Rooke, Aiden Robinson, Demi Smith, Sean Houlihan, Georgia Beadel, and Tom Skingsley combined very well finishing second to the overall winners Bishop Stortford A Squad.

Final Position                                                points
1^st       BISHOP STORTFORD SC - RED        106
2^nd       KILLERWHALES SC                           87
3^rd      HARLOW PENGUINS   SC                81
4^th      BISHOP STORTFORD SC – BLUE       80