Retford in second spot

The forty-five event gala brought plenty of excitement, including 36 top three finishes for Retford, and a win in the first event, the boys 15/u 100m IM from Tom Atkinson in a time of 1:05.62.

It quickly became a contest between Retford, Worksop and Sherwood for first place.

The Retford team battled hard and there were further wins from the 9/u freestyle relay team of Jacob Clements, Mia Kay, Callum Kettlewell and Abigail Grieves, a second win from Atkinson in the 15/u 50m Butterfly (29.24) and in the girls 13/u 100m breaststroke from Emma Davies.

By the halfway stage the strong Sherwood team had pulled slightly ahead and were leading on 107 points, followed closely by Retford on 98 and Worksop on 95.

With everything to swim for the Retford squad continued to put in strong performances in the second half.

Atkinson and Davies secured three further wins between them in the Boys 15/u 100m Backstroke (1:05.67) and 100m Freestyle (57.28) events and the girls 13/u 100m Freestyle (1:03.04).

With just the medley relays and cannon remaining, Retford were in a strong position – only 10 points behind leaders Sherwood.

Unable to claim any first place finishes in the relays it was a tense finale.

The cannon didn’t disappoint, with Retford leading from the outset to finish a clear six seconds ahead of the competition.

This secured a second place finish for the team and puts them joint second with Worksop in the standings with just two rounds remaining.

The following swimmers also recorded personal best times: 50m Freestyle: Mia Kay (34.25), 50m Butterfly: Finleigh Dukes (32.73), 50m Backstroke: Cole Hewitt (40.35), 100m Backstroke: Daisy Cookson (1:14.09), Oliver Taylor (1:15.56), 50m Breaststroke: Tom Johnstone (47.41), 100m Breaststroke: Tom Atkinson (1:17.55), Caragh Chambers-Hey (1:26.06), Emma Davies (1:23.94), 100m IM: Finleigh Dukes (1:14.70).