Devon Developments: First Weekend, 21-22 June 2014

At the first weekend of the Devon Development Meet, Exeter City Swimming Club claimed a total of 9 golds among 34 top-3 finishes. This was also an excellent opportunity for several younger swimmers to have their first taste of licensed competition, their performances proving that the future for ECSC looks very positive.

Guy Wilson (10) led the way with golds in 200m free, 100m IM and 200m back. Also grabbing multiple golds were Millie Rawles (11) in 200m back and 100m fly, and Olivia Annunziata (12) in 100m free and 200m back. Anna Czipri (9) took a superb gold in 200m back, and Tea Jones (12) dominated in 100m breast to win comfortably. Tea also took silvers in 200m breast and in 100m IM, where she edged Olivia into third by 0.01 seconds. Olivia finished 2nd in 800m and 200m free, while Millie came third in 200m free. 

Silvers  went to Mia Corcoran (14) in 100m free and 200m back, Lily Collins-Board (13) in 800m free, Lauren Ramsay (10) in 200m back, Annabel Courtney (11) in 100m breast, and Sarah Downs (13) and Amy Linnington (14) in 200m free. Amy claimed silver in 800m free.

Among the bronze medallists were Sarah Downs (100m fly and 100m IM), Lauren Ramsay (200m breast and 100m IM), Eleanor Brandon (12) in 800m free and 100m fly, Jessica Courtney (9) in 200m breast and 200m back, Alisha Singleton (13) in 800m free, Rebekah Broadhurst (14) in 200m breast, and Owen Hopwood (12) in 200m back.

All results can be found here.

Western Counties Age Groups: Final Weekend, 14-15 June 2014

The final weekend of the Western Counties Age Groups saw the action move to Hengrove, where the club's finest age-group swimmers continued to test themselves against the very best in the region. As well as our relay teams, ten swimmers competed in individual events: Olivia Passmore, Milly Kendall, Emily Eveling, Aliyah-Mai Webb, Katie Townsend, Ella Farley, Alec White, Sam Criddle, Matt Ramsay and Tim Western. Having met very testing qualifying times, they represented the club with immense credit.

Each day started with relays. The men's 4x100m medley relay team (Alec White, Charlie Kendall, Adam Edwards, Matt Ramsay) finished 16th, as did the women's 4x100m freestyle relay team of Aliyah-Mai Webb, Emily Eveling, Katie Townsend and Ella Farley. The teams had also matched each other's results in the first weekend, so the battle of the sexes came down to the final day, when the men's team (joined by Sam Criddle) came 16th in 4x100m free and the women took the bragging rights with 13th in the 4x100m medley.

Other highlights of the weekend included Emily Eveling's national qualifying time in the heats of the 200m free, and her third-place finish in the 400m IM. Also on the podium, in the next age group of the same event, was Aliyah-Mai Webb, who took bronze with a superb swim. Emily finished 8th in her 200m free final, 7th in 200m backstroke, and 9th in 200m breaststroke.

Having just missed a final the previous weekend, Alec White put matters right with a terrific performance to come 5th in the 100m backstroke, and he narrowly missed another final with 9th in 100m breaststroke.

The results can be viewed in full here.

So the Western Counties Age Group Championships came to a close with fifteen swimmers having represented the club in relays and individual events. Of those, five reached finals, and two (Emily and Aliyah) took medals. Given the size and strength of the Western region, which includes the national club champions and many other exceptional clubs, our swimmers have performed wonders, and everyone at the club congratulates them on their achievements.

Western Counties Age Group Championships: First Weekend, 7-8 June 2014

The first weekend of the Western Counties Age Group Championships at Millfield, for competitors aged 14 and under, brought together the strongest swimmers in the region from as far afield as Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Cornwall. As well as taking part in the 4x200m freestyle relays, an elite band of Exeter swimmers who had met very demanding qualifying times went on to complete in individual events. These were Emily Eveling, Ella Farley, Sadia Hallam, Grace James, Charlie Kendall, Milly Kendall, Olivia Passmore, Matt Ramsay, Aliyah-Mai Webb and Alec White. It is a superb achievement to achieve a regional qualifying time, and they all deserve our congratulations.

Both the male and the female relay teams finished 14th, a performance particularly admirable as several of our swimmers are young enough to be eligible for next year's competition. The men's team comprised Alec White, Charlie Kendall, Sam Criddle and Matt Ramsay, with Emily Eveling, Aliyah-Mai Webb, Katie Townsend and Sadia Hallam making up the women's quartet.

It was a hot weekend for racing, and the sun streaming through the roof did not make it easy for the backstroke leg of the IM. Nevertheless, Exeter produced some fine swims in individual races. Best of all, Emily Eveling (12) took silver in the 200m fly, and bronze in the 200m IM. She was also a finalist in the 100m fly, finishing 5th in a close race.

Aliyah-Mai Webb (13) came 4th in 800m free, showing extraordinary endurance despite the conditions. Aliyah was also 6th in 200m fly and 5th in 200m IM, and was unlucky to miss the finals of 100m fly (10th) and 200m breast (9th) by small margins.

Grace James (11) put in an immense performance to finish 5th with a PB in an exhausting 200m fly final ahead of Milly Kendall (7th). Milly also came 9th with a PB in 100m free, and 10th in 100m fly. Alec White can consider himself unlucky, after a superb swim in the 200m IM saw him finish within touching distance of the final in 10th place.

All results, including a handful of impressive time-trials by some of the club's older swimmers, can be found here.

The focus shifts to Hengrove next weekend: best of luck to all our swimmers!