| The first round of the Chilterns League took place at the weekend; for those unfamiliar with this competition every event has no faster than times which if exceeded result in a swimmer being disqualified making it great for slightly less experienced swimmers or swimmers who don’t normally swim a particular stroke. But it can also be a huge challenge for team selection, even more so on a night when we had two other teams in action, so apart from congratulating the team on finishing second with 8 first places, 15 second and third places and a quite magnificent 30 PBs in 50 races, |  |
| we should also congratulate lead coach Lauren Wilding for her team selection. To cap a very successful night, Daniel Belsey set a new Club record for 8 year olds in the 50 free, smashing the old record by almost 2 seconds. | |
Individual first places were secured by Justin Patrick (u13 50 back), Sam Warner (u15 50 back), Leoni Lee (u13 50 breast), Ryan Godfrey (u13 50 breast) and Zara Rafiq-Craske (u15 50 free), and there were relay wins for the girls u13 free relay quartet (Georgie Pearce, Mia Smith, Charlotte Gillham and Leoni Lee), the girls u15 free relay quartet (Kate Cresswell, Zara Rafiq-Craske, Natasha Acres and Elizabeth Acres) and the girls open quartet (Anna Belsey, Kate Cresswell, Vanessa Parker and Chloe Purkis).
Individual second or third places were achieved by Luke Carl, Kate Cresswell, Rachel Belsey, Mia Smith, Chloe Purkis, Arthur Coldwell, Darshith Biju, Georgie Pearce and Calum Winton. Relay second or third places were achieved by the girls u13 medley quartet (Mia Smith, Lily Davies, Leoni Lee and Georgie Pearce), the girls u11 relay quartet in both their medley and free events (Kelly Patrick, Charlotte Gillham, Rachel Belsey and Mia Maslen Wollington) and the boys u11 relay quartet in both their free and medley events (Arthur Coldwell, Henry White, Daniel Belsey and Albert Newbuy-Kemp).
There were so many personal best times swum that it’s almost invidious to highlight any. But it would be wrong not to mention Charlotte Gillham’s 9 second improvement in the 50 breast, Daniel Belsey’s 9 second improvement in the 50 free, Arthur Coldwell’s 8 second improvement in the 50 back and Albert Newbury-Kemp’s 5 second improvement in the 50 breast. Others who set PBs were Vanessa Parker, Luke Carl, Kate Cresswell, Jack Wright, Rachel Belsey, Henry White, Justin Patrick, Matt Rafiq-Craske, Mia Smith, Ryan Godfrey, Sam Warner, Leoni Lee, Zara Rafiq-Craske, Darshith Biju, Chloe Purkis, Georgie Pearce, Kostas Jasevicius and Ciaran Kilbane.