There were some strong swims from Hemel on the first Saturday of the Herts County Championships with eight gold medals, six other top three finishes and plenty of personal best times in just the one session before the cold pool forced an early end to the day’s competition.
In the girls 100 free there were golds for Lois Moore (18 & over) and Emily Jelfs (16) and bronze for Aimee Abrey (16) in the age group championship. Lois and Emily also qualified for the open final where Lois won a bronze medal breaking the 1 minute barrier for the first time with a time of 59.83 just one hundredth of a second off the Club record held by Emily who finished 5th.
In the boys 50 fly there were golds for Charlie Rayner (13) and Freddie Woodcock (18) and silvers for Matt Sherriff (17) and Luke Pestaille (11) in their age groups. Freddie, Matt and Tom Sherriff all made it through to the open final which was won by Freddie in a thrilling race with Tom and Matt finishing 5th and 7th respectively.
In the girls 200 breaststroke there were golds for Holly Robinson (9), Georgia Purkis (12) and Grace Rayner (16) with a silver for Elizabeth Kelly (9).
In difficult swimming condition given the cool water temperature there were also notable improvements on personal best times achieved by Reuben Balch (50 fly), Freya Beresford (200 breast), Ashley Coombes (50 fly), Shona McKenna (100 free), Chloe Purkis (200 breast), Georgia Purkis (200 breast), Rebecca Sewell (100 free) and Emily Young (200 breast).