Championship glory for Stroud (From Stroud News and Journal)

Championship glory for Stroud

GEOFF TWINNING held his nerve to guide Stroud's men's open relay swimming team to the Championship Trophy at GL1.

The men's Open 400m medley was won by Stroud in a time of 4.03.49 Earlier, David MacArthur gave Stroud a healthy start in the backstroke leg which Peter Gleed and Mark Vines fought hard to hang on to in the second and third legs.

In the final takeover, Vines handed over to Twinning, who left the blocks in third position.

For the next three lengths, It looked as if the strong team from Gloucester City might take the honours but Twinning pulled out all the stops, swimming the last leg in well under a minute to give Stroud the narrowest of victories and the Championship Trophy for yet another year.

Meanwhile, Stroud fielded teams in nearly every other relay final exceeding expectations at the start of the day.

There were silver medals for the girls 9/10 medley team and bronze medals for the 9/10 year freestyle team with another two bronze medals awarded to the boys in the 13/14 years medley event and the girls11/12 year freestyle teams. Place medals were awarded to all other finalists.

The competition ended with the presentation of Bagcat Trophy's which are awarded to the best overall points tally over all events in the championships.

Winning awards for Stroud this year were; Ben Whiting, second place in the boy's 10 year age group, Tomos-Wyn Jones, first place in the 12-year age group, Imogen Wells, second place in the girls 11-year age group, Natasha Johnston , fourth place in the 12 -year girls age group, Brett Bassett, sixth place in the 12-year boys category and Megan Roberts eighth place in the 13 -year girls age group.

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THE third gala in the Cotswold League series was held in Frome. Stroud Swimming Club's team swam with their customary emphasis on improving their times rather than looking for places.

The odds were against them with a team weakened by illness and injury, but they still managed to field a competitor in all but two events.

This resulted in the youngest swimmers having to swim up one and sometimes two age groups,.Rising to the occasion, they concentrated on the task in hand which was to put in very some fast times.

Meanwhile, the senior swimmers did a great job reassuring the youngsters and bolstering their confidence.

Special mention must go to Patrick Price and Neil Craxford who, though new to competitions, swam up one age group with great confidence. Stroud are now in eighth place in the league and are vying for a place in the A final.