Oxford’s swimmers all smiles after hard-fought gala

City of Oxford’s swimmers put themselves to the test at a Level 3 Meet at the Leys Pool on 15-17 July and came up smiling, with many finishing the tough long weekend of competition sporting medals, speeding tickets or both.

The gala saw Oxford swimmers pitted against rivals from Abingdon Vale, Banbury, Beacon, Bourne End, Didcot Barramundi, Four Shires, Kidlington, Maidenhead, Wantage, and Witney. ‘Speed limits’ were set for most events, with tickets issued to swimmers who finished too fast, taking them out of the medal order.

Medal-winning girls

Oxford’s girls got events off to an exciting start, taking all three medal positions in the gruelling 800m freestyle event on Friday night. Megan Smit (12) finished in fine style to win the gold, followed by Dorothy Goodgame (15) in silver position and her younger sister Gretel Goodgame (11), who took the bronze.

After that, the medals just kept coming. Jasmine Johnson (12) picked up a stunning four golds (100m breaststroke, 50m freestyle, 50m butterfly, and 50m breaststroke), as did Juliet Anthony (9) (200m freestyle, 50m freestyle, 200m Individual Medly (IM), 50m breaststroke).

Tiana Porter (13) wasn’t far behind with three golds (200m freestyle, 200m IM, 400m freestyle). SafiyaSilah (12) picked up an impressive two golds and a silver in the 100m freestyle, 200m breaststroke and 50m butterfly respectively, andLily Brabbin (10) did the same in the 100m breaststroke, 200m breaststroke and 400m freestyle events.

Lara Mills (12) picked up two golds (400m IM, 50m backstroke), while Zara Porter (9) won a gold and a silver in the 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle respectively. Gretel Goodgame added to her bronze in the 800m freestyle with a gold in the 200m butterfly event.

And many other Oxford girls pocketed goldsbesides, including: 10-year-olds Mary Cater (50m butterfly) and Ella Joyce (200m backstroke); 11-year-olds Megan Peake (50m backstroke), Grace O’Gorman (50m butterfly) and Stephanie Jervis (50m breaststroke, pictured); and 13-year-old Zoe Coombs (50m backstroke).

11-year-oldEllen Tranter (pictured)was among those who had a great weekend’s swimming, taking home silver and bronze medals in the 50m and 100m butterfly events. Ellen said she had enjoyed meeting up with Oxford swimmers from other squads, as well as racing against girls her age from other clubs.

"It was a challenging gala but a really friendly one too,” she said. “There were some amazingly fast swimmers here, and I was so pleased to win some medals right at the end of the season."

Oxford’s golden boys

And Oxford’s girls weren’t the only ones enjoying the medal rush; the boys were also doing the club proud. 12-year-old Logan Bryan finished the weekend with a phenomenal seven gold medals (for the 200m IM, 200m backstroke, 100m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 200m freestyle, 50m freestyle and 100m backstroke).

Oliver Conway (11) took home four (50m butterfly, 50m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, and 100m backstroke), while Ralph ‘Freddie’ Cooke (12) left with two golds (400m freestyle, 400m IM) and two silvers (200m IM, 100m freestyle). Not to be outdone by their siblings, Jamie Conway (12) and Theo Cooke (13) both won two golds of their own; Jamie in the 50m and 200m butterfly events, and Theo in the 200m backstroke and 400m IM.

Daniel McNamara (13) was another double gold winner (100m breaststroke, 50m freestyle), while George Rudd, also 13, took home a gold and two silvers (100m backstroke, 100m freestyle, 200m backstroke) and Diego Bravo (12) added a silver in the 50m butterfly to the gold he won in the 100m fly event.

Many other Oxford boys were sporting gold medals by the end of the weekend, including: 10-year-olds KaydenSilah (50m breaststroke), Joseph Watkiss (100m breaststroke), and Lachlan Middleton (100m backstroke); 11-year-old Jack Rudd (200m backstroke); 12-year-old Morgan Smith (100m breaststroke); and 13-year-old Nicholas Skelton (100m butterfly).

Speeding tickets

A number of Oxford’s young swimmers were so quick they exceeded the ‘speed limit’ set for each event and received tickets, taking them out of the medal order.

Among the girls, Lily Brabbin (10) picked up three tickets - in the 100m backstroke, 50m freestyle and 50m backstroke - while Evie McLean (11) received a couple in the 100m backstroke and 200m freestyle races. Gretel Goodgame (11) picked up a ticket in the 400m IM, while her older sister Dorothy Goodgame (15) was booked in the 200m backstrokeevent. Lara Mills (12), Jennifer Burrell (15) and Weiyi Tan (15) received tickets in the 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke and 200m IM events respectively.

13-year-old boys Daniel McNamara, George Rudd and Nicholas Skeltonbroke the speed limit repeatedly over the weekend; Daniel and Nicholas picked up tickets in the 200m breaststroke, George and Nicholas were booked in the 200m butterfly, George was too fast in the 200m freestyle, and all three received tickets in the 50m breaststroke event. Ewan McBain (14) exceeded the speed threshold in the 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle races, while Christopher Motha (15) was given a ticket in the 400m IM event.

Slashing PBs

However, it wasn’t only the swimmers breaking the speed limits and taking home medals who accomplished great things during the gala; many of the younger swimmers slashed their personal best (PB) times and were rightly very proud of what they had achieved.

10-year-old Zinzi Spiller cut her time drastically in the 50m breaststroke event. “I felt really proud of myself for taking eight seconds off my PB,” she said afterwards.

Another 10-year-old, Katia Blin, said the atmosphere at the gala had helped to spur her on. “The meet felt really competitive, which made you want to win even more,” she said.

A hard-fought gala and a tough weekend of competition, but smiles all round for Oxford’s swimmers on Sunday night.

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

  • Ellen Tranter, 11 (silver 50m butterfly, bronze 100m butterfly)
  • Ellen Tranter, 11 (silver 50m butterfly, bronze 100m butterfly), and Stephanie Jervis, 11 (gold 50m breaststroke, bronze 200m backstroke, bronze 200m breaststroke)
  • Katia Blin, 10, (left) and Zinzi Spiller, 10 (right)

For further information contact:

Emma Feeny

Phone: 07780 904328

Email: hursday, 11 October 2018