More Medals Secured at Herts Counties Weekend Two

BSSC swimmers had a great start to the second weekend of the Hertfordshire County Championships, with at least one swimmer qualifying in each of the six male 100m freestyle age group finals and final results for that event including one gold, one silver and one bronze.  There was plenty to cheer about over the whole weekend, with 4 Gold, 5 Silver and 7 Bronze age group medals and 38 top 8 finishes in the County and a championship relay Gold.

The most successful BSSC age group medallist this weekend was Dylan Davenport in the 14 years age group who secured two gold (50m & 100m Freestyle), one silver (50m Butterfly) and one 4^th place (100m IM), but special mention must go to Noah Conroy who swam in the youngest 10/11 years age group in his first County championships and won two Bronze medals (50m Butterfly & 100m Freestyle) and a 9^th place (50m Freestyle). 

The moment that had everyone at the pool screaming and parents watching via YouTube shouting at their screens, was the Female Championship 200m Medley relay.  The final ended up as a head to head battle between the teams from BSSC and Hatfield, with every pair of swimmers having their own individual nail biting races.  BSSC kicked off with Niamh James on backstroke, then Lauren Gore on breaststroke, Emma Fields on butterfly and Laura Burgess on freestyle.  The swimmers from the two clubs were so evenly matched that both freestylers left the blocks at the same time for the fourth and final leg of the relay and it came down to the touch at the end, with Burgess not breathing for the final part of the length and stretching to give Stortford the gold by 0.19 seconds in a time of 2:01.55!

Swimmers additionally competed to be crowned Hertfordshire Junior (15yr and under) and Open Champions (10yr and over) and five swimmers had great success on weekend two.  In the Junior Championships, Ella Greatbatch took Gold in the 100m Breaststroke and Robert Gor got Bronze in the 200m Breaststroke.  In the Open Championships, Callum Cox got the Gold award in 50m Butterfly, Silver in 100m Freestyle and Bronze in the 50m Freestyle; Emma Fields achieved Silver in the 50m Butterfly and Bronze in 50m Freestyle; whilst Lauren Gore took Bronze in the 100m Breaststroke.

Weekend Two Age Group Medals:

• Gold: Dylan Davenport (50m & 100m Freestyle 14 years), Ella Greatbatch (100m Breaststroke 15 years), Callum Cox (50m Butterfly 16+ years)
• Silver: Elliot Hall (50m Butterfly 13 years), Dylan Davenport (50m Butterfly 14 years), Callum Cox (100m Freestyle 16+ years), Emma Fields (50m Freestyle & 50m Butterfly 16+ years)
• Bronze: Noah Conroy (50m Butterfly & 100m Freestyle 10/11 years), Molly Greatbatch (100m Breaststroke 13 years), Robert Gor (200m Breaststroke 15 years), Callum Cox (50m Freestyle 16+ years), Laura Burgess (50m Freestyle 16+ years), Lauren Gore (100m Breaststroke 16+ years)
• Top 8 finishes: Benjamin Palmer, Brandon Macdonald-Williams, Dan Chada, Dylan Davenport, Ella Greatbatch, Elliot Hall, Felice Chan, George Taylor, Grace Mason, Imogen Tang, Jake Lloyd, Kirsty Neill, Lauren Gore, Molly Greatbatch, Niamh James

All relay teams were top 8 finishers:

• Gold Women Championship 200m Medley – Niamh James, Lauren Gore, Emma Fields, Laura Burgess
• 4^th Women 15/Under 200m Medley – Freya Hadnutt, Ella Greatbatch, Zoe Opiyo, Felice Chan
• 5^th Men 13/Under 200m Freestyle – Benjamin Palmer, Noah Conroy, Eddy Cheng, Elliot Hall
• 7^th Mixed 13/Under 200m Freestyle – Adeline Chan, Lois Fields, Benjamin Palmer, Elliot Hall