On the weekend of the 18th and 19th December, a team of thirty South Lincs swimmers headed to Corby to take part in the Northampton Winter Festival.
This was an early season opportunity to swim long course and update times and marked the final competition for the club swimmers for 2021 ahead of their preparations for County Championships in January and February 2022. The team of swimmers did an excellent jo, posting new personal best times and smashing club records on their way to haul of 77 medals collected over the weekend.
Rico Bringeman had a successful weekend claiming a total of nine medals in the boys 16 years age group. Rico swam to gold on six occasions, all in new personal best times. Rico showed his prowess over the individual medley events as he topped the podium in both the 400m and 200m Individual medley events, posting times of 4.40.22 and 2.13.09 respectively. Rico also asserted his dominance in the butterfly events as he swept to victory in both the 100m and 200m events. In the 100m butterfly Rico broke the sixty second barrier for the first time posting a time of 59.78 seconds and in the 200m butterfly his winning time of 2.10.13 was both a club and Lincolnshire County record. Just for fun Rico swam the 50m and 100m Freestyle and claimed gold in both events with fantastic new personal best times of 25.86 seconds and 55.80 seconds respectively.
Emma Croker was also on form over the course of the weekend. Emma claimed six medals from six events. In the girls 16 years age group Emma claimed bronze in the 50m backstroke and added a silver medal in the 100m butterfly both in new personal best times of 32.14 seconds and 1.06.61 respectively. In her preferred events, Emma showed complete dominance in the pool winning both her age group and posting the fastest times of the meet. Emma swept to gold medals in the 50m Butterfly in a time of 28.83 seconds. Emma then went on and won gold in the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle events in times of 26.82 seconds, 57.29 seconds and 2.05.94 respectively. Emma’s 100m Freestyle was also a new club and Lincolnshire County record.
Oscar Goldsmith swam to new personal best times across a range of events and distances and showed his potential in a range of events as he prepares for future championship competition. Oscar collected a hat trick of gold medals in the boys 13 years age group. Oscar struck gold in his first event of the day the 400m Individual Medley with a storming new personal best time of 5.13.15. Oscar followed this up with a second gold medal in the 200m Butterfly with a superb swim of 2.26.74, narrowly missing a county age group record in the process. Oscar’s final gold medal came in the 200m breaststroke, where he had an excellent race with team mate Alfie Robinson. Both boys swam strongly and Oscar touched the wall in another new personal best time of 2.51.54.
Frank Lamb produced a host of great swims over the weekend and claimed five medals. Frank took gold in the boys 12 years age group in the 400m Individual Medley. In a terrific swim Frank set a new personal best time of 5.40.98 to claim the gold medal, more than ten seconds clear of second place. Frank showed his individual medley potential by adding a silver medal in the shorter 200m event in another personal best time of 2.45.58. There were medals for Frank in both the 100m and 200m butterfly with more personal best times of 1.18.93 and 2.50.42 respectively. For good measure Frank added a further silver medal in the 200m breaststroke with another personal best time of 3.08.81.
Kitty Lamb was also in action over the weekend in the girls 10/11 years age group and collected an astonishing eleven medals from eleven swims. Kitty struck gold on four occasions. Kitty swam to gold medals in the 100m and 200m backstroke events in times of 1.22.17 and 2.58.16 respectively. Kitty also added two further gold medals to her personal haul in the 50m and 100m freestyle with times of 33.12 seconds and 1.14.03 respectively. This was Kitty’s first time swimming long course competition and acquitted herself admirably.
Lucy Wilson was also competing in the girls 10/11 years age group and made some significant improvements. Lucy collected a hat trick of gold medals in this age group. Lucy showed her individual medley prowess as she claimed gold in the 200m distance with a new personal best time of 2.55.79. Lucy added two further gold medals to her collection as she topped the podium in both the 50m butterfly and the 50m breaststroke with new personal best times of 36.82 seconds and 42.52 seconds respectively.
Matteo Monaco had a positive weekend as he collected five medals in the boys 12 years age group. Matteo started his campaign with a silver medal in the 400m Individual Medley as he took second place behind team mate Frank lamb with a new personal best time of 5.50.10. Matteo added a further silver medal in the 200m backstroke with a big improvement on his best time of over thirteen seconds to stop the clock in a time of 2.40.17. Matteo added a third silver medal to his haul in the 400m freestyle as he took over twenty seconds off his previous best mark to touch home in 5.02.55.
Kieran Ng was taking part in his first long course competition in the boys 10/11 years age group and had a wonderful weekend. Kieran collected eight medals from eight swims and this included two gold medals. Kieran topped the podium in the 200m backstroke with a new personal best time of 3.02.97. Kieran made it a double gold as he powered to victory in the 200m breaststroke in his age group with another personal best time of 3.23.14.
There was podium success for Alfie Robinson in the boys 15 years age group. Competing in just four events Alfie managed to claim two gold medals as he swam to the top of the podium in the 200m backstroke with a new personal best time of 2.22.70. Alfie added a second gold medal in the 200 breaststroke as he had a tremendous battle with team mate Oscar Goldsmith. Alfie managed to finish slightly stronger than Oscar to take the touch at the wall in another personal best time of 2.50.11.
Daisy Rummery made it to the podium on two occasions in the girls 17 years and over age group. Daisy took a silver medal in the 200m backstroke with a strong early season performance of 2.31.67 and added a bronze in the 50m backstroke with another excellent early season performance of 34.00 seconds.
Erin Siggee showed her breaststroke skills as she took a hat trick of medals in the girls 13 years age group. Erin took a brace of bronze medals in both the 50m and 100m distances with new personal best times of 40.43 seconds and 1.27.30 respectively. Erin went one better in the 200m breaststroke as she claimed the silver medal in her age group with a strong performance of 3.08.61.
Thomas Bruce claimed five medals over the course of the weekend in the boys 15 years age group. Thomas has been working hard on transitioning to the sprint events and picked up medals in the shorter distances. There were a brace of bronze medals for Thomas in the 50m and 100m freestyle events as he set new standards of 26.93 seconds and 58.06 seconds respectively. Thomas struck silver in the 50m backstroke with a new personal best time of 31.82 seconds and a bronze in the longer 100m backstroke. Thomas also took a silver medal in the 50m butterfly in his age group with an excellent swim of 29.10 seconds.
Alfie Bisby claimed a silver medal in the boys 14 years age group. Despite battling with illness, Alfie swam to a new personal best time in the 400m individual Medley of 5.20.16 and claimed the silver medal in this event. Mollie Briggs was also a medallist over the course of the weekend. In the girls 16 years age group, Mollie produced a big new personal best time in the 200m butterfly and took the bronze medal in her age group in a time of 2.30.95. Hannah Bruce also collected a bronze medal, but in the girls 12 years age group. Hannah produced a strong swim in the 100m freestyle to take her podium finish and set a new personal best time of 1.09.42.
Alex Sadler waited until the final event of the meet to claim a medal and this came in the boys 14 years age group of the 100m freestyle. Alex swam an excellent race to touch the wall in big new personal best time of almost six seconds to finish in 58.55 seconds. This saw Alex claim the bronze medal in his age group.