Over the course of the weekend of the 16th and 17th October, a team of twenty-one South Lincs swimmers headed to Birmingham for the Winter Open Meet.

This was an opportunity for the senior swimmers in the club to get some much needed racing experience after a prolonged hiatus. The team of swimmers produced some fine performances, setting new personal best times and collecting medals across a range of distances and strokes.

Day one of the competition saw Rico Bringeman produce some outstanding performances. Rico's campaign got underway with the 200m individual medley where Rico swam strongly across all four strokes to lower his personal best time by four seconds to set a new mark of 2.12.74. Not only did Rico claim the bronze medal in the boys 15/16 years age group, his time saw him qualify to National short course Championships to be held in December. A busy and demanding schedule saw Rico claim gold in the 200m butterfly in other huge personal best time and set a new club record of 2.09.75. In the 400m individual medley there was a silver medal for Rico with another personal best time of 4.41.62 and to round out the day Rico took a further bronze medal in the 200m freestyle where he broke the two minute barrier for the first time to stop the clock in 1.59.60.

Ellisha Cookson was the second medallist of the day claiming silver in the girls 17 years and over age group in the 50m breaststroke. Ellisha produced her second fastest ever swim in the event to touch the wall in a time of 33.68 seconds, just hundredths outside her best, to take her podium finish. There was a personal best time for Ellisha in the 50m backstroke of 32.78 seconds and to finish her day Ellisha set a further best time in the 100m individual medley of 1.06.48. Ellisha produced an excellent fly and backstroke leg and proceeded to sweep past the field in the breaststroke section of the race, working hard to hold on in the freestyle, Ellisha was just touched out to finish in second place with a new personal best time of 1.06.48.

Frank Lamb had a strong day of swimming despite battling with illness. Frank took a silver medal in the boys 12 years age group 200m butterfly setting an eight second personal best time of 2.53.48. There were also new personal best times for Frank in the 50m freestyle where he posted a new standard of 31.83 seconds. In the 400m individual medley Frank set another big personal best time of 5.51.82, a drop of nine seconds from his previous best. In his final event of the day, Frank stormed through the 100m breaststroke to win his heat by a sizeable margin and lower his best time by five seconds to touch home in 1.28.16.

There was double silver for Oscar Goldsmith on day one as he sped through the 200m butterfly and lowered his personal best time by over five seconds to finish in a new mark of 2.29.61. Oscar took his second medal in the 200m freestyle with another sizeable personal best time of more than four seconds to hit the wall in 2.12.82. There were also personal best times for Oscar in the 200m individual medley where he finished with a seven second improvement on his best in a time of 2.30.60. There was a drop of eleven seconds in the 400m individual medley for Oscar as he touched the wall in 5.15.07.

Alex Sadler was also a medallist on day one, in the boys 14 years age group Alex swam strongly through his 200m butterfly to take the bronze medal with a six second improvement and set a new standard of 2.25.26. In the 50m freestyle Alex lowered his personal best time by almost three seconds to finish in a time of 27.32 seconds. There was also a new personal best time for Alex in the 200m freestyle with a two second drop from his previous mark, touching the wall in 2.08.13.

In the boys 12 years age group there was a bronze medal for Matteo Monaco in the 400m individual medley. With a strong backstroke and breaststroke section of the race Matteo set a new personal best time by almost eight seconds finishing in a time of 5.45.92 to claim his medal. Matteo also set new personal best times in the 50m freestyle with a superb swim of 30.90 seconds. In the 100 backstroke there was a two second improvement for Matteo as he touched home in a new mark of 1.16.67. The 200m freestyle saw Matteo sweep the opposition aside as he dominated his heat winning by a big margin and lowering his personal best time by seven seconds to stop the clock in 2.26.96.

Emma Croker set the pool alight in her 100m freestyle in the girls 15/16 years age group. Swimming with great determination Emma stormed out in the opening half of the race to lead the fastest heat of the event. Despite giving the race her all, Emma was just touched out at the finish by one her national rivals to take the silver medal in a new personal best time of 57.03 seconds. Emma also contested the 50m backstroke where she set another new personal best time of 31.39 seconds. Day two was equally successful for the South Lincs swimmers. Rico Bringeman picked up where he left off striking gold on two occasions in the boys 15/16 years age group. Rico took his first gold of the day in the 100m butterfly where he sped through the race to break the sixty second barrier for the first time and touch the wall in another personal best time of 59.28 seconds. Rico’s second gold came in the 100m individual medley, swimming strongly across all four strokes Rico set a new personal best time of 1.01.85. For good measure Rico added a bronze medal to his personal haul in the 400m freestyle, again in another new personal best time of 4.12.10 and did the same in the 100m freestyle with a time of 55.03 seconds.

Matteo Monaco added more medals to his collection on day two. Matteo swam an excellent 400m freestyle with a very strong second half of the race to claim bronze in the boys 12 years age group with a new personal best time of 5.01.84. Matteo had to wait until the final event of the meet for his third medal of the competition and this came in the 100m individual medley. Showing his strength in backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle, Matteo swam to a new standard of 1.17.64 and another bronze medal.

Oscar Goldsmith continued with his exceptional form. In the 400m freestyle Oscar lowered his personal best time by nearly twelve seconds to finish in a new best time of 4.36.65 and he clinched the silver medal in the boys 13 years age group. Oscar shattered his personal best time in the 100m butterfly by four seconds to touch home in a time of 1.07.94. There were further personal best times for Oscar in the 100m freestyle and the 200m breaststroke where he posted times of 1.01.87 and 2.47.36 respectively.

Frank Lamb added a further silver to his medal tally as he sped through the 50m breaststroke to finish in a new personal best time of 40.52 seconds. There was a four second improvement for Frank in the 100m butterfly as he set a new mark of 1.18.58. Frank also set a new personal best time in the 100m individual medley where he finished in 1.18.93, a drop of nearly two seconds from his previous best.

Emma Croker was on fine form on the second day of competition. Emma started her campaign in the 50m freestyle where she claimed the silver medal in a strong time of 26.81 seconds. There was a further silver medal for Emma in the 50m butterfly where she touched the wall in her second fastest time of 29.13 seconds. Emma saved her finest performance for the 200m freestyle, where she swam away from her competitors from the gun, increasing her lead throughout the race Emma finished well clear of the opposition to touch home in a two second personal best time of 2.03.92 and claimed her third silver medal of the day.

Ellisha Cookson also added more medals to her personal haul. Ellisha struck silver in the girls 17 years and over age group in the demanding 400m individual medley. Once again Ellisha showed her superb breaststroke swimming in the race to pull herself back into medal contention and hold on for a second place finish. Ellisha finished her campaign with the 100m breaststroke where, in a very tight race, Ellisha touched the wall in a new personal best time of 1.13.20 and claimed her fourth silver medal of the meet.

The City of Birmingham Meet proved a huge success for the South Lincs swimmers, with numerous personal best times being achieved by the swimmers as well as the team collecting twenty-four medals. There were also a number of swims that ensured South Lincs will have a small team of swimmers participating at the National Winter Championships in Sheffield in December.

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