The South Lincs swimmers were in action over the weekend of the 9th and 10th October at their first open meet since March 2020. Forty of the clubs swimmers attended the Rob Welbourn Open Meet, hosted by Deepings Swimming Club at Grantham.

For many of the swimmers it was their first ever open meet and they acquitted themselves in fine style. There were numerous personal best times achieved by the swimmers and over the course of the weekend sixty-seven medals were won.

Charlie Bisby set the pool alight with his performances over the weekend. Swimming in a total of eleven events in the boys 9/10 years age group, Charlie won every single race and claimed eleven gold medals. Charlie swept to victory across a range of distances and strokes with his gold medals coming in the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle, the 50m and 100m butterfly, the 50m and 100m backstroke, the 50m and 100m breaststroke and also in both the 100m and 200m Individual Medley. Charlie also achieved all eleven gold medals in new personal best times. An outstanding achievement from an up and coming swimmer and certainly one to look out for in the future.

Kitty Lamb also produced some stunning swims over the course of the weekend. Competing in ten events in the 9/10 years age group, Kitty went on to strike gold in all ten swims. Kitty equally produced these results across a range of distances and strokes and topped the podium in the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle, the 50m and 100m breaststroke, the 50m and 100m backstroke, the 50m butterfly and also in the 100m and 200m individual medley. Kitty showed that she is a rising star and another youngster to watch over the coming years.

Older brother Frank Lamb was briefly in action over the weekend as well. Frank swam in just three events and was able to claim a medal in each one. Frank took a silver medal in the 50m butterfly in the boys 11/12 years age group in a new personal best time of 35.01 seconds. Frank went on to claim gold in the 100m freestyle and broke the seventy second barrier for the first time with another personal best of 1.09.27. Finally Frank claimed a second gold medal in the 200m individual medley with a seven second personal best time of 2.45.29.

Sigourney Bolton found some fine racing form over the course of the weekend. Showing some real determination in her events Sigourney swept to a host of new personal best times and went on to collect six medals in the girls 11/12 years age group. Sigourney won a hat trick of gold medals with wins in the 50m and 200m breaststroke – her preferred stroke – and showing a fine command of all strokes, Sigourney’s third gold came in the 200m individual medley. Sigourney took two silver medals, in the 100m breaststroke and the 100m backstroke and for good measure took bronze in the 100m individual medley.

There were also six medals won by Hannah Bruce in the girls 11/12 year’s age group. Hannah took a brace of gold medals in her preferred freestyle events, making it to the top of the podium in the 100m and 200m freestyle events. Hannah won both in new personal best times of 1.09.15 and 2.30.39 respectively. Hannah added a silver medal to her personal haul in the 50m freestyle, again in a new personal best time of 32.16 seconds. Hannah also collected three bronze medals, these came in the 50m and 100m breaststroke and the 50m butterfly.

Francesco Monaco had a hugely successful weekend. Francesco was another swimmer who set multiple personal best times in his events and went on to collect a total of nine medals in the boys 9/10 year’s age group. Francesco’s achievement was all the more impressive for the fact that he was at the bottom of a double age group. Francesco struck gold in the 200m breaststroke with an eleven second personal best time of 3.53.22. Francesco also collected five silver medals which came in the 100m and 200m freestyle, the 50m and 100m backstroke and the 200m individual medley. Francesco also added three bronze medals to his haul in the 50m and 100m breaststroke and the 50m butterfly.

Lexie Hamilton was also a gold medallist over the weekend. Competing in the girls 11/12 years age group, Lexie struck gold in one of the most demanding events on the programme, the 200m butterfly. A determined swim saw Lexie touch the wall in a new personal best time 3.34.12 to take the win in her age group. Lexie also added a silver medal in the 200m backstroke, making a five second improvement on her personal best time to stop the clock in a time of 2.57.28.

Owen Sadler was on excellent form and produced four outstanding swims setting new personal best times in all of his events. Showing himself to be a consummate backstroke swimmer, Owen swept to gold in the 200m distance with a big new personal best time of 2.31.56. In the shorter 100m backstroke event Owen took the silver medal in another best time of 1.11.89.

Stefano Fiore was competing in the boys 13/14 years age group and produced a host of new personal best times in a range of events. Stefano also went on to claim a total of seven medals over the weekend. Stefano took three silver medals in the 100m and 200m backstroke and in the 100m butterfly. There were four bronze medals as well and these came in the 50m breaststroke, 200m freestyle, the 200m butterfly and the 200m individual medley.

There were also medals collected by Will Vere who took bronze in the boys 11/12 years age group 200m backstroke in a new personal best time of 3.04.02. Lucy Wilson made it a hat trick of medals in the girls 11/12 years age group as she claimed silver in the 200m individual medley in a new personal best time of 3.00.65 and bronze medals in the 100m and 200m freestyle, again with new personal best times of 1.13.71 and 2.41.12 respectively. Erin Siggee has overcome illness and prolonged injury and was back to her very best at the weekend. Erin collected two medals in the girls 13/14 years age group with a silver medal in the 50m breaststroke and a bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke in new personal best times of 38.93 seconds and 1.27.68 respectively.

In the girls 9/10 years age group Heidi Woodrow took home two medals. Heidi claimed silver in the 100m breaststroke with a huge sixteen second improvement on her best time to stop the clock in a new mark of 1.53.57. Heidi also collected a bronze medal in the 100m individual medley with another huge improvement of eighteen seconds to touch the wall in a new personal best time of 1.44.11.

Kieran Ng had to wait until the end of the weekend to make it onto the podium. In the boys 11/12 years age group Kieran set a big new personal best time in the 200m breaststroke of 3.24.09 to take the silver medal. Emily Briggs produced strong performances throughout the weekend and made it a podium finish in the 200m backstroke with a new personal best time of 3.03.16 to claim the bronze medal in the girls 11/12 years age group. Archie Robinson was the final medallist of the weekend. Charging through his 100m breaststroke to set a new eight second personal best time of 1.38.76, Archie claimed the bronze medal in this event in the boys 11/12 years age group.

Head Coach Keith Haynes was delighted with the results achieved over the course of the weekend. "Our junior swimmers have really stepped up and swum tremendously well, this augurs well for the future of the club and hope many of our younger swimmers will have continued success at County, Regional and National levels in the coming years."

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by Website Admin