13 girls and 11 boys made up the Portland team for the JC Dobb gala held on 7th March 2015 at Lammas Sports Centre, Sutton in Ashfield.
The evening was great fun and unusually for the spectators the microphone seemed to work better than normal and the humidity in the pool was bearable(!?).
Whilst Portland took 6th place overall, more important were the 11 PB’s achieved throughout the night and, for 9 swimmers, the feeling of honour for being selected to swim ‘up age group’!
PB’s – Swimmers who earned PBs were Louis, Gabriel & Angelina for 50m breaststroke, Edward for 50m freestyle, Gen & Olivia for 50m fly and Maddie, Luke & Olivia for 50m back. Ruby also received a PB for 25m freestyle and Finlay for 25m breaststroke.
‘Up age group’ – Swimmers who competed in races above their official age group were Angelina, Ben, Edward, Gen, Gabriel, Louis, Maddie, Ruby, Stan and Liam (in all his races!). WOW!
Please read on for swimmer’s ‘moments of glory’ for this event ….
(PB = personal best, NT = new time)
Andrew competed in five open races; medley relay, freestyle relay, 50m breaststroke, 50m fly and The Cannon. Andrew came first* in the open 50m fly after swimming only 21 strokes during the 50m (9 smooth, very fast strokes first leg and 12 strokes second leg) before touching the end just a little too speedy for this gala!
*Disappointingly (for Portland) this first position was not counted – Andrew received a speeding ticket for breaking the race time!
Angelina (aged 13) competed in only open races swimming freestyle in the 4×1 relay, 50m breaststroke and represented the open swimmers in The Cannon. Not only did she swim ‘up age group’ Angelina also obtained a PB in her least favourite stroke: breaststroke!
Ben competed in three 10/u races: freestyle relay, 25m backstroke & 25m fly and also joined the 12/u freestyle relay team. Ben swam exceptionally well in the freestyle relays, motoring down the pool for team points and in the 25m backstroke coming 3rd position for Portland – Well done Ben!
Chelsea was the first Portland team swimmer into the pool to start the gala and performed excellent underwater work in 10/u freestyle relay. Chelsea also represented the 10/u’s in The Cannon and obtained a NT for swimming the 25m 10/u freestyle individual. Superb work Chelsea!
Connor not only motivated the other swimmers but he also competed in four open races. Connor swam last leg in the freestyle relay, fly in the medley relay and two individuals; 50m freestyle and 50m backstroke. Connor earned himself a well deserved 1st position in the 50m freestyle and 3rd in the 50m backstroke!
Dominique joined the 12/u swimmers competing with great leg kick in the freestyle relay, swimming fly leg in the medley relay and performing a great swim, with a NT for the 50m fly.
Edward competed in four 14/u races and in the ‘up age group’ open freestyle relay. In the 14/u freestyle relay Edward swam a powerful last leg, in the 14/u 50m backstroke he came a deserved 4th and in the 14/u 50m freestyle achieved a tight 5th position along with a PB!
Showing how a take-over should be done Finlay performed excellently in the 10/u freestyle relay. Finlay also competed in the 10/u medley relay swimming breaststroke and in his individual race achieved a PB for 25m breaststroke. Super swimming Finlay!
Fran competed in four 12/u races; 50m breaststroke, 50m freestyle, the freestyle relay and The Cannon. In 50m breaststroke Fran’s hat decided it did not want to swim and leapt from her head on the dive in. Thankfully this did not deter Fran who swam well and achieved 5th position. The hat was rescued post race and reunited with its owner only to leave her head again in a subsequent relay!
Fraser represented the 10/u’s in the freestyle relay, The Cannon and in the 10/u 25m freestyle. Fraser was seen swimming really well across all races. Great work Fraser!
Gabriel competed in the 12/u 50m fly and swam ‘up age group’ in the 14/u 50m breaststroke, 14/u freestyle relay and The Cannon. Gabriel worked really hard to achieve a PB in the 50m breaststroke but because of this was toooooo tired when it came to the 50m fly! Well done for the PB!
Gen swam four races; 14/u 50m backstroke, 14/u 50m fly, 14/u freestyle relay and open freestyle relay. Gen did superb, swimming ‘up age group’ for the open relay and receiving a PB for the 14/u 50m fly. Fantastic work Gen!
Liam swam up all night and led two races for the boys swimming 1 leg of freestyle for both the 10/u freestyle relay and The Cannon. Liam also participated in the 10/u medley relay taking over to swim a great leg of fly. Well done Liam!
Louis competed in two freestyle relays, one representing the 12/u’s and one swimming ‘up age group’ in the 14/u. Louis also swam breaststroke in the 12/u medley relay and achieved a PB in the 12/u 50m breaststroke. Brilliant breaststroke work Louis!
Luke joined the 12/u team to compete in the freestyle relay and the medley relay. Luke also completed in two individuals; 50m freestyle and 50m backstroke in which he earned himself an impressive PB! Congratulations Luke!
Showcasing how to glide in breaststroke Lucy T competed well in the 14/u medley relay and also in 14/u 50m breaststroke.
A warm welcome to Lucy W for her first inter club gala. Lucy helped to make up the 10/u freestyle relay and medley relay teams and competed in the individual 10/u 25m breaststroke with a NT. We hope you enjoyed the night!
Maddie supported the Portland team in three relays and the 12/u 50m backstroke. Not to be outstaged by her sister, Maddie also swam in one relay ‘up age group’ and achieved a PB for her individual 50m backstroke. Well done Maddie!
The 10/u freestyle & medley relay teams were supported with two great legs of freestyle from Mai. Mai also competed in the 25m backstroke with a NT.
After arriving on poolside with a limp it was not clear if Mia would be able to swim – thankfully it did not affect her swimming. Mia competed strongly in the 50m 14/u freestyle and joined the 14/u freestyle and medley relay teams swimming two powerful last legs of freestyle. It was not until the times were printed that it was apparent how close 14/u freestyle relay was, Portland missed out by 0.01 of a second over Hucknall for 5th position. Hope the leg is better soon Mia!
Swimming strong throughout the evening Millie helped make up the open medley relay team and the freestyle relay team and also competed in the open 50m freestyle.
Olivia competed in two open relays and two open 50m individuals: fly and backstroke. Olivia brought home TWO firsts and TWO PBs. Well done Olivia! For those interested in statistics Olivia did 10 strokes on the first leg of the 50m fly and 12 strokes second leg, the whole 50m was completed in just 22 strokes!
Ruby swam three excellent freestyle legs in the 10/u’s freestyle relay, ‘up age group’ in the 12/u freestyle relay and at the end of the night in The Cannon. Ruby also competed in the 25m fly achieving 3rd position and a PB! SuperStar!
Stan (aged 12) competed in one 12/u race, 3 14/u races and 1 open. Wow! Stan showcased such power and speed in the last leg of the 12/u freestyle relay to bring home 3rd position. This power was repeated again in the 14/u relay and open relay. In the 14/u medley relay Stan swam fly and also competed in 50m fly individual.
Thank you to all swimmers, to the helpers for providing their time & support and to parents / grandparents / aunties / uncles / carers who provide the necessary taxi service to travel to and from Lammas and for cheering on the Portland team, it makes it all worth while – THANK YOU!
Log in to see the results in the Gala News section of Swimmers’ Corner.
