Swimmers make a splash at Trafford Open Meet

Ashton had a ten-swimmer team at theTrafford Open Meet held at Sale Leisure Centre and they came away with a hefty haul of medals and personal best times.  

In total their boys and girls won 39 medals, 19 gold, 15 silver and 5 bronze and they shared 20 PBs between them.  There were some stunning swims and great atmosphere, not least in the exciting team races at the end of each session.

The star of the day was Ryan Coulthard who dominated his age group.  Ryan won gold in all of his five individual races and bagged a couple of PBs as well.  Tegan Shaw wasn’t far behind winning four gold and a silver. Both took on all-comers in the 100m Butterfly and were cheered on as they left the others standing. 

When it came to breaststroke there would be only one winner. Sophie Kershaw was majestic in her 100m breaststroke adding a second gold to her 50m breaststroke win with an impressive personal best.  She also won silver in 50m butterfly and bronze in the 50 freestyle.   Aimee Dean showed her versatility by winning medals in four disciplines.  She won gold in both the 50m backstroke and the 100m IM as well as silver in the 50m freestyle and bronze in the 50m breaststroke. 

Lily Smith was another double gold winner; she carried home the wins in both the 50m breaststroke and freestyle and added three silver medals as well (50m fly and backstroke and 100m breaststroke).  The other gold medallists were James Finn and Lyra Holmes.  James won the 100m freestyle and came second in both butterfly races, while Lyra won the 100m IM, silvered in the 100m backstroke and took third place in the 100m freestyle.  

There were also individual medals for Callum Shaw and Jake Wood.  Callum won three silver medals and a bronze, while Jake – making his category 2 debut – won a bronze.  Also making his first appearance at an open meet was Adam Boukhchem who got three PBs from his three races.

At the end of each session the swimmers took place in the relay events.  The boy’s team of Ryan, James, Callum and Jake came second in both the medley team and the freestyle squadron. However it was a different story for the girls.  The medley team of Aimee, Sophie, Tegan and Lily were a class above the opposition as they strode away to their impressive win.  The girls completed the set of relay golds by dominating the freestyle race from start to finish.  The team of Lyra, Aimee, Lily and Tegan put in a brilliant performance and brought the meet to an end with a fabulous team effort.

By Colin Holmes