To Warwick Again
The Club travelled again this time to the other side of the county to be apart of the Warwick Thompson Gala at Thetford
Sam Reynolds-Gotts won two medals in his first ever gala. It was no less than gold in the 50m butterfly when he touched in 54.73 and then took bronze in the 50m freestyle with a 42.71 respectively. The 10 year old had two further fourth places and on all four events he recorded a personal best time.
It was also first time too for 14 year old Amber Clark, who won medals in all three breaststroke events. In the 200m she came home in 3:34.12 by three one hundredths of a second. In the 100 it was another finger tip finish as she touched the pad another split second ahead of her nearest opponent for double gold in 1:40.25. However in the 50m she just lost the gold in 45.94 in another exciting close finish.
Milly also had a busy week-end. The team captain brought home two gold medals and two silvers. Her first gold came in the 100m backstroke scoring 1:30.88 and her second one came in the 200m freestyle when she bossed the event completing eight lengths of the pool in 2:45.85, fifteen seconds ahead of any other rival Her silvers were in backstroke over a 50m sprint to finish in 44.03 and 100m breaststroke in 1:50.03 respectively.
After a bout of sickness, just prior to the final session Zerif Gokmen rose to the challenge and won gold. It came in the 100m Individual Medley in a time of 1:39.64, ironically a split second out side her personal best.
Zerif had to swim 25m on all the strokes and looked particularly strong in the butterfly. However, on the last 25m the 15 year old had it all to do on the freestyle. She looked very determined and held on to win by one tenth of a second. Zerif, who has to make a 36 mile round trip each time she trains at the Victory Pool in North Walsham, was pleasantly surprised as was her coach as he explained:-
“I have to admit that neither of us expected any medal let alone gold. In the circumstances I would have been more than happy for her to have simply completed the event, but to win gold was a massive bonus.”
Emma Willimott had a very productive week-end winning three medals. There were two golds to be proud of. In the 200m freestyle she swam the first 50m fast in 40.79 and after eight lengths finished in 3:10.69 with five seconds to spare , averaging 0:48 for each 50m.
Her second gold was in the 100m Individual medley, when she had to swim all four strokes, and then came home to win the event easily in 1:46.99 with seven second to spare.
Emma completed her programme with a silver in the 50m backstroke in 48.85. missing the gold by three seconds. At the end of the gala the Viking coach said
“Emma has really improved lately the evidence being that she completed all her medal swims in personal best times and was one of a number of swimmers who did well.
Lexie Parker had a productive week end winning the 200m Individual Medley in 3:24.35 and then won double gold over the same distance in the Freestyle in with 3:09.70. There was no rest for Lexie as she won two more consolation medals. These came in two breaststroke events the 50m (54.39) for silver and 100m (1:57.56) for bronze respectively. The 11 year old also achieved in a personal best time in all her events.
Siblings Layla and Finn Callaby won eight medals between them. Finn’s best result was the 200m breaststroke when he captured gold in 4:19.25. The 11 year old went on to win two more silvers in the freestyle with 41.57 over 50m and 200m freestyle touching in 3:29.89 respectively.
The club have formed an alliance with Little Fish Swimming Club in Norwich and a number of them swam under the auspices of the Vikings for the first time and did well.
Elsie Coull, of Thorpe St Andrew, won a gold and three silvers. In the 50m Freestyle the 13 year old went 33.54. for gold in a personal best time. Switching to the Individual Medley, she completed eight lengths in 3:14.14 when she had to swim all strokes over the 200m achieving a silver medal. Her second silver was the 100m freestyle when she touched in 1:15.57 agonisingly just one tenth of a second outside the gold. However, she swam a personal best and left another eight swimmers behind her. Her final silver came in the 50m butterfly completing the course in 41.57. again in a personal best time.