TRIPLE GOLDS FOR LILY MOTIVATES MEDAL MANIA AT GALA
Lily Dear of Mundsley achieved a hat-trick of gold medals at the UEA in a development gala promoted by Great Yarmouth Swimming Club.
In a very close 50m freestyle, Lilly just out touched Anita Edelinski of Great Yarmouth by just under a second to capture her first gold. However her second success was the 50m breaststroke which the 10 year old easily won when she went four seconds faster than her best to win in 54.60 and ironically beating runner up Charlotte Dev-Sherman of the Norwich Swan Club by the same margin. In the 50m backstroke, Lilly was the clear winner in 49.53 from fellow Viking Grace Parker’s 52.16 who took a well earned silver.
There was a pleasant surprise when debutant Isla Cartwright took a double gold. In the 25m freestyle, the 8 year old brought it home in 24.85 with an outstanding ten second margin but in the 25m backstroke only the electronic timing could separate her and team mate Edith Hopkins when Isla won in 28.47 from Edith’s silver medal time of 28.66 respectively.
Vikings took back to back wins in the over 11 year age group on 25m butterfly in both the boys’ and girls’ races. Team Captain Bebe King scored 21.88 in a close race and Razvan Platon won in 26.23. It was a double gold too for 9 year old Reuben Seaman of Aylsham in the 50m backstroke with 49.37 and 51.86 for his butterfly over the same distance. Single golds were awarded to Baille Beighten of Bacton in the 25m breaststroke in 32.46 and new comer to the club Mimi Hinton-Upward 31.91 also over the same distance respectively..
With the addition of Toby Caufield, Rosa Sadler, Layla Callaby and Amiyah Hawes in the team, the Vikings won 11 Golds,7 Silvers and 5 Bronze Medals. The most medals in any one gala for a long time.
Note – The club has since received the following comment from a parent
She had the best time on Saturday, not because of the medals, she just really enjoyed the whole event. I think it’s given her a real confidence boost. I felt so proud of the whole club, and was very impressed with the coaches and all from vikings who helped out. They all did the club proud! It was a great event and a great day to be part of.