REPORT NER Age Group Championships – Weekend 2
After a tremendously successful first weekend of competition for GAW, the team descended again on the Aquatic Centre in Sunderland for weekend 2 of the Long Course NER Championships. Adding to the 15 final appearances in weekend 1, the age group squad achieved a further 19 final appearances. New to the finalist list were Paddy Speight (50m butterfly), Ella Watson (100m butterfly), and Ellie Houghton (50m/100m butterfly).
In total Team GAW achieved a haul of 9 medals to add to the 7 won the previous weekend. The team plundered 4 gold, 2 silver, and 3 bronze medals giving the squad a total of 16 medals over the two weekends, and 8 NER titles.
13yr old Ryan Zhao again led the way finishing with 3 gold medals to add to the 4 he had won the previous week. Ryan added the 100m freestyle, 200m and 50m backstroke titles to his haul. His 50m backstroke time of 29.97s placed him at the top of the British Swimming rankings for 13yr olds. Ryan also collected bronze medals in the 400m freestyle and 200m breaststroke. He was once again joined on the podium by team mate Adam Barrett who picked up a silver in the 400m freestyle, a bronze in the 50m backstroke and a stunning gold medal in the 200m IM giving Adam his first NER title. Adding to the boys achievement was Ellie Houghton, who smashed PBs in the sprint butterfly events, picking up a valiant 4th place finish in the 100m before collecting a thrilling silver medal in the 12yrs girls 50m butterfly in a time of 31.0s.
As per the 1st weekend the team put in a great deal of effort and performed admirably, again smashing all club records for both final appearances and actual medal haul.
Massive congratulations to all involved.
Paul
