LEYLAND Barracudas Micro A team made it four wins out of four when they beat Fleetwood, Newton Hall, and Rosegrove at Padiham Pool.
Even after a run of three victories Barracudas were ready for work when they took to the blocks.
An excellent first quarter gave them great confidence with notable swims from Grace Raines in the 10/under two length butterfly and the 9/under boys in the freestyle relay from David Greenbank, Matthew Houghton, Michael Raines.
With Fleetwood leading by four points, a string of first places in the following quarter kept the pressure on.
Jack Johnson provided enormous excitement blazing to victory in the boys 12/under two length breaststroke, and again the boys 10/under freestyle relay with Jack Thornton, Luke Gibson, Matthew Norris and William Holme gave Barracudas plenty to shout about.
Natalie Murray held a good second place in the 11/under two length butterfly.
Hannah Gregson showed great form in the 10/under two length backstroke and Alex Unkles had a tremendous race in the girls 12/under two length freestyle finishing in just over 32 seconds.
Another commanding swim came from Lisa Topping in the 11/under two length breaststroke.
The Barracudas had waited patiently for the final quarter. Some of the previous races had been close but this is where they really shone.
Eight wins out of 11 races confirmed another victory for the Leyland club.
Preparation starts now for the "swim offs" in September before the regional finals in the autumn.
A TEAM including some 17 newcomers made up the Leyland Barracudas Micro B Team at Lancaster's Salt Ayre pool.
Thomas Watson, Aaron Moring, Jennifer Barnes and Emily Dickinson competing in the first ever event where first off the blocks.
Some creditable swims in the individual races, all taking second place to Lancaster, were from Jamie Roper in the 10yr Freestyle, John Hemson 12yr backstroke, Hannah Bridge 12yr Butterfly and Matthew Breenbank in the 12yr Butterfly.
Still searching for the first win of the night, up stepped Abbie Woodhouse in the 11 yr 50m Butterfly. Right from the start Abbie took control of the race to storm home to a massive cheer from the Leyland supporters. Not to be outdone, Mark Chester repeated the same in the boys event.
The success continued in the girls 10yr 25m Butterfly with Melissa Hodgkiss taking first place.
The race of the night came in the boys 10yr 25m butterfly when Jamie Roper swam neck and neck with the other swimmers but pulled away in the final metres to grab a great victory.
The final result: Lancaster first, Leyland second, Blackpool third and Colne fourth.
THE LADIES freestyle team came a close second when they met Rosegrove - Rachel Horrocks, Hazel Raimond, Charlotte raimond and Linda Strettle being the swimmers.
The men also took second with Ian Proctor, Ian Aquilar, Philip Isherwood and Mark Wood. Reliably, Ryan Bennett swam another win in the 12/u butterfly. After 12 races the pattern was established: Newton Hall in the lead, Barracudas second and Rosegrove third.
The girls 12/u swam brilliantly and also had an excellent win. Lisa Topping put the team in the lead and the remaining three all held on to it, Alex Unkles, Rebecca Rhodes and Rachel Flanders.The boys did the same and had a very good win with John Halliwell, Graham Donald, Ryan Bennett and Jack Johnson.
There was an exciting race in the 14/u freestyle team with Nicole Aquilar, Katy Greig, Helen Ward and Catherine Van Russell, every stroke counted. And the boys took a substantial lead - nearly 3/4 length in the 12/u Boys Medley relay. Carole Wilcox finished well in the lead in the Ladies backstroke, giving Leyland a comfortable second place and Newton Hall taking first.
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