All-rounders excel for B&E

THE final stage of the Lancashire County Championships and Age Group Competition saw continued success for Bury & Elton, at Wigan, last weekend.

All swimmers performed well with many achieving considerable improvements to personal best times. Rebecca Bennett smashed her personal best by nine seconds in the girl's 11 year 200 metre freestyle, achieving a National qualifying time of two minutes 33.48 seconds.

Adam Rhoden's medal winning streak continued with a bronze in the boys 11 year 200m Individual Medley, and fourth place in the 100m backstroke. Adam amassed an incredible 1194 BAG-CAT points during the Age Group championship, securing the boys 11 years Lancashire Championship bronze BAG-CAT award.

Daniel Hitchlock also added to his championship medal collection winning bronze in both the 400m freestyle and the 100m backstroke.

Aron Cooper knocked two seconds off his personal best time for the 200m Individual medley securing 4th place. He also came 7th in the boys 13 years 100m backstroke and achieved the 6th highest BAG-CAT points score for his age group.

Other swimmers who achieved top positions were Helen James, 7th in the 15's 400m freestyle, Nick Swirad 6th in the boys 10 year 200m Individual Medley and Mark Dorey, 5th in the 15 year boys 100m backstroke.

During the previous weekend, a number of the team's 'up and coming' swimmers took part in the Lancashire 50m Sprint competition. All swimmers secured top 10 positions, which is impressive considering many had never swum in a 50m 'long course' pool before. Megan Ormrod won Bronze in the girls 10 years 50m freestyle in her first visit to Wigan pool. Other swimmers who achieved top positions included Thomas Massey, 5th freestyle; Nicholas Swirad, 7th freestyle and Linsey Tuckerman 7th and 10th in backstroke and breast stroke respectively.

Head coach, Lesley Cunliffe said, "The teams performance throughout the Lancashire Championships has been exceptional. The fact that many swimmers achieved medal-winning positions in a range of strokes and distances, demonstrates their remarkable 'all round' ability and level of fitness. We will continue to work hard in training to maintain this momentum".