Following on from a successful final in Cardiff in March 2019, the Sevenoaks A and B teams were excited to begin their 2019/20 campaign on the 12th of October, with the ‘A’ team competing at Tunbridge Wells Sports Centre, the home of Monson swimming club, and the ‘B’ team competing at Horsham, hosted by East Grinstead swimming club.
With 82 teams currently in the South League, competition is tough, with the ‘A’ team competing in the Premier division and the ‘B’ team in Division One East. Led by Head Coach, Keiron Piper, the ‘A’ team managed to secure a total of ten 1st places, seven 2nd places and twelve 3rd places.
Highlights of Round 1 for the A team included a fantastic effort from Eva Okaro in the 100 fly, coming 1st in the Girls under-13 age group and 1st again whilst swimming up an age group to represent the under-15’s age group.
Other 1st place swims were achieved by Zachary Raymond – Boys 15/u freestyle, Ruth Godfrey – Girls 10/11 50 fly and Izabella Okaro – Girls 13/u 100 freestyle.
The Relay teams also had a successful night achieving 1st in the following races:
• 4 x 50m Medley Relay – Girls 13/u
• 4 x 50 Freestyle Relay – Girls 15/u
• 4 x 50 Freestyle Relay – Boys 15/u
• 4 x 50 Freestyle Relay – Girls 13/u
• 4 x 50 Medley Relay – Boys 15/u
The B team, led by Paddy Ham, had an equally successful night, with impressive swims from some of the club’s up and coming swimmers, achieving four 1st places, five 2nd places and thirteen 3rd places.
Highlights included a superb 1st place and a vital 6 points being brought home by Samriddhi Das in the 13/u 100m Backstroke. The girls relay teams were also on top form achieving 1st place in the following:
• 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay – 9/11 years
• 4 x 50m Freesyle Relay – 13/u
• 4 x 50m Medley Relay – 13/u
The results leave both teams in a strong position for the next round which is due to be held on the 9th of November, with the ‘A’ team sitting in 3rd place and the ‘B’ team in 2nd place in their respective divisions.
Sevenoaks swimmers come out on top in final season gala
The last home gala of the year took place at Sevenoaks on in early October. Teams competing were Sevenoaks SC, Edenbridge Piranhas, Beacon SC, Sutton Atlantis and Chislehurst Millennium.
The event was well fought by all teams, but Sevenoaks held onto first and second places for most of the evening, in some cases with very close finishes. Of particular note two comfortable swims from Kezia Osborne-Walker in the under-12 Butterfly with a four second lead and Iris Jarrett in the under-14 Breaststroke with a lead of four seconds.
The relay events were mixed gender, and therefore a smaller team was selected allowing for each swimmer to compete in two individual events as well as two relay events.
Relays were well swum by the Sevenoaks team, gaining first and second places throughout. In particular the final squadron relay was a clear win for Sevenoaks, coming in ahead of Chislehurst millennium by five seconds.
Good swims from all age groups and some creditable personal best times, especially for the youngest age group.
Edenbridge Piranhas also had a good showing finishing in a solid second place.
The trophy had never been won by Sevenoaks before and will now take its place in the trophy cabinet at Sevenoaks Leisure Centre.
Final scores were:
218.5 – Sevenoaks
172.5 – Edenbridge Piranhas
167.5 – Beacon SC
149.5 – Chislehurst Millennium
113.5 – Sutton Atlantis
