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Boston Swimming Club took 39 swimmers to Coventry for their annual end-of-season open meet. This meet provides many swimmers with their only chance in the season to experience and compete in a 50m pool.

Trophies were awarded for the top three place finishes in each race per age group as well as a Bagcat award for the overall top boy and girl in each age group for points collected throughout the day. Although many of the swimmers were just off their best form as regard to personal best times this did not prevent Boston picking up 30 firsts, 24 second and 19 third place finishes to claim the top team award for the open meet.

Luke Jones (12) and Susannah Yielding (13) both won their respective age groups. With seven swims on the day Luke produced an outstanding series of races when picking up race wins in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke and 100m backstroke coupled with three second place finishes. Susannah had nine races, winning the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke, 200m butterfly and 200m individual medley and also achieving 2 second place finishes.

Other swimmers to future highly in their age groups were George Hobbins (10), Amber Nuttman (11), Oliver Street (13) and Joseph Howe (14) who all finished second and Bethany Holderness (9) who finished in third place.

After such a successful meet, the swimmers can now recharge their batteries over the summer break, with a reminder that training starts again on September 1 for another busy season.

First places: Michael Craven, Rebecca Craven (2), George Hobbins (6), Bethany Holderness (2), Joseph Howe (3), Luke Jones (4), Michael Keal (2), Amber Nuttman (2), Oliver Street (3), Susannah Yielding (5)

Second places: Liam Brotherton, Brendan Clark, Michael Craven, Matthew Coleman, Harry Dean-Allen, George Hobbins (4), Bethany Holderness, Joseph Howe (2), Luke Jones (3), Michael Keal, Hannah Macleod (3), Amber Nuttman (2), Oliver Street, Susannah Yielding (2)

Third places: Liam Brotherton (3), Henry Careless, Michael Craven, Matthew Coleman, Bethany Holderness, Joseph Howe (2), Tony Keal (4), Michael Keal, Chloe Mallett, Amber Nuttman, Connor Spinks, Oliver Street (2)

Personal best times: Caoimhe Atkin-Palmer, Ashley Berg (3), Liam Brotherton (3), Matthew Coleman, Harry Dean-Allen (2), George Hobbins (2), Bethany Holderness (2), Beth Hutchings (3), Holly Hutchings (4), Luke Jones (2), Michael Keal (4), Toni Keal (2), Hannah Macleod (2), Luke Macleod (2), Chloe Mallett (3), Ella Parla, Sofia Parla, Jessica Pettitt, Sam Reed, Scott Richmond (2), Oliver Street, Lewis Teague (2), Susannah Yielding (2).

Report for August 2

Holly ‘flies’ to victory

Round four of Fenland league action saw Boston A travel to Newmarket and Boston B to Ely. Both teams were severely under strength due to most of the club competing at Coventry on the same weekend.

Boston A started the night in fourth place in the league but came up against three teams that had already beaten them this season. Up against such strong opposition the team stuck to their task well producing nine personal bests in total with Holly Sauntson producing the teams only win on the night in a new personal best time in the girls 10/u 25m Butterfly. Megan Sargeant was the busiest swimmer on the night producing four PBs from her five races with two second place finishes and Lucy Howlett managed two PBs from her four races with her highest finish a third in the 50m 11/u breaststroke. For the boys both Brendon Rodrigo and Jordan Ward managed a PB each.

A total of 20 PBs were set from Boston B swimmers with Nathan Sealey and Thomas Hall the most successful for the boys setting three each. For the girls Harriet Needham and Hazel Panton all set two new personal best times.

The highest place finish of the night came from Charlize Arundell, 9yo 50m breaststroke, Tom Cooke 13/u 50m breaststroke, Evan Heward 10/u 25m butterfly and Edward Proctor (9), 50m freestyle. All four swimmers achieved second place finishes.

At the end of the evening, both Boston A and B teams finished in fifth place to leave them in seventh and 14^th place respectively in the league.

Race winners: Boston A, Holly Sauntson.

Personal best times: Charlize Arundell, Chloe Baldry, Tom Cooke (2), Thomas Hall (3), Evan Heward (2), Lucy Howlett (2), Rayna Koshy, Harriet Needham (2), Hazel Panton (2), Edward Proctor, Brandon Rodrigo, Megan Sargeant (4), Holly Sauntson, Nathan Sealey (3), Katy Tointon, Jordan Ward and Ben Woods.

Report for July 25

Boston A cruise to convincing win

Boston A travelled to King’s Lynn knowing a win was essential if they were to have any chance of making the main Fenland League final come October. Starting the evening in sixth place in the league, the team started well with eight race wins in the first 15 races. With a commanding points lead established the team went on to dominate the evening with a further 19 race wins from the final 28 races to win by a margin of 30 points.

Most successful swimmers on the night were Sam Macleod with three race wins in the 9-year-old 50m backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle and a second place in the 10-year-old 50m backstroke. Ashley Berg, Liam Brotherton, Luke Jones and Lewis Teague all managed two wins each for the boys. Alys Cadle was the most successful girl swimmer with two wins in personal best times in the 12/u 50m backstroke and butterfly.

Boston B played host to four teams that had already beaten Boston A in previous rounds. Knowing they were in for a difficult evening the team swam well with William Swain leading the way with when producing personal best times in winning both the 9-year-olds 50m backstroke and freestyle. To demonstrate their dominance in the 9-year-old age group Joseph Reed also won the 50m breaststroke, with Jordan Ward the other boys winner when achieving a maiden race win in the 11u 50m freestyle. Toni Keal led the way for the girls with two race wins in the 13u 50m breaststroke and butterfly.

With the team swimming well a close encounter ensued with Mildenhall for fourth place and although Mildenhall finished the evening strongly Boston B hung to clinch fourth place by 5 points, a result that pleased coach Ian Wells.

These results moved Boston A into fourth place in the league and Boston B into 13^th place.

Race winners:

Boston A: Nester Baxter, Ashley Berg (2), Natasha Berg, Liam Brotherton (2), Alys Cadle (2), Morgan Dodd, Bethany Holderness, Beth Hutchings, Luke Jones (2), Michael Keal, Hannah Macleod, Sam Macleod (3), Ella Parla, Sofia Parla, Jessica Pettitt, Becky Pimlott, Oliver Street, Abigail Teague, Lewis Teague (2), Relay Team

Boston B: Toni Keal (2), Joseph Reed, William Swain (2), Jordan Ward

Personal best times: Caoimhe Atkin-Palmer (2), Nesta Baxter, Ashley Berg (2), Natasha Berg, Liam Brotherton, Alys Cadle (2), Brad Cooke, Tom Cooke, Morgan Dodd, Georgia Hodgkiss, Lucy Howlett, Beth Hutchings, Luke Jones (2), Gwion Joyce, Michael Keal (3), Sam Macleod (2), Chloe Mallett, Yasmin Martin (2), Harriet Needham, Ella Parla, Sofia Parla, Jessica Pettitt, Becky Pimlott, Joseph Reed, Brendon Rodrigo, Hollie Royce, William Swain (2), Abigail Teague, Lewis Teague (2) and Jordan Ward.

Report for July 12

Boston A extend lead at the top

Boston Swimming Club played host to round three of Anglian League action with both their A and B teams taking to the pool.

League leaders Boston A were looking to consolidate their position at the top of the table and got off to a blistering start with four wins in the first five races. Further wins continued to come at regular intervals to ensure that their lead was never threatened throughout the evening.

With maximum league points guaranteed, this enabled the team to swim in a relaxed manner, culminating in a remarkable seven wins from the final 10 races to ensure a winning margin of more than 30 points.

Most successful swimmers on the night for Boston A, with two race wins each, were Natasha Berg, Stephanie Goodale, Toni Keal and Reuben Reed.

It was a different story for Boston B, though. Ose Ikhena got the team off to a good start by winning the first race, the boys’ open 100m individual medley. And after 10 races the team were only a point off second place Wisbech.

But although many swimmers produced personal best times, a string of low placed finishes saw the team slip to fourth spot overall.

Michael Craven produced a strong performance in winning the boys’ 15/u 200m individual medley and produced personal best times in all three of his races. Not to be outdone by her brother, Rebecca Craven won the girls’ open 50m breaststroke with the teams final race winner on the night Alex French clinching first place in the boys, open 50m freestyle. In the end the team had to settle for fourth place just a few points behind their counterparts from Wisbech and St Neots.

Race winners for Boston were:

Boston A: Natasha Berg (2), Matthew Coleman, Stephanie Goodale (2), Heather Guy, Joseph Howe, Luke Jones, Michael Keal, Toni Keal (2), Jessica Murfin, Reuben Reed (2), Sam Reed, Abigail Teague, Susannah Yielding plus the relay team.

Boston B: Michael Craven, Rebecca Craven, Alex French and Ose Ikhena.

Personal best times: Natasha Berg (2), Alys Cadle, Matthew Coleman (2), Brad Cooke, Michael Craven (3), Rebecca Craven, Alex French (2), Bethany Holderness, Joseph Howe (2), Beth Hutchings, Ose Ikhena (2), Toni Keal, Michael Keal, Hannah Macleod, Luke Macleod, Sofia Parla, Emma Penniston (2), Reuben Reed, Sam Reed, Scott Richmond (2), Megan Sargeant, Lewis Teague (2) and Jemma Tointon.

Report for July 5

Boston swimmers claim medals and records

Thirteen youngsters from Boston Swimming Club travelled to Coventry to take part in the Midland Youth and Age Group Championships.

This is one of the largest and hardest regions to compete in with top swimmers from all of the major clubs across the breadth of the country competing for the top honours.

In the Youth Championships, Boston had five swimmers competing. Breaststroke specialist Sam Wright (16) reached the finals in both the 100m and 200m events. Having qualified in second place from the heats of the 200m, Sam had to fight hard to beat off the challenge of two fellow competitors to snatch runners-up place in the final.

In the 100m final, although producing a faster time than in the heats, Sam was edged out of a medal position when finishing in fourth place.

In a competitive 50m event, the heats saw Sam edged out of a place in the final by team-mate Patrick Ikhena (15) who set a new county and club record of 32.16 seconds. Having qualified for the final in fifth place, Patrick could not quite reproduce his form of the heats and had to settle for fifth place overall.

Patrick continued his good form in the sprints by reaching the finals of both the 50m Butterfly and Freestyle where he finished in eighth place in the butterfly final.

Also competing in the 50m butterfly and setting a new club record was Ben Pogson (17) who finished in 14th place.

Having used the butterfly as a warm-up, Ben went on to qualify for all three finals of his favoured backstroke where he set new club records in all three events when finishing in second place in the 50m, third in the 100m and was just edged out in fourth place in the 200m. Ben’s time of 28.25 seconds in the 50m final was also a county record.

To finish the boys’ competition, Sam finished in 22nd place in the 200m freestyle and Patrick was 26th in the 100m freestyle.

Sisters Jessica (15) and Amelia (14) Murfin had qualified for the Youth Championship and it was younger sister Amelia who fared the better when finishing in 32nd place in the 200m backstroke.

Unfortunately for Jessica, she was disqualified for her start in the 200m individual medley.

In the Midland Age group, 10-year-old George Hobbins continued his incredible run of good form this year. Competing in nine events, he was by far the busiest of the Boston swimmers.

George reached the finals of the 200m freestyle, backstroke and individual medley. Although finishing in a creditable fifth place in the 200m freestyle, George’s disappointment was understandable as he just missed out on a third place medal by just two tenths of a second. George then finished in sixth place in the 200m backstroke.

The freestyle became George’s favoured event and produced his highest finishes of the completion when he came second in the 100m and third in the 400m. Showing his all-round swimming ability in the 400m individual medley, George set a new county record of 6 minutes 18.27 seconds when finishing in fourth place.

The last of George’s top 10 finishes came in the 200m breaststroke where he came ninth. In his final two races, George finished 13th in the 100m breaststroke and 17th in the 100m backstroke.

Through his consistent run of top 10 finishes this enabled George to finish in fifth place overall of the Midland region 10-year-old BAGCAT awards.

Freestyle specialist Reuben Reed (13) qualified for the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m events where his highest finish of 9th came in the 1500m.

The breaststroke was the most popular stroke for the other Boston swimmers as Joseph Howe (14) just edged out team-mate Ose Ikhena when finishing in 10th place in the 100m. This was followed by Luke Jones (12) who also claimed 10th place in the 200m.

For the girls, Rebecca Craven (12) just missed out on a personal best time when finishing in 16th place in the 200m breaststroke.

Kimberley Van-Haren finished in 11th and 12th places respectively in the 100m and 200m breaststroke and 16th in the 100m butterfly and Amber Nuttman (11) produced a solid performance when coming 31st in the 200m backstroke.

Report for June 28

Novices have to settle for second place

Boston’s next generation of swimmers travelled to Huntingdon to compete in the Copley’s Cup Novice Gala.

This is a friendly gala for mostly young and inexperienced swimmers to gain race competition experience while not under the strict ASA rules.

A notable difference to ordinary galas was that any swimmer beating the designated cut-off time received only half-a-point for their team instead of their full place points. It is a ruling that tests each team selectors’ judgement when choosing the squads, especially in a Boston Swimming Club context as 25 of the 31 races produced personal best times by the youngsters.

Boston started slowly in the relays but did not have to wait long for their first race victory when Rithika Koshy produced a superb swim when winning the 13/u 50m freestyle. Rithika continued her good form to also clinch first place in the 50m backstroke. The backstroke appeared to be Boston’s favourite discipline as Tom Cooke (13/u) and Harriet Needham (11/u) won their respective races.

With Ben Woods winning the boys 10/u 25m breaststroke, this left Boston just half-a-point behind the leaders Huntingdon at the half-way stage.

Although Boston tried hard to bridge the gap in the second half of races — producing some superb individual swims demonstrating the progression they have made through their hard work they have put in when training — they could only claim three more race wins through Brad Cooke 13/u 50m butterfly, Adam Clark 12/u butterfly and Chloe Baldry 10/u 25m backstroke.

The relays were particularly pleasing as not one Boston team was disqualified, showing a maturity in the swimmers by being able to curb their eagerness in the take over phase while still producing fast swims. In the end, Boston could not keep hold of the trophy they had won the previous year and had to settle for second place behind Huntingdon

Race winners: Chloe Baldry, Adam Clark, Brad Cooke, Tom Cooke, Rithika Koshy (2), Harriet Needham, Ben Woods.

Personal best times: Chloe Baldry, Jason Barnes, Nesta Baxter (2), Emily Brotherton, Jack Carter, Adam Clark, Megan Coleman, Brad Cooke, Tom Cooke (2), David Guy, Lucy Howlett (2), Rayna Koshy, Rithika Koshy (2), Harriet Needham (2), Hazel Panton, Gemma Pimlott (2), Brendon Rodrigo, Jordan Ward, Ben Woods.

Report for June 21

Sam sets new club and county records

Five members from Boston Swimming Club made the long journey to Swansea to gain valuable race experience in a 50m pool in preparation for the forthcoming Midland Championship.

Sam Wright (16) continued his impressive improvement in his favoured breaststroke.

In the 50m breaststroke Sam set a new county and club record of 32.59 seconds when finishing as runner-up. In the 200m discipline he qualified for the final second quickest. Although just off his personal best time in the final he just missed out on first place and had to settle for a creditable second.

He then followed this up by breaking the club record in the heats of 100m with a time of 1 minute 10.47 seconds when qualifying in secondplace for the final. Although he could not quite produce the same form from the heats, he still finished an impressive third overall. Earlier in the weekend, Sam finished in 12^th place in the 100m freestyle.

Also showing his continued improvement at breaststroke was Luke Jones (12). He qualified in second place for the 200m final and although going three seconds faster in the final, he had to settle for second spot. Luke produced a personal best time in the 50m event when finishing in 12^th place and picked up 13^th place in the 100m discipline.

Biggest personal best of the two-day event came from 11-year-old Amber Nuttman in the 200m breaststroke. Amber knocked just over six seconds off when qualifying sixth fastest for the final where she smashed her time from the heats to knock off a further seven seconds in a close battle for third place when just being edged out by 1/10 second.

Amber also qualified for the final of the 200m backstroke where she again went faster in the final to finish in third place. Amber produced some consistent times in her other races to finish 12^th in the 200m freestyle, 21^st in the 50m backstroke, 27^th in the 50m breaststroke and 34^th in the100m backstroke.

Reuben Reed showed his versatility at his specialist stroke, the freestyle. He set new personal best times in five of his six races. Reuben’s highest finish of the weekend came on day two when finishing second in the 1500m event. Reuben then followed up by qualifying in seventh position with a new personal best for the 50m final and managed to go even faster in the final to finish sixth. Reuben also finished sixth in the 800m, eighth in the 400m, ninth in the 100m and 11^th in the 200m.

George Hobbins (10) was the busiest swimmer of the whole programme with seven races. George was one of the youngest swimmers in the 10-12 age group but produced consistently fast time when gaining six personal bests. George finished in 11^th place in the 400m individual medley, 14^th in each of the 200m, 400m freestyle events plus 200m breaststroke and 200m individual medley, 15^th in the 200m backstroke and 26^th in the 50m freestyle.

Report for June 12

Tulip gala success for youthful squad

A smaller and more youthful-than-usual Boston Swimming Club squad travelled to Spalding for the 25^th Tulip Open meet.

Heats in this event are traditionally swum first with the fastest six swimmers in each age group qualifying for the finals at the end of each session all guaranteed a trophy.

This meet is a good springboard for the more inexperienced and younger swimmers to compete at a good standard in a less pressurised environment, which culminated in a profusion of personal best times being achieved.

The first swimmer to make the Saturday morning finals was nine-year-old Bethany Holderness in the 50m breaststroke. Bethany set a new personal best time in her heat and eventually finished in sizth place in the final.

Reaching the boys 9 years final was Ashley Berg. He was Boston’s most successful swimmer over the two-day contest by reaching four finals. In the breaststroke final Ashley set a new personal best when finishing fourth.

Continuing the run of good form in the breaststroke was Henry Careless (14) who produced the highest finish of the morning for Boston when finishing second in the 100m. Completing the morning finalists for Boston was Susannah Yielding (13) with third place in the 100m butterfly.

With the morning session finished swimmers and parents had plenty of time to enjoy the bright sunshine, a variety of barbecues set up on the playing fields as well as watching the Tulip flower parade with its carnival atmosphere.

Fully refreshed from the lunchtime entertainment, Boston swimmers managed to achieve many PBs throughout the afternoon, although only three reached the finals.

Hannah Macleod (11) who was one of three swimmers to reach three finals over the weekend finished fifth in the 100m freestyle, Bethany Holderness came fourth in the 50m backstroke and Ashley Berg with the highest finish of the afternoon session with third also in the 50m backstroke.

After a good night’s rest it was on to the second day’s morning session for Boston which saw several familiar swimmers reaching the finals.

Hannah Macleod came fourth in the 100m backstroke, Susannah Yielding produced her highest finish of the weekend with second place in the 100m breaststroke and Ashley Berg came fourth in the 50m butterfly.

Also reaching the boys 9 years butterfly final was Sam Macleod who finished just behind his teammate in sixth place. Toni Keal (12) had set the tone for the morning session by being the first Boston swimmer to reach the morning finals in the 100m Butterfly where she came sixth.

It was left to Stephanie Goodale (14) to round off a productive morning for Boston with fourth place in the 100m backstroke.

The final session of the meet saw another flurry of finalists and trophies for Boston.

Looking for their opening first place finish of the weekend, their best hopes rested with Hannah Macleod and Michael Keal in the girls and boys 11 years 100m butterfly. Both comfortably made the finals and although both swimmers set PBs in the final they were both edged out in the final few metres to finish in third place.

The good run in breaststroke finals continued this time for the 11 years boys with Liam Brotherton taking fourth place and Luke Macleod finishing sixth.

The weekend 9 years age group double act of Bethany Holderness and Ashley Berg continued in the girls and boys 50m freestyle with Bethany finishing fith and Ashley fourth.

Susannah Yielding’s good weekend finished with fourth place 100m freestyle and it was left to the evergreen Lewis Moses (15-plus) to finish the gala off in style with third place in his only race of the weekend — the 100m freestyle.

Second places: Henry Careless, Susannah Yielding.

Third places: Ashley Berg, Michael Keal, Hannah Macleod, Susannah Yielding

Fourth places: Ashley Berg, Liam Brotherton, Stephanie Goodale, Bethany Holderness, Hannah Macleod, Lewis Moses, Susannah Yielding

Fifth places: Bethany Holderness, Hannah Macleod

Sixth places: Bethany Holderness, Toni Keal, Luke Macleod, Sam Macleod

Personal best times: Jason Barnes (3), Ashley Berg, Liam Brotherton (4), Alys Cadle (3), Henry Careless (2), Brad Cooke (2), Tom Cooke (3), Harry Dean-Allen (4), Bethany Holderness (4), Gwion Joyce (3), Michael Keal (4), Toni Keal (4), Hannah Macleod (3), Luke Macleod (4), Sam Macleod (3), Chloe Mallett (3), Jessica Pettitt (4), Becky Pimlott (3), Holly Sauntson (2), William Swain (2) and Susannah Yielding (5).

News for June 5

Special meeting to discuss pool plans

The executive committee of Boston Swimming Club have decided to call a special general meeting for Friday June 12 at 7pm at the Conservative Club, Main Ridge, Boston.

This is to discuss the present closure of the training pool at the Geoff Moulder Leisure Complex, its demolition following the refurbishment of the leisure pool (within the next 12 months) and the proposal from the executive committee that BASC investigate taking over the training pool from Boston Borough Council and running it themselves.

A meeting has already been held with the council regarding this and they are willing to look at our proposal but we would have to provide them with a very detailed business plan to show that it would be feasible and not cost the council any money.

Any decision would have to be agreed by the full council and nothing has as yet been agreed. However, before committing the club to this, the committee felt that such an important decision should be discussed and agreed at a general meeting by all members.

Club connections are duly appealing to all members to come along and give them their thoughts and opinions on this and to see if the training pool can be saved – not only for the club itself but for all of Boston.

A club spokesman said: “We are not the sole users of the pool and the other clubs etc who use the pool will hopefully be willing to assist us as well. Also if anyone has any other ideas of action that could be taken then please come along.

“If we are to take this forward we shall have to set up a working committee to look at all aspects of this so that we can complete a business plan to submit to the council. Everyone is welcome to come along and speak, and please feel free to invite anyone who may be interested and may be able to help us. However all concerned should note that any decisions that need to be voted on from a club perspective, then only senior members of BASC will be able to vote.”

Round-up for June 2

Champions prove just too strong

Boston A and B teams travelled to Peterborough to contest round two of the Fenland League.

With round one — traditionally a strong round for Boston A — having been cancelled due to the bad weather in February, a good result was essential if they were to have any chance of reaching the main final later in the year. To further complicate matters, a reshuffle of the teams was needed due to several of the usual swimmers competing at the Leicester Open meet. Therefore this was not a good time to come up against defending champions Peterborough Cops.

Boston’s A team started brightly and were ahead for the first seven races notably through wins for Beth Hutchings (12/u 100 individual medley) and Toni Keal (13/u 50m backstroke). Toni later produced her second race win of the night in the 50m butterfly. From this point onwards, though, Peterborough slowly took control. And although Morgan Dodd (12/u 50m breaststroke and freestyle), Abigail Teague (13/u 50m freestyle), Lewis Teague (11/u 50m backstroke) and Ben Warren (13/u 50m breaststroke) all produced further race wins, Boston A had to settle for second place on the night.

Boston B knew they would have a long and difficult night ahead of them as in the past they have only finished above Ely in the league last season. To their credit, all the swimmers swam well with a remarkable 35 personal best times being set out of a possible 42. This performance was even more significant considering several of the swimmers were competing in their first league encounter. Most successful swimmers on the night with two wins each were Alys Cadle in the girls’ 12/u 50m backstroke and butterfly and Jordan Clare, nine-year-old boys 50m breaststroke and freestyle.

Race winners: Boston A, Morgan Dodd (2), Beth Hutchings, Toni Keal (2), Abigail Teague, Lewis Teague, Ben Warren; Boston B, Alys Cadle (2), Jordan Clare (2).

Personal best times: Caoimhe Atkin-Palmer (2), Jason Barnes (2), Nesta Baxter (2), Alys Cadle (3), Jordan Clare (3), Adam Clark (3), Brad Cooke (3), Tom Cooke (4), Morgan Dodd, David Guy, Thomas Hall, Georgia Hodgkiss (4), Lucy Howlett, Beth Hutchings, Gwion Joyce (2), Toni Keal, Rithika Koshy, Luke Macleod (2), Jasmin Martin (3), Emily Murfin, Harriet Needham, Ella Parla, Sofia Parla, Jessica Pettitt, Becky Pimlott, Brendon Rodrigo (3), Holly Sauntson, William Swain (2), Abigail Teague, Lewis Teague (2), Jordan Ward, Ben Warren and Ben Woods.

News for May 31

Adults’ chance to get into the swim

Can your children swim better than you? Would you like to do something about it? Or would you just like to get fitter or get rid of those extra pounds in time for the summer?

Boston Amateur Swimming Club’s adult lessons are moving to Sundays. No more excuses of having been at work all day and too tired to swim. You will have had all Sunday to rest. The sessions are also moving from the training pool to the leisure pool. But participants needn’t worry about the possibility of spectators getting a look-in. No spectators will be allowed on poolside.

Lessons have been running successfully for the last couple of years and currently 14 adults are learning to swim and improving stroke technique and stamina. As the pool will no longer be available on Wednesdays, club officials are moving the sessions to Sunday evenings.

Section co-ordinatoor Jacki Wright said: “We are a very friendly bunch who support each other in their efforts and celebrate our achievements. It’s surprising what you can do when you have other people around you urging you on. Recently, some of us did our 10m and 25m badges so we will shortly have something to show for our efforts. Swimmers in the top group have been learning how to tumble turn and breath correctly while swimming 20m lengths of the pool. Beginners and improvers continue to swim widths until such time as they and the coach feel they are able to move to doing lengths.”

Courses are between six and eight weeks long and fees are as follows:

6 week course: members £12, non-members £20
7 week course: members £14, non-members £23
8 week course: members £16, non-members £25

Details of the next course are as below:

June 7 to July 19: Six week course (Sunday course with no lessons on July 5)

Spectators are not allowed on poolside so there is no need to worry about people watching.

Although ideally participants should start at the beginning of a course. Officials welcome new swimmers at any time. Just contact the club via their www.bostonasc.co.uk website or call Jacki on (01529) 461205 and they can let you know when you can start.

Round-up for May 24

George sets new county records

Boston swimmers travelled to Braunstone for the Leicester Open Meet knowing this was their last opportunity to gain Midland qualifying times.

With most of the older swimmers missing, it was a good opportunity for the younger swimmers to make a name for themselves and show that they have a good future in front of them. This they did in style with two county records being broken and seven Midland qualifying times achieved.

The Friday night session started in fine style as George Hobbins (10) continued his fine form of the past few months by breaking County records in both the 400m individual medley and 400m freestyle finishing in second and thirdplace respectively.

Over the weekend George picked up further medals by finishing second in the 200m backstroke, and third in the 200m freestyle and individual medley.

Also enjoying the 400m individual medley was another 10-year-old in Michael Keal. Michael finished just behind his team mate in third place. This result gave Michael the confidence to push himself even further over the weekend resulting in a first place in the 100m butterfly.

Having qualified second from the heats Michael set a blistering pace right from the start of the final and showed great determination in holding off a stern challenge at the end. Michael had earlier picked up second place in the 200m butterfly and also reached the final of the 100m backstroke finishing eighth.

Fresh from her holidays, Bethany Holderness (9) picked up medals at regular intervals resulting in a first place finish in the 200m backstroke, second in the 400m freestyle and two third place finishes in the 200m freestyle and butterfly.

Another nine year old to pick up a race win was Ashley Berg in the 200m freestyle. Other nine-year-olds to excel were Joe Reed and Sam Macleod. Both were competing in their biggest competition to date with both swimmers picking up huge personal best times. Joe knocked 37 seconds off his 200m breaststroke time when finishing second and Sam produced a 33-second personal best when finishing fourth in the 200m backstroke.

The two swimmers with the greatest expectations to achieve Midland times over with weekend were Kimberley Van-Haren (13) and Amber Nuttman (11).

Although Kimberley started the weekend better with third place in the 400m individual medley, it was Amber who gained her Midland time first in the 200m backstroke. Kimberley had to wait until Saturday afternoon to pick up her first Midland time of the weekend when finishing third in the 100m butterfly final.

Further Midland times followed with third in the 200m breaststroke and her timed gained in the heat of the 100m breaststroke.

It was this event that caused heartache for Susannah Yielding (13) who just missed out on her Midland time in the heat and final when she beat Kimberley in the final of the 100m breaststroke to finish third.

It was a similar story for Susannah in the 200m breaststroke when she again missed her qualification time by just 0.40 seconds although Susannah did pick up a third place in the 400m freestyle.

Another swimmer to pick up her first Midland qualifying time in the 200m Breaststroke was 12-year-old Rebecca Craven. Rebecca later just failed in her quest to achieve the required time in the 100m breaststroke

Another to produce a Midland time in the heat of the 100m breaststroke was Ose Ikhena (14). This time qualified Ose for the final where he finished second with team-mate Joseph Howe in fifth. Other swimmers to reach the 100m breaststroke finals were Luke Jones (12) who finished third and Liam Brotherton (10) finishing in fifth place. Liam also qualified for the 100m freestyle final where he came eighth.

It was in the 100m freestyle that Reuben Reed (13) picked up his Midland time when finishing second. Reuben had earlier finished first in the 200m freestyle and came second in the 100m butterfly final just edging out his team-mate Oliver Street who finished third.

First places: Ashley Berg, Bethany Holderness, Michael Keal, Reuben Reed.

Second places: George Hobbins (2), Bethany Holderness, Ose Ikhena, Michael Keal, Joe Reed, Reuben Reed (2).

Third places: George Hobbins (2), Bethany Holderness (2), Luke Jones, Michael Keal, Oliver Street, Kimberley Van Haren (2), Susannah Yielding.

Personal best times: Ashley Berg, Liam Brotherton (2), Rebecca Craven (2), Harry Dean-Allen, George Hobbins (7), Bethany Holderness (2), Joseph Howe, Ose Ikhena, Luke Jones (4), Michael Keal (6), Hannah Macleod (2), Sam Macleod, Chloe Mallett (2), Amber Nuttman (5), Joseph Reed, Reuben Reed (4), Connor Spinks (5), Oliver Street (3), Kimberley Van-Haren (4), Susannah Yielding (6).

Round-up for May 17

A-team turn on power, credit for B squad

Boston Swimming Club sent A and B teams to Wisbech for round two of the Anglian League. Champions Boston A found themselves in the unusual position of starting the evening in second place in the seasonal standings — although they had the perfect opportunity of taking first place from St Ives with a victory over their rivals on the night.

With this in mind Ose Ikhena got Boston A off to the perfect start with victory in the first race in the boys’ open 100m individual medley. A further five wins in the first 10 races established a comfortable lead for Boston A. This was a lead that was never threatened throughout the night with the team picking up regular race wins to stretch their lead to a winning margin of 29 points.

Most successful swimmers on the night for Boston A were Susannah Yielding in the 15 years and under age group and Connor Spinks (13u) winning all three of their races. Other swimmers winning all of their races were Ose Ikhena and Amelia Murfin (15u) and Toni Keal (13u) with two wins each.

Boston B tried their best to take points off St Ives in their quest for second place and aid their A team compatriots with several race wins. At the half way stage they were level on gala points with St Ives but faded near the end, although they still finished a creditable third.

Sam Reed won both of his races in the boys’ open age category, with Kimberley Van-Haren winning her only race also in the open age category. Boston B won both the girls’ 200m individual medleys with Stephanie Goodale winning girls 15u and Abigail Teague 13u. Boston B’s other race winner on the night was Michael Craven in the boys 15u 100m freestyle.

Due to their efforts on the night Boston A have moved to the top of the league with Boston B climbing up to sixth place.

Race winners:

Boston A: Natasha Berg, Matthew Coleman, Joseph Howe, Ose Ikhena (2), Luke Jones, Toni Keal (2), Amelia Murfin (2), Elvijs Roberts, Connor Spinks (3), Oliver Street, Susannah Yielding (3).

Boston B: Michael Craven, Stephanie Goodale, Sam Reed (2), Abigail Teague, Kimberley Van-Haren.

Personal best times: Matthew Coleman, Megan Coleman, Michael Craven (3), Rebecca Craven, Alex French (2), Stephanie Goodale, Heather Guy, George Hobbins, Joseph Howe, Ose Ikhena, Luke Jones, Toni Keal, Hannah Macleod, Amelia Murfin (2), Sofia Parla, Reuben Reed, Sam Reed (2), Scott Richmond, Elvijs Roberts, Megan Sargeant (2), Thomas Sargeant, Connor Spinks, Oliver Street, Abigail Teague, Gemma Tointon, Kimberley Van-Haren, Molly Wright, Susannah Yielding (2).

Round-up for May 10

Sam sets new club record

Just a week after completing three gruelling weekends at the County Championships, a much smaller than usual Boston Swimming Club team travelled to Peterborough for the “COPS” open meet.

In total Boston swimmers gained six first places, five seconds and nine third place finishes to go with 16 personal best times that included a new club record.

Just three weeks after breaking the 16-year-old 200m breaststroke club record Sam Wright produced another superb swim to knock just over a second off, to set a new record time of 2 minutes 34.42 seconds when finishing second. Sam’s good weekend continued when he picked up two third place finishes in his remaining races in the 100m and 400m freestyle.

Most successful swimmer of the weekend was 15-year-old Jessica Murfin. Although Jessica could not produce a personal best, she still managed to pick up trophies in all four of her races. Jessica finished first in the 100m butterfly and 400m individual medley with second in the 200m individual medley and third in the 50m backstroke.

Younger sister Amelia (14) also picked up three three place finishes in the 200m backstroke, breaststroke and 400m individual medley.

It was also a good weekend for the Ikhena brothers with sprint specialist Patrick (15) winning the 50m breaststroke and butterfly and Ose (14) just edging out team-mate Joseph Howe for victory in the 50m breaststroke. Joseph’s good form continued in the breaststroke with another second place in the 200m and third in the 100m. Further breaststroke success followed with Luke Jones taking second place in the 12-year-old age group.

Not to be out-swum by the breaststrokers, the butterfly swimmers soon got into their rhythm. Although only having one swim each for the weekend Reuben Reed (12) won the 200m fly with Oliver Street finishing fourth, Michael Keal (10) finished third as did Elvijs Roberts (15) in the 100m butterfly. All four swimmers produced personal best times.

Susannah Yielding (13) just missed out on a medal finish in all four of her races but managed to set three new PBs. Toni Keal (12) also set new PBs in both of her races as did Stephanie Goodale (14) in her only race the 50m backstroke.

First places: Ose Ikhena, Patrick Ikhena (2), Jessica Murfin (2), Reuben Reed.

Second places: Joseph Howe (2), Luke Jones, Jessica Murfin, Sam Wright.

Third places: Joseph Howe, Michael Keal, Amelia Murfin (3), Jessica Murfin, Elvijs Roberts, Sam Wright (2).

Personal best times: Stephanie Goodale, Joseph Howe, Luke Jones, Michael Keal, Toni Keal (2), Amelia Murfin (2), Reuben Reed, Elvijs Roberts, Oliver Street, Susannah Yielding (3), Sam Wright (2).

Round-up for April 26

Another quartet of titles claimed

The third and final session of the Lincolnshire Swimming County Championships saw Boston Swimming Club pick up four more county titles.

A further 12 silver and 10 bronze medals were also won with three club records being broken.

Both Ben Pogson (16) and Patrick Ikhena (15) added the 50m butterfly to their growing list of county titles with Ben also picking up the senior boys’ title, an event in which Patrick finished third. Both swimmers also achieved Midland qualifying times. Reuben Reed finished third in the 12 years age group.

For the girls, Kimberley Van-Haren (13) and Jessica Murfin (15) both picked up silver medals in their respective age groups.

George Hobbins (10) was Boston’s other title winner in the 200m backstroke. George’s excellent championship continued with silver in the 400m freestyle and bronze in the 100m individual medley. George also picked up two Midland qualifying times in the first two races.

Boston swimmers appeared to enjoy the 100m breaststroke event. Sam Wright (16) qualified for the senior boys’ final, finishing fourth overall in a new club record and Midland qualifying time. Also gaining a Midland qualifying time was Joseph Howe (14) when finishing second in his age group. Ose Ikhena (13) and Luke Jones (12) picked up bronze medals.

Kimberley Van-Haren finished second in her age group enabling her to qualify for the senior girls’ final where she finished sixth overall, with Rebecca Craven picking up a bronze medal in the 12 years age group.

The 400m freestyle was another fruitful event for Boston with Reuben Reed and Sam Wright achieving Midland qualifying times. Reuben also picked up a silver medal. Harry Dean-Allen won his first medal of the competition with bronze.

Heather Guy (16), Jessica Murfin and Bethany Holderness (9) all won silver medals with Bethany setting a new club record.

Bethany set her fourth club record at the championships with silver in the 200m backstroke. Jessica Murfin also claimed silver in the same event. Jessica then claimed her fourth silver medal of the day in the 100m individual medley. Kimberley picked up her third medal with bronze and both Ose Ikhena and Oliver Street (12) also claimed bronze in the same event.

First places: George Hobbins, Patrick Ikhena, Ben Pogson (2)

Second places: Heather Guy, George Hobbins, Bethany Holderness (2), Joseph Howe, Jessica Murfin (4), Reuben Reed, Kimberley Van-Haren (2)

Third places: Rebecca Craven, Harry Dean-Allen, George Hobbins, Luke Jones, Ose Ikhena (2), Oliver street, Reuben Reed, Kimberley Van-Haren, Sam Wright

Personal best times: Ashley Berg (2), Natasha Berg (4), Liam Brotherton (2), Henry Careless, Brendan Clark, Michael Craven (2), Rebecca Craven (3), Harry Dean-Allen (2), Alex French, Stephanie Goodale, George Hobbins (4), Bethany Holderness (3), Joseph Howe (3),Ose Ikhena (3), Luke Jones (5), Michael Keal (4), Toni Keal (2), Hannah Macleod, Amelia Murfin (4), Jessica Murfin (2), Amber Nuttman (3), Sofia Parla, Reuben Reed (4), Elvijs Roberts (2), Oliver Street (4), Thomas Tamberlin, Lewis Teague (2), Kimberley Van-Haren (2), Ben Warren, Sam Wright (4) and Susannah Yielding (4).

Round-up for March 22

Youngsters build on championship achievements

Boston swimmers enjoyed further success on the second weekend of the County Championships. Building on their achievements from the previous week, Boston Swimming Club produced another 11 county champions. In total there were 11 gold medals, nine silvers and 12 bronzes. A further 12 Midland qualifying times were gained and two new club records set.

Patrick Ikhena maintained his excellent form from the previous week by winning both the 15-year-old 50m breaststroke and 50m freestyle, both in Midland qualifying times. Patrick’s 50m freestyle time also enabled him to pick up the open age group title while his 50m breaststroke time was good enough for third place. This time also set a new Boston club record. Patrick later claimed third place and a Midland qualifying time in the 200m freestyle.

Also keeping up his good form was Rueben Reed when winning the 12-year-old 200m butterfly and 400m individual medley titles. Reuben also claimed third place in the 200m freestyle in a Midland qualifying time.

Both the Boston boys and girls seemed to enjoy the 200m butterfly as this event produced a further two county titles with Michael Keal winning the 10-year-old boys’ event and Jessica Murfin the 15-year-old girls’ discipline. Further medals followed for Bethany Holderness (9 years) silver in a new club record and bronze medals for Luke Jones, Hannah Macleod and Lewis Teague.

Jessica later followed her butterfly success with first place in the 400m individual medley, second place in the 100m backstroke and third place in the 50m freestyle. Also claiming first place in the stamina-sapping 400m individual medley was Heather Guy (16) who clung on to win by just three-tenths of a second. Heather also claimed a silver medal in the 200m freestyle event.

Boston’s other county champion was Ben Pogson when winning the 16-year-old and open age group 100m backstroke in a Midland qualifying time. This time was good enough to qualify for the 100m backstroke final where Ben finished third. Ben also picked up second place and a Midland time in the 50m freestyle and third place in the open age group.

Ten-year-old George Hobbins also had another successful weekend with two silver medals in the 50m and 200m freestyle. George’s 200m time was also a Midland qualifying time. Also claiming second place and a Midland time in the 200m freestyle was Sam Wright. Sam also claimed a Midland time in the 50m freestyle.

Bethany Holderness claimed her second silver medal and club record of the day in the 200m freestyle. Boston’s other silver medal came from Ose Ikhena (14) in the 50m breaststroke. In the 200m freestyle, Ose went all out for his 100m freestyle Midland time after missing out the previous week by 1/100^th of a second. This time he achieved it by turning at the 100m mark in exactly the time needed for Midland qualification. Zak Lomas (15)was another Boston swimmer to gain Midland qualification in the 200m Freestyle and in clinching 3^rd place in the100m Backstroke.

Boston’s final two medal winners were Rebecca Craven (12) in the 50m Breaststroke and Kimberley Van-Haren (13) in the 400m Individual Medley. Both girls achieved Bronze medals.

Four of Boston’s senior swimmers qualified for the “skins” finals. This event combines sprinting speed with stamina. Eight swimmers compete in a 50m freestyle starting every three minutes with the slowest swimmer being eliminated. Jessica Murfin competed in the girls A-final finishing in seventh place. Sam Wright, competing in the boys B-final, kept himself at the head of heats easily avoiding elimination. Sam eventually found himself head-to-head in an exciting final round, eventually winning in a fingertip finish. In the boys’ A-final, Ben Pogson and Patrick Ikhena started off well. Ben was eventually eliminated, finishing in fourth place. Patrick’s sprinting speed enabled him to reach the final elimination but in a tight race was just edged out to finish in second place.

First places: Patrick Ikhena (3), Heather Guy, Michael Keal, Jessica Murfin, Ben Pogson (2), Reuben Reed (2).

Second places: Heather Guy, George Hobbins, Bethany Holderness (2), Jessica Murfin, Ose Ikhena, Ben Pogson, Sam Wright.

Third places: Rebecca Craven (50 breaststroke), Patrick Ikhena (2), Luke Jones, Zak Lomas, Hannah Macleod, Jessica Murfin, Ben Pogson (2), Reuben Reed, Lewis Teague, Kimberley Van-Haren 400 (individual medley).

Personal best times: Caoimhe Atkin-Palmer, Ashley Berg (2), Natasha Berg (4), Liam Brotherton, Henry Careless (2), Brendan Clark (2), Matthew Coleman, Rebecca Craven (2), Harry Dean-Allen (2), Stephanie Goodale (2), Heather Guy, George Hobbins (3), Bethany Holderness (4), Harriet Housam, Joseph Howe (2), Ose Ikhena (3), Patrick Ikhena, Luke Jones (5), Michael Keal (3), Hannah Macleod (4), Chloe Mallett, Amelia Murfin (2), Jessica Murfin, Amber Nuttman (2), Ella Parla, Rueben Reed (6), Elvijs Roberts, Hollie Royce, Paige Royce, Connor Spinks (2), Oliver Street (4), Lewis Teague, Kimberley Van-Haren, Pippa Wilson (2) and Sam Wright (3).

Round-up for March 15

Treble title feat and plenty of medals

Boston Swimming Club took 40 swimmers to the Meres Leisure Centre in Grantham for the first of three weekends of the Lincolnshire County Swimming Championships.

Not only were swimmers chasing county titles, they were also eager to gain Midland qualifying times for this summer’s Midland Championships.

In total Boston swimmers claimed three county titles, five silver medals and eight bronze medals to go with 11 Midland qualifying times and 84 personal best times.

First to gain a county title was Ben Pogson, who claimed the 16/o and open age group 50m backstroke. Ben’s winning time was also a Midland qualifying time. Fourteen-year-old Joseph Howe claimed Boston’s second title in the 200m breaststroke. Joseph set a strong race pace from the outset and used his superior stamina to cling on to first place. Patrick Ikhena won the 100m freestyle final. He came second in his 15 years age group, meaning he qualified for the senior boys final. In the final Patrick set the pace and had built up a substantial lead at the 50m point. Although he faded in the closing stages, Patrick dug deep to claim first place in a fingertip finish. In the process he gained revenge in beating his main rival who beat him in his age group heat.

Medals came thick and fast in the boys’ 200m breaststroke with Luke Jones (12) taking silver and George Hobbins (10), Rueben Reed (12) and Sam Wright (16) all claiming bronze medals. Sam’s time of 2 minutes 35.60 seconds broke the club’s age group record as well as earning him a Midland qualifying time. Sam later produced Midland times in the 200m individual medley and 100m freestyle. Also claiming Midland qualifying times in the 200m breaststroke were both Luke and George.

George will be Boston’s youngest member at the Midland Championships and will also be competing in the 200m individual medley after claiming a silver medal and a Midland qualifying time.

Rueben Reed continued to have a good day by claiming a further two medals with a silver in the 100m butterfly and bronze in the 100m freestyle.

As previously listed, Patrick Ikhena (15) claimed silver in the 100m freestyle and also added bronze in the 100m butterfly both in Midland qualifying times. His younger brother Ose (14) claimed bronze in the 100m freestyle. Ose, though, could not quite emulate his brother. He just missed out on a Midland qualifying time by the agonising margin of just 1/100^th of a second.

The last of the boys to claim a Midland time was Zak Lomas (15) in both the 200m individual medley and 50m backstroke.

Although the girls found medals harder to come by, Kimberley Van Haren (13) produced a determined swim to clinch third place in the 200m breaststroke. Also claiming a bronze medal was Hannah Macleod (11) in the 100m butterfly and Boston’s youngest medal winner on the day, Bethany Holderness (9), took silver in the 200m individual medley.

First places: Joseph Howe, Ben Pogson, Patrick Ikhena.

Second places: George Hobbins, Bethany Holderness, Luke Jones, Patrick Ikhena, Reuben Reed.

Third places: George Hobbins, Ose Ikhena, Patrick Ikhena, Hannah Macleod, Rueben Reed(2), Kimberley Van Haren, Sam Wright

Personal best times: Ashley Berg (2), Natasha Berg (4), Liam Brotherton, Henry Careless, Brendan Clark (2), Michael Craven, Rebecca Craven (3), Harry Dean-Allen, Alex French, Heather Guy, George Hobbins (3), Bethany Holderness (3), Harriet Housam, Joseph Howe (5), Ose Ikhena (3), Patrick Ikhena, Luke Jones (3), Michael Keal, Toni Keal, Zak Lomas (2), Hannah Macleod (4), Amelia Murfin (5), Amber Nuttman (5), Ella Parla (2), Rueben Reed (4), Sam Reed (2), Elvijs Roberts (2), Connor Spinks, Oliver Street (5), Abigail Teague, Kimberley Van-Haren (2), Ben Warren, Pippa Wilson (3), Sam Wright (3) and Susannah Yielding (4).

Round-up for March 8

Reuben claims second county record

Boston Swimming Club took eight swimmers to Deepings to compete in the 1500m freestyle county championships.

Star of the show for Boston was 12-year-old Reuben Reed. Having already claimed the 800m freestyle title in a club record time, Reuben produced another tremendous swim to claim the 1500m freestyle title also in another club record of 18.minutes 25 seconds, knocking 53 seconds off his personal best time.

In the same age category Oliver Street pushed himself to the limit to gain fourth place, taking 46 seconds off his previous best time.

In the 15-year age group Zak Lomas set a frantic pace in the early stages, a decision that he later paid for when he just missed out on a personal best although he did finish in a very creditable second place.

Boston had three 11-year-old girls competing with Natasha Berg finishing in seventh place, Amber Nuttman in eighth and Hannah Macleod ninth.

Natasha also set off at a fast pace and set a new 800m PB, going quicker than the 800m finals two weeks previously. With many people expecting her to pay for such a fast start, Natasha hung on determinedly to record a new 1500m PB by 1 minutes 24 seconds.

A more controlled swim came from Amber producing consistent splits to finish just behind Natasha’s time but gaining the biggest PB on the night taking 1 minute 42 seconds off her previous best. In the same heat Hannah found Amber’s pace too quick but still finished with a creditable 56 second PB.

Twelve-year-old Rebecca Craven also produced a consistent race with evenly matched splits when finishing fifth taking 1 minute 15 seconds of her previous PB, as did 13-year-old Susannah Yielding who also claimed fifth place in her age category with a 36-second PB.

Round-up for March 1

Champions off to a winning start

The new season of the Anglian Swimming League started with Boston A travelling to King’s Lynn and Boston B going to St Neots.

Defending champions Boston A got off to the perfect start in their attempt to retain their title with a comfortable win. With 11 race wins on the night and 14 personal best times from a total of 31 races, their lead was never threatened.

There was a clean sweep in the boys’ 15/u age group for Boston with Michael Craven, Joseph Howe (3), and Elvijs Roberts winning all five races between them. Elvijs also picked up race wins in the open age group at 50m breaststroke and butterfly.

For the girls, Toni Keal (13/u) won both her races in the 100m backstroke and freestyle.

Other race winners on the night were Emma Penniston (15/u) in the 100m freestyle and Ben Warren (13/u) in the 100m butterfly.

Boston B found life more difficult at St Neots with only Alex French in the boys open 50m butterfly claiming a race win.

The team fought hard all night to claim third place, just piping Bottisham by two points. A total of 11 PBs were swum on the night, with both Alex French and Michael Keal each setting two new personal best times.

Personal best times: Matthew Coleman, Brad Cooke, Michael Craven (2), Harry Dean-Allen, Morgan Dodd, Alex French (2), Heather Guy, George Hobbins, Joseph Howe, Michael Keal (2), Toni Keal (3), Emma Penniston, Sam Reed, Scott Richmond, Elvijs Roberts (2), Thomas Sargeant, Connor Spinks, Gemma Tointon and Molly Wright.

Round-up for February 22

Reuben and Jessica claim county titles

Boston Swimming Club took 10 swimmers to Grantham to compete in the 800m freestyle County Championships. And all 10 returned with personal best times.

Twelve-year-old Reuben Reed produced Boston’s best swim of the night when claiming not only the county title but also a new club record, this latter feat arriving with a times of 9 minutes 38 seconds, knocking some 40 seconds off his personal best time.

Not to be outdone by the boys, in the girls 15 years age group Jessica Murfin claimed the county title with a solid swim to finish in a time of 10:09, knocking 10 seconds of her previous best time.

In the girls 11-year age group Amber Nuttman finished eighth and Natasha Berg ninth with 22 and 21 second PBs respectively. Rebecca Craven (12) finished fifth with a 26-second PB, Kimberley Van-Haren (13) fifth and Amelia Murfin (14) ninth, both with 16 second PBs.

In the same age group as Reuben, Oliver Street produced a determined swim to finish fourth with a 38-second PB and Zak Lomas (15) completing a successful night for Boston with third place knocking four seconds off his previous best time. Luke Jones finished sixth in the 12 years section with a 10-second PB.

* Boston Swimming Club are looking for adult swimmers who either want to learn to swim, improve their technique or just keep fit. Adult lessons are provided on a Wednesday night in the training pool at the Geoff Moulder Leisure Complex with no spectators allowed. Anyone interested in joining this small but friendly squad can contact Sarah Goodale on Boston 358847.

Round-up for February 8

Oliver leads way in gala success for Boston squad

Boston Swimming Club took 50 youngsters to compete in the Thetford Open meet. And for the second open gala in succession they came away with the top club trophy.

This was down to some determined and consistent swimming with a total of 114 new personal best times set on the day. Trophies and points were awarded for the top six swimmers in each age category per event.

Boston swimmers picked up 11 first place awards in addition to 10 second places and 13 third places. These, allied to numerous lower points finishes ensured the squad ran out comfortable winners of the team trophy.

Of the 11 race wins it was mainly the younger swimmers who grabbed the chance for some silverware. Oliver Street (13) was Boston’s most successful swimmer, winning four of his five races. Kimberley Van-Haren (13) picked up three wins and also took a third place while George Hobbins (10) won the most trophies on the day with two firsts and three third place finishes.

Rebecca Craven (12) had to fight all the way, producing a personal best time and just snatching first place in the 100m breaststroke. Meanwhile, Ben Pogson (15-plus years) cruised to his customary first place in the 100m backstroke event.

For many of the younger swimmers, this was their first open meet. The vast majority found the stamina to produce excellent swims all day, gaining personal best times in many of the races they entered, notably with nine-year-old Ashley Berg not only picking up four personal best times but also two seconds and two third place finishes from his five races.

First places: Rebecca Craven, George Hobbins (2), Ben Pogson, Oliver Street (4), Kimberley Van-Haren (3).

Second places: Ashley Berg (2), Stephanie Goodale, Heather Guy, Bethany Holderness, Luke Jones, Michael Craven, Sam Wright, Susannah Yielding (2)

Third places: Ashley Berg (2), Natasha Berg, Emily French, Heather Guy, George Hobbins (3), Joseph Howe, Luke Jones, Michael Keal, Paige Royce, Kimberley Van-Haren

Personal best times: Ashley Berg (4), Natasha Berg, Liam Brotherton (3), Alys Cadle (5), Henry Careless (3), Brad Cooke (4), Tom Cooke, Michael Craven (3), Rebecca Craven (2), Harry Dean-Allen, Alex French, Stephanie Goodale, David Guy (3), Heather Guy, George Hobbins (2), Bethany Holderness (3), Harriet Housam (2), Joseph Howe (2), Beth Hutchings(4), Holly Hutchings (5), Luke Jones (2), Gwion Joyce (4), Toni Keal (5), Hannah Macleod (4), Luke Macleod, Sam Macleod (4), Chloe Mallett (3), Amber Nuttman (4), Ella Parla (3), Emma Penniston, Jessica Pettitt (5), Becky Pimlott (5), Joseph Reed (5), Sam Reed (3), Paige Royce, Holly Sauntson (2), Connor Spinks (2), Holly Spinks, Oliver Street (3), Thomas Tamberlin (2) and Susannah Yielding (3).

Round-up for February 1

Jessica and George lead Boston’s successes

Boston Swimming Club held their fourth annual Open meet at the Meres Leisure Centre, Grantham. For the first time the event was held over two days, enabling swimmers to enter more events, as this was their last opportunity to gain county qualifying times for the County Championships in March.

Boston swimmers dominated the two-day event, with 65 firsts, 62 seconds and 57 third place finishes, coupled with a total of 157 personal best times. This performance meant the team collected the top club award with a total of 379 points. Grantham finished second on 282 and Lincoln Vulcans were third with 190.

Although Boston swimmers missed out on the individual top boy and girl awards they did manage to dominate the top ten in both categories. For the boys, Joseph Howe finished 2^nd, George Hobbins 3^rd, Sam Wright 5^th and Michael Craven 8^th. For the girls Jessica Murfin and Amber Nuttman were joint 3^rd, Bethany Holderness 8^th and Amelia Murfin in joint 9^th place.

Over the two days both Jessica Murfin (with 10 wins) and George Hobbins (with 11) won all the races they entered. The only club record to fall at the event was broken by Bethany Holderness in the girls 9 year old 200m backstroke with a time of 3:16.72

Boston Swimming Club expressed thanks to the vast army of club officials, parents, volunteers and sponsors for all their help hard work, commitment and support in making the event such a success, especially in its new format. It was a sentiment echoed by the majority of visiting clubs, parents and swimmers.

Boston first places: Natasha Berg, Michael Craven (4), Jack Featherstone, Heather Guy, George Hobbins (11), Bethany Holderness, Joseph Howe (9), Michael Keal, Hannah Macleod (3), Amelia Murfin (2), Jessica Murfin (10), Amber Nuttman (9), Emma Penniston, Connor Spinks, Molly Wright (3), Sam Wright (7), Susannnah Yielding.

Second places: Natasha Berg (2), Liam Brotherton, Adam Clark, Matthew Coleman (3), Michael Craven (2), Rebecca Craven (3), Stephanie Goodale, Heather Guy (2), Bethany Holderness (8), Joseph Howe (4), Luke Jones (3), Michael Keal (2), Hannah Macleod (2), Amelia Murfin (6), Amber Nuttman, Emma Penniston, Reuben Reed (5), Scott Richmond, Paige Royce (3), Connor Spinks (2), Holly Spinks, Oliver Street (3), Abigail Teague, Molly Wright, Sam Wright, Susannnah Yielding (2).

Third places: Ashley Berg, Natasha Berg, Henry Careless (3), Adam Clark, Matthew Coleman (2), Michael Craven (4), Rebecca Craven (3), Jack Featherstone, Stephanie Goodale (4), Heather Guy (4), Bethany Holderness, Luke Jones, Michael Keal, Hannah Macleod, Chloe Mallett, Amber Nuttman, Ella Parla, Emma Penniston (2), Reuben Reed (4), Paige Royce, Connor Spinks (6), Oliver Street (5), Thomas Tamberlain (2), Lewis Teague, Sam Wright (4), Susannah Yielding.

Personal best times were established by: Jason Barnes, Ashley Berg (3), Natasha Berg (2), Liam Brotherton (5), Henry Careless (3), Adam Clark (3), Brendan Clark, Matthew Coleman (6), Brad Cooke (9), Tom Cooke (4), Michael Craven (4), Rebecca Craven (2), Harry Dean-Allen (4), Morgan Dodd (5), Megan Edmonds (2), Jack Featherstone, Alex French, George Hobbins, Bethany Holderness (5), Harriet Housam (4), Joseph Howe (5), Luke Jones (5), Michael Keal (8), Toni Keal (7), Hannah Macleod (5), Luke Macleod (4), Chloe Mallett, Amelia Murfin, Emily Murfin, Jessica Murfin (2), Amber Nuttman (2), Ella Parla (3), Sofia Parla, Emma Penniston (3), Reuben Reed (2), Scott Richmond (3), Hollie Royce, Megan Sargeant (4), Thomas Sargeant (3), Connor Spinks (3), Holly Spinks, Oliver Street (2), Thomas Tamberlain (4), Abigail Teague (2), Lewis Teague (3), Brandon Whitham, Pippa Wilson (5), Sam Wright (9).

Round-up for January 25

Swimmers revel in new records and best times

Boston Swimming Club held their annual winter championships with only the 800m freestyle event delayed due to the Geoff Moulder pool refurbishment.

With disciplines ranging from 100m to 1,500m, the championships offered swimmers their best opportunity to claim county qualifying times for the County Championships to be held in March. In total 45 new championship records were broken including four county records.

Bethany Holderness was first to break a county record. In the 1500m freestyle race, nine-year-old Bethany not only claimed the 1,500m record but also went through 800m in a new county record time.

She also broke the county 200m butterfly record while also claiming championship records in the 100 and 400m freestyle, 200m backstroke and 400m individual medley.

In the next heat of the 1,500m freestyle, Amber Nuttman also claimed a county record for 10-year-old girls. Amber then followed this achievement by breaking the second oldest championship record for girls that had stood since 1986 in the 800m freestyle. She also claimed championship records in the 100m and 200m backstroke and 100m individual medley.

Kimberley Van Haren set a new 13 y/o 100m individual medley record while Jessica Murfin broke Melanie Marshall’s 1996 200m freestyle record in the 15y/o age group. Jessica also claimed records for the 200m backstroke, 100m, 200m and 400m individual medley and 800 and 1,500m freestyle. Jemma Tointon also claimed a 1500m freestyle record in the girls 16-and-over age group.

Not to be outdone by the girls, a total of 25 championship records were broken by the boys.

Leading the way was Ben Pogson in the 16 and over age group. Ben broke a total of 12 records in all, these being 100m and 200m backstroke, 100m and 200m butterfly, 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m and 1,500m freestyle and 100m, 200m and 400m individual medley.

Patrick Ikhena claimed the 15y/o 100m butterfly and 100m individual medley records, with Elvijs Roberts (14) and Reuben Reed (12) lowering the 200m butterfly records. Reuben also went on to break the 100m butterfly and 800m freestyle records.

George Hobbins produced a string of outstanding results in the 9-year-old age group by claiming championship records in the 100 and 200m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, 100m and 200m freestyle and 100 and 200m individual medley.

In the 200m individual medley, George not only recorded a county qualifying time but also went under the Midland qualifying time for this summers Midland Championship.

In total 424 county qualifying times were achieved by a total of 53 swimmers gained.

Boston Swimming Club thanked all their sponsors and army of volunteers for all their help and support in making the event possible — especially new sponsors Sheila and Steve Wing from Advanced Electrical Limited who took time out to present medals and trophies to the successful swimmers.

Age group winners are as follows:

GIRLS

10y/o and under: Bethany Holderness, 200m butterfly, 200m freestyle and 400m individual medley; Amber Nuttman, 100m and 200m backstroke, 100m and 200m breaststroke, 100m, 400m, 800m, 1,500m freestyle, 100m and 200m individual medley. 11-13y/o: Amelia Murfin, 200m backstroke, 200m breaststroke, 400m and 800m freestyle, 400m individual medley; Kimberley Van Haren, 100m backstroke, 100m and 200m butterfly, 100m breaststroke, 100m, 200m and 1,500m freestyle, 100m and 200m individual medley. 14 and over: Jessica Murfin 100m and 200m backstroke, 100m and 200m butterfly, 100m and 200m breaststroke, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1,500m freestyle, 100m, 200m and 400m individual medley.

BOYS

10y/o and under: George Hobbins 100m and 200m backstroke, 100m and 200m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, 100m, 200m, 400m freestyle, 100m, 200m and 400m individual medley; Michael Keal 200m butterfly and 800m and 1,500m freestyle. 11-13y/o: Joseph Howe 100m and 200m backstroke, 100m and 200m breaststroke, 200m individual medley; Ose Ikhena 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle, 100 and 400m individual medley; Reuben Reed 200m butterfly, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1,500m freestyle. 14 and over: Ben Pogson 100m and 200m backstroke, 100m and 200m butterfly, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1,500m freestyle, 100m, 200m and 400m individual medley; Sam Wright, 100m and 200m breaststroke.

Round-up for January 18

Boston youngsters earn trophy success

Boston Swimming Club travelled to Wisbech to compete in the Arthur Bailey Trophy. This is a novice gala aimed at young swimmers, often providing them with their first taste of competitive swimming — albeit without the strict ASA regulations. Team selectors needed to be careful as any swimmer breaking the designated cut-off times were penalised from collecting points for their team. This was a situation the Boston team fell foul off on numerous occasions as many of the youngsters excelled themselves, producing outstanding performances in achieving personal best times.

This ruling meant the competition was a close contest throughout, with Boston always managing to hold a slight advantage over their main rivals from March and Wisbech. It took the team until the final 12 races for the Boston squad to pull away and record a comfortable win. On the night the team spirit shone through, as the team members provided each other with a great deal of moral and vocal support, helping to ease the nerves and tension before and during each race. This was proven in the relay races as the team won nine out of 10 races and finishing second in the other.

With 20 race wins and 35 personal best times, Boston claimed first place and took the Arthur Bailey Trophy for the first time in five years. After achieving their first taste of success, it is now hoped that these swimmers can go on to bigger and better successes with the club and provide the squad nucleus for many years to come.

Race winners: Charlize Arundell, Tom Cooke, Harry Dean-Allen, Georgia Hodgkiss, Lucy Howlett, Beth Hutchings, Sam Macleod, Yasmin Martin, Emily Murfin, Becky Pimlott, Katie Tointon, girls’ 9s, 10s, 11s, 12s and13/u 4x25m freestyle relay teams and the boys’ 9s, 10s, 11s, 12/u 4x25 freestyle relay teams.

Personal Best times: Charlize Arundell, Jason Barnes, Ashley Berg, Liam Brotherton, Alys Cadle, Jack Carter, Brad Cooke, Tom Cooke (2), Harry Dean-Allen, Claire Fluck, David Guy (3), Georgia Hodgkiss, Lucy Howlett, Beth Hutchings, Gwion Joyce (2), Olivia Kilmore, Luke Macleod (2), Sam Macleod, Yasmin Martin, Emily Murfin, Harriet Needman, Ella Parla, Jessica Pettitt, Becky Pimlott, Gemma Pimlott, Hollie Royce, Holly Sauntson, Katie Tointon, Brandon Whitham, Ben Woods.

Round-up for December 21

Depleted squad forced to settle for fifth spot in gala

Boston Swimming Club made the long journey to Wellingborough for round three of the East Midlands region National Swimming League.

Having guaranteed a mid-table finish with an excellent performance in the previous round, this latest gala gave the team an opportunity to compete against five other mid-table teams and boost their final league position.

With several members of the original team absent through illness, together with a couple of injuries on the night the team never really got into their stride. Only Ben Pogson in the men’s open 100m backstroke plus the girls 13-and-under individual medley relay team managed to produce race wins. In addition, personal best times few and far between.

For much of the evening Boston had their own dual with King’s Lynn for fourth place.

Second place finishes by the girls’ 11/u freestyle relay team, Ose Ikhena (boys’13/u 100m breaststroke), Amelia Murfin (girls’13/u 100m backstroke), Kimberley Van Haren (girls’ 13/u 100m butterfly), Jessica Murfin and Patrick Ikhena (girls’ and boys’ 15/u 100m freestyle respectively) and Ben Pogson (men’s 100 open freestyle) kept the team within touching distance of King’s Lynn with the final round of relay heats to come.

But with only two second place finishes from the girls’ 13/u freestyle and the boys’ 15/u medley relay team from the final eight races, the Boston squad had to settle for fifth place on the night.

Overall Boston finished in 11th place in Division One of the East Midlands Regional League, equating to the second highest placing from the Lincolnshire-based teams, which is a tremendous achievement for a comparatively small club.

Race winners: Ben Pogson, girls’ 13/u medley relay team.

Personal best times: Natasha Berg, George Hobbins (2), Amelia Murfin, Amber Nuttman, Reuben Reed and Chris Willerton.

Round-up for December 7

Boston swimmers retain trophy

A relatively young and inexperienced Boston team travelled to Spalding to contest the Gerry Gibbons Memorial Trophy gala.

With several of the younger swimmers competing in their first races at a distance of 50m, the team knew it would be difficult to hold on to the trophy they have won since 2004.

To further complicate matters for the selection panel, any swimmer beating the set cut-off times for the race would not score any points for their team. This proved decisive on the night as, although several swimmers went close, no Boston swimmer beat the cut-off time ensuring a regular supply of points were added to the team total.

Although the team only produced three race winners in Matthew Coleman (boys 13/u 100m breaststroke), Reuben Reed (boys 13/u 100m butterfly) and the mixed 13/u medley relay team, the consistently high placed finishes ensured Boston led from the start and managed to hold off their main rivals Peterborough Cops for a narrow points victory on the night.

With plenty of vocal support coming from the sidelines from parents, team members and coaches, all the new team members acquitted themselves well in their races enabling them to have an enjoyable evening and their first taste of being part of a successful club.

Race winners were: Matthew Coleman, Reuben Reed, mixed 13/u medley relay team

Personal best times: Charlize Arundell, Jordan Clare, Megan Coleman, Harry Dean-Allen, Morgan Dodd, Harriet Housam, Joseph Howe, Sam Macleod, Sofia Parla, Jessica Pettitt, Joseph Reed, Sam Reed, Holly Sauntson and Thomas Tamberlain.

***

Boston Swimming Club played host to the 21st Lincolnshire County Masters swimming gala. Adult swimmers between the age categories of 18 to 75 took part in races between 50m and 100m in length.

Also at stake was the Carol Patch Team Trophy. Reigning champions Gainsborough were determined to hold on to their title but faced strong competition from Lincoln Vulcans and Boston. It was Gainsborough who started the strongest and soon built an early lead. This was to last until the half-way point when a string of good results for Lincoln Vulcans gave them the lead. This they held onto for the rest of the competition. Although the Boston swimmers produced some good swims, they could never quite catch their counterparts from Lincoln and Gainsborough and had to settle for third place.

On the day Boston claimed 25 gold medals, along with 19 silvers and four bronzes. Anton Kiss was Boston’s most successful male swimmer, claiming six county titles, closely followed by Paul Allen and Lewis Moses with three each. For the ladies Chloe Dix with two titles and Emily Dix and Ruth Kennewell with one each also enjoyed a successful afternoon.

Gold medals: Paul Allen (3), Chloe Dix (2), Emily Dix, Archibald Grant (2), Richard Howes (2), Ruth Kennewell, Anton Kiss (6), Lewis Moses (3), Dennis Taylor, Chris Willerton (2), 18-24 freestyle and medley relay teams; Silver medals: Emily Dix (2), George Dix, David Graves (2), Richard Howes, Ruth Kennewell (3), Lewis Moses, Avril Porter (2), Dennis Taylor (2), Sarah Walter (3), Chris Willerton (2); Bronze medals: Emily Dix, Avril Porter, 120-159 freestyle and medley relay teams.

Round-up for November 30

Quintet tackle top Midland contest

Five of Boston Swimming Club’s top competitors travelled to Leicester to compete in the Midland short course championships. This is the first major contest of the new season.

Patrick Ikhena reproduced his form of last season when he claimed first place in a tight finish to be crowned boys’ 15 years and under junior champion in the 50m breaststroke. Buoyed on by his success, Patrick also produced two excellent swims in finishing second in the 50m butterfly and third in the 50m freestyle.

Spurred on by Patrick’s success, club-mate Zak Lomas dug deep to claim second place in the boys’ 15/u 100m backstroke in a new personal best time. Zak later followed up by just missing out on a medal place by finishing fourth in the boys’ 15/u 200m backstroke.

Jessica Murfin was Boston’s sole female representative and found her rivals slightly harder to beat. Although just coming back into top form, Jessica just missed out on achieving PBs in both the girls’ 15/u 50m backstroke and 200m individual medley.

Last year’s reigning backstroke junior champion Ben Pogson found life slightly more difficult with the move to senior level. This, though, did not stop him from reaching the finals in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke. Ben eventually finished fifth in the 50m and seventh in the 100m backstroke but unfortunately had to withdraw from the 200m final.

Also swimming at senior level for the first time was Sam Wright. He produced a determined swim in the 50m breaststroke to record a personal best time but was slightly off his best in the 100 and 200m breaststroke and 50m freestyle.

*****

Boston swimmers travelled to Spalding for round two of the East Midland Region gala in the National Swimming League. Having struggled in round one, a good result was needed to avoid a relegation battle in the third and final round.

With coach Ian Wells targeting a fourth place finish on the night, it was important for the relay swimmers to set the standard. The girls 11/u freestyle relay team claimed a creditable third place finish with the boys 13/u medley relay going one better for second place.

The team did not have to wait much longer for their first win of the night when the boys 15/u freestyle team consisting of Zak Lomas, Elvijs Roberts, Patrick and Ose Ikhena snatched a last gasp win by just 0.1 of a second.

As the competition entered the individual races Amber Nuttman finished secondin the girls 11/u 50m backstroke to record the best girls finish on the night in personal best time. This was quickly followed by Joseph Howe winning the boys 13/u 100m breaststroke also in a personal best time. These results left the team in a comfortable fourth place.

A string of low placed finishes then followed, allowing Sherwood Colliery to snatch fourth place, although Patrick Ikhena did help the teams cause with victory in the boys 15/u 100m butterfly and 100m freestyle.

Entering the final eight relay races, Boston were still trailing Sherwood. The team slowly chipped away at the points deficit as Boston’s first four relay teams all beat their Sherwood counterparts to take a one point lead.

Sherwood hit back in relay 5 to regain their advantage only for Boston’s 15/u medley relay team to produce the swim of the night by snatching first place by just 4/100^th of a second to put the team back into fourth place. This did not last long as Sherwood outscored Boston in the penultimate relay meaning that going into the final race Boston were behind by a solitary point.

It was left to the male 6 x 50m freestyle relay team. Here, each swimmer produced consistently better split times than their Sherwood rivals to claim third place in the race and fourth spot overall—exactly in line with the coach’s earlier target.

This result leaves the team in a comfortable 12th place in the league and banishing the threat of relegation

Race winners were: Joseph Howe, Patrick Ikhena (2), 15/u freestyle and medley relay teams.

Personal best times were achieved by: George Hobbins, Joseph Howe, Ose Ikhena, Tony Kiss, Zak Lomas, Amber Nuttman, Paige Royce and Sam Wright.

Round-up for November 23

Boston swimmers shine at Midlands finals

Six Boston swimmers aged between 10 and 14 travelled to Coventry over two weekends to compete in the Midlands Regional Championship.

This is one of the hardest and largest regions to compete in, with top swimmers from all the major clubs across the breadth of the country competing for the top honours.

The event was held in a 50m long course pool with all six swimmers gaining long course personal best times. In total the six Boston swimmers competed in 32 events.

Patrick Ikhena achieved the highest finish by a Boston swimmer with second place in the 14-year-old 100m freestyle. He also had notable swims by finishing sixth in the 100m breaststroke and butterfly.

Zak Lomas, also competing in the 14 years age group, had the most swims for Boston competing in nine different events. Zak’s highest finishes were fifth in the 100m backstroke, sixth in the 200m backstroke and eighth in the 1500m freestyle.

Ikhuemose Ikhena produced two good swims in gaining personal best time in the 13 years 100m breaststroke and freestyle in his first Midlands finals.

Reuben Reed produced two weekends of high class swimming in the 12 years age group, underlining his freestyle credentials by gaining not only his long course personal best times but also beating his short course times. Reuben’s highest finishes were ninth in the 1500m freestyle and 10^th in the 800m freestyle.

Not to be outdone by the boys, Kimberley Van Haren had two busy weekends competing in eight events in the 12 year old age group. Kimberley’s best finish was sixth in the 100m Butterfly.

At ten years of age Boston’s youngest swimmer at the championship was Amber Nuttman. Competing in her first regional championship and her first time in a 50m pool, Amber produced two consistent swims in the 100m and 200m backstroke.

Round-up for November 13

Boston A claim runners-up spot

Boston Swimming Club’s A-team travelled to Peterborough for the final of the Fenland League.

Boston started the night in second place and in the knowledge that a gala win would secure the league title — albeit with four of the five rival teams also still in contention.

As such, a night of high-class racing looked to be guaranteed.

Boston found race wins hard to come by in the first 10 races, although most swimmers achieved personal best times to put Boston in third place just one point behind Cambridge.

Luke Jones claimed Boston’s first race win in the boys’ 12/u 50m freestyle. This was closely followed by victories for Rebecca Craven and Lewis Teague. Although Peterborough had taken a commanding lead by the half way stage, Boston found themselves in a tussle for second place with Deepings that was to last most of the night.

Six further race wins on the night — two for Natasha Berg and one each for Megan Edmonds, George Hobbins, Sophia Parla and Connor Spinks — helped the team to second place on the night and runners-up place in the final league table just behind Peterborough.

Meanwhile, Boston B travelled to March for their final Fenland League meet, starting the night with a minus 80 points penalty due to not sending a team in round four because of a clash with other gala commitments.

However, this did not affect team spirit with the team producing 13 personal best times. Although race wins were few and far between, Hannah Macleod won the girls 12/u 50m butterfly and freestyle with Bethany Holderness claiming first place in the girls 9 years 50m backstroke. With the team finishing in fifth place on the night, this left them in 14th place in the final league standings.

Race winners were: Boston A, Natasha Berg (2), Rebecca Craven, Megan Edmonds, George Hobbins, Luke Jones, Sofia Parla, Connor Spinks; Boston B, Bethany Holderness and Hannah Macleod (2).

Personal best times were achieved by: Caoimhe Atkin-Palmer, Ashley Berg, Liam Brotherton, Matthew Coleman, Brad Cooke, Rebecca Craven (2), Harry Dean-Allen, Megan Edmonds, Jack Featherstone (2), Claire Fluck, George Hobbins (2), Bethany Holderness, Luke Jones, Michael Keal, Toni Keal, Hannah Macleod, Luke Macleod (2), Sofia Parla, Becky Pimlott, Reuben Reed, Megan Sargeant (2), Connor Spinks, Thomas Tamberlin, Lewis Teague, Pippa Wilson and Ben Woods.

Round-up for November 9

Top boy Luke leads Deepings medal haul

Boston Swimming Club took 42 swimmers to the Deepings 200 Gala. All races were held over 200m with medals awarded for the fastest three swimmers in each age group. There were also trophies presented to the overall top boy and girl.

With a string of consistent swims culminating in race wins in all five of his races, Luke Jones was rewarded for his efforts by winning the top boy award. Joseph Howe with three race wins and George Hobbins with two both produced another solid weekend of swimming.

For the girls, race wins were harder to come by but Bethany Holderness, Hannah Macleod and Amber Nuttman all produced one win each, with Bethany also claiming three second place finishes. Susannah Yielding also produced a display of consistent performances with second place finishes in all four of her races.

After another successful day’s swimming a total of 75 personal best times were achieved with George Hobbins and Toni Keal producing PBs in all five of their races.

Trophy winners: Top boy, Luke Jones; first places, Brendan Clark, Bethany Holderness, George Hobbins (2), Joseph Howe (3), Luke Jones (5), Hannah Macleod, Amber Nuttman, Elvijs Roberts (2), Oliver Street; second places, Natasha Berg, Brendan Clark (3), Michael Craven (2), Stephanie Goodale, George Hobbins (3), Bethany Holderness (3), Michael Keal, Hannah Macleod, Amber Nuttman, Elvijs Roberts, Susannah Yielding (4); third places, Joseph Howe, Hannah Macleod, Amber Nuttman (2), Scott Richmond (2), Connor Spinks, Oliver Street, Thomas Tamberlin

Personal best times: Jason Barnes (2), Natasha Berg, Liam Brotherton (2), Brendan Clark (2), Matthew Coleman (2), Megan Coleman (2), Brad Cooke (2), Michael Craven (3), Rebecca Craven (2), Harry Dean-Allen (2), Stephanie Goodale, George Hobbins (5), Bethany Holderness (4), Harriet Housam, Joseph Howe (2), Beth Hutchings, Holly Hutchings (2), Luke Jones, Michael Keal (2), Toni Keal (5), Hannah Macleod (3), Luke Macleod (3), Chloe Mallett (3), Harriet Needham, Victoria Needham, Amber Nuttman (2), Sophia Parla (3), Scott Richmond, Elvijs Roberts(3), Connor Spinks (2), Holly Spinks, Oliver Street, Thomas Tamberlin (2), Pippa Wilson (2) and Susannah Yielding (3).

Round-up for November 2

It’s gala glory seventh heaven for Boston A

Boston Swimming Club played host to the Geoff Moulder Memorial Gala.

Holders for the past six years, Boston A were under pressure to keep their run going. But the weight of expectation was quickly eased as the team’s youngsters eased to victory in seven of the first eight races.

Although they could not quite keep up the same momentum throughout the night, a further eight victories from the remaining 19 races ensured a very comfortable win and a seventh consecutive title.

For the boys, both George Hobbins and Luke Jones recorded two wins each as did Chloe Mallett for the girls.

The Boston B team were also competing and, as expected, they found the going more difficult. Although race wins were hard to come by, they achieved plenty of personal best times to edge out Wellingborough B and finish in fourth place.

It took until the final two individual races for the B team swimmers to beat their A team counterparts when Rebecca Craven snatched third place before Joseph Howe produced a tremendous swim to take victory in the boys 200m breaststroke.

A special mention must also go to Harriet Needham and Jessica Pettitt who both produced two tenacious swims each while competing in their first ever 200m gala in the girls 9 years age group

Race winners were: Boston A, Liam Brotherton, Michael Craven, George Hobbins (2), Bethany Holderness, Luke Jones (2), Michael Keal, Hannah Macleod, Chloe Mallett (2), Amelia Murfin, Reuben Reed; Boston B, Joseph Howe.

Personal best times were set by: Ashley Berg (2), Liam Brotherton (2), Matthew Coleman, Michael Craven, George Hobbins, Bethany Holderness (2), Joseph Howe (2), Hannah Macleod, Chloe Mallett, Amelia Murfin (2), Harriet Needham, Victoria Needham, Reuben Reed, Connor Spinks, Thomas Tamberlain (2), Lewis Teague and Ben Woods.

Round-up for October 26

Leicester success for George and Joseph

Thirty-seven youngsters from Boston Swimming Club travelled to Leicester for their first open gala of the new season.

With races ranging from 50m to 200m in distance in all strokes, this event gave coach Ian Wells his first chance to see how well the club’s new squad restructure was developing the swimmers.

With trophies awarded for the fastest five swimmers in each age category, hopes were high for a successful weekend. In all, a total of 74 personal best times were swum culminating in four first places, 10 seconds, 17 thirds, eight fourths and 16 fifth placed finishes.

George Hobbins produced a truly high standard of swimming all weekend. He finished off in tremendous style by winning both the boys 9 years’ 50m breaststroke and freestyle.

In addition, Joseph Howe continued his strong start to the season by winning the boys 12years 50m breaststroke title to go with five personal bests and although just returning to mainstream training Ben Pogson showed he still has what it takes by winning the boys overall and 15 years 50m backstroke title.

Although the girls could not quite reach the same heights as the boys, Kimberley Van Haren produced two second place finishes in the 12years 50m and100m butterfly and Hannah Macleod also finished second in the 11 years 200m butterfly.

The girls also produced arguably the most improved swimmer overall with Amber Nuttman producing personal best times in all seven of her races.

Trophy winners: First places, George Hobbins (2), Joseph Howe, Ben Pogson; second places, Liam Brotherton, George Hobbins (2), Ose Ikhena (2), Luke Jones, Michael Keal, Hannah Macleod, Kimberley Van Haren (2); third places Liam Brotherton (2), George Hobbins, Ose Ikhena (3), Patrick Ikhena (5), Amber Nuttman, Ben Pogson (2), Kimberley Van-Haren (3); fourth places, Liam Brotherton, Luke Jones, Amelia Murfin, Reuben Reed, Oliver Street, Kimberley Van Haren (2), Lewis Teague; fifth places, Emily French, Ose Ikhena, Luke Jones, Michael Keal, Amelia Murfin, Amber Nuttman, Ella Parla (2), Ben Pogson, Reuben Reed (2), Oliver Street (2), Kimberley Van Haren, Brandon Whitham and Susannah Yielding.

Personal best times were achieved by: Natasha Berg (2), Liam Brotherton (2), Henry Careless (2), Brendan Clark, Michael Craven (2), Rebecca Craven (5), Harry Dean-Allen (2), Stephanie Goodale, George Hobbins (3), Joseph Howe (5), Ose Ikhena (5), Luke Jones (3), Michael Keal (2), Hannah Macleod (5), Chloe Mallett (3), Amelia Murfin (2), Amber Nuttman (7), Ella Parla (3), Reuben Reed (2), Paige Royce (2), Connor Spinks (3), Oliver Street (3), Thomas Tamberlin (2), Abigail Teague (2), Joshua Teague, Kimberley Van-Haren, Molly Wright and Susannah Yielding (2).

Round-up for October 17

Team meet daunting challenge with credit

Boston swimmers’ made the daunting trip to Peterborough for the first round of the East Midlands regional section of the National Swimming League. Of the five other competing teams, Boston had only managed to beat Louth in previous years.

As such, the squad members were tasked with achieving an array personal best times in their quest for improvements. And to their credit, a satisfying performance unfolded.

It took several relay races before they found top gear, this resulted in a superb win for the boys’ 13 years and under 4 x 50m medley relay team. This win gave the whole team a lift and a string of personal best times followed.

After 12 races, Boston was comfortably ahead of Louth and were starting to exert pressure on fourth placed Lowestoft and Oulton Broad. This set the theme for the evening. Ose Ikhena snatched first place in the boys 13/u 100m breaststroke and Natasha Berg was just edged out into second place in the girls 11/u 50m butterfly leaving Boston just seven points behind Lowestoft at the half-way stage

Although producing good times a string of low placed finishes effectively ended Boston’s challenge for fourth place, although Patrick Ikhena cruised to victory in the boys’ 15/u 100m freestyle.

At the end of the night a satisfied coach Ian Wells was left to watch the boys 13/u 4x 50m freestyle and 15/u 4x 50m medley relay teams produce second places finishes, leaving the team to finish in a very creditable and comfortable fifth place.

Personal best times were achieved by: Natasha Berg, Michael Craven, Morgan Dodd, George Hobbins, Ose Ikhena (2), Patrick Ikhena, Michael Keal, Amelia Murfin (3), Elvijs Roberts, Thomas Tamberlin, Pippa Wilson.

Round-up for October 3

Gala drama as A-team claim title

Boston Swimming Club played host to the final gala of the Anglian League. Entering the night in first place with a single league point advantage, Boston A knew a win would clinch the title. Their closest rivals St Ives, also knew if they could beat Boston A they would be crowned champions due to a superior gala points tally.

Although the night started slowly for both teams it was Boston A who held a slender single point advantage after 10 races. The only Boston A swimmer to pick up race wins was Amelia Murfin in the girls’15 years and under 100m breaststroke and butterfly.

To compound both teams’ problems Boston B swimmers were in fine form and continually took vital place points off their rivals, in particular when Matthew Coleman won the boys’ 15 years and under 100m breaststroke.

This was a theme that continued throughout the night. Joshua and Abigail Teague picked up wins for Boston A with St Ives responding with two wins of their own, enabling them to take a single point lead after 20 races. Boston B swimmers continued to swim well with all the team achieving personal best times within this period enabling them to mount a strong challenge for third place.

Two further wins were traded with Susannah Yielding (girls’ open 50m breaststroke) and Abigail Teague (girls13 and under 100m breaststroke) while Ben Warren produced two stunning wins in the boys 13 and under 100m breaststroke and butterfly for Boston B, culminating in Boston A taking a single point advantage into the final race of the night, the 6 x 50m mixed relay.

St Ives stormed into a healthy lead. This was a lead they never relinquished, with Boston A struggling in fourth place. With the title slipping away, some strong words of encouragement to the final two swimmers from coach Ian Wells saw Boston A claw their way back to claim a second place finish. That result was enough for Boston A to tie with St Ives in first place on the night but still be crowned overall Anglian champions.

Boston B produced a terrific performance on the night to finish third and clinch third place overall in the league.

Race winners were: Boston A, Amelia Murfin (2), Abigail Teague (2), Joshua Teague, Susannah Yielding; Boston B, Matthew Coleman and Ben Warren (2).

Personal best times were set by: Natasha Berg (2), Henry Careless (4), Matthew Coleman, Hannah Cox, Michael Craven, Jack Featherstone, Alex French (3), Heather Guy, Harriet Housam, Joseph Howe (2), Luke Jones, Michael Keal, Amelia Murfin, Kayleigh North (2), Emma Penniston, Rueben Reed, Sam Reed, Paige Royce, Sophia Parla (2), Connor Spinks (2), Oliver Street, Abigail Teague (2), Joshua Teague (2), Kimberley Van-Haren, Ben Warren (2), Pippa Wilson and Susannah Yielding (2).

Round-up for September 25

Boston A team keep up title quest

Boston Swimming Club youngsters successfully got back into competitive action in the Fenland League following their summer break.

Boston’s A team travelled to Whittlesey in search of maximum points to put pressure on league leaders Peterborough. The team produced a solid display with race wins coming at regular intervals, albeit with personal best times proving hard to come by.

Overall, it turned out to be a comfortable night for the team with 16 race wins. They were never challenged for first place and picked up maximum league points.

Bethany Pogson with two race wins and two best times led the way for the girls, closely followed by Pippa Wilson (two wins and a PB) and Rebecca Craven (two wins). For the boys, Connor Spinks swam well to record two wins and two PBs.

Boston B found the competition much tougher when they came up against three of the top five teams in the league in a meet at Deepings. Their main aim was to achieve fourth place and make life hard for the league leaders Peterborough Cops.

This they achieved by producing 16 personal best times. Swim of the night came from Chloe Mallett in the girls’ 9 years backstroke. She claimed first place in the event — the squad’s race win highlight in what was a determined team display.

With Peterborough finishing second on the night, the results leave Boston A well placed in second place overall just one point adrift. The final round takes place later this month (October). Boston B remain in 12th place.

Boston A race winners: Natasha Berg, Liam Brotherton, Rebecca Craven (2), Harry Dean-Allen, Megan Edmonds, Harriet Housam, Michael Keal, Bethany Pogson (2), Megan Sargeant, Connor Spinks, Oliver Street, Abigail Teague, Pippa Wilson (2).

Boston B race winner: Chloe Mallett.

Personal best times were achieved by: Ashley Berg, Jason Barnes, Adam Clark, Matthew Coleman, Brad Cooke, David Guy, Thomas Hobbs, Georgia Hodgkiss, Holly Hutchings, Michael Keal, Luke Macleod, Emily Murfin, Sofia Parla, Becky Pimlott, Bethany Pogson (2), Rueben Reed, Hollie Royce, Connor Spinks (2), Thomas Tamberlin (2), Pippa Wilson and Ben Woods.