This gave swimmers the first opportunity to gain county qualifying times for next year’s County Championships. Competing in five events — 50m backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle and 100m individual medley — a total of 17 new championship records were set.

In the senior boys’ 14-and-over age category Patrick Ikhena (16) broke three records, the 50m butterfly, freestyle and individual medley while also taking the breaststroke title. Patrick was stopped from making a clean sweep of titles by the evergreen Lewis Moses (20) who took the 50m backstroke discipline..

In the 9, 10 and 11 to 13 age group, Jordan Clare (9), James Hurley (10) and Luke Jones (13) took all five of their titles. James also broke the 100m individual medley record and the 50m butterfly which has stood since 1991.

Although being piped to the titles by Luke, George Hobbins (11) broke four records in which three had stood since the early 1990s — 50m freestyle (91), butterfly (92), individual medley (94) as well as Ben Pogson’s 50m backstroke record of 2003. Ben was to lose another one of his backstroke records as Connor Spinks (12) set a new time of 34.07 seconds.

In the 8/u category Archie Bulman (8) and Isaac Reed (7) both won two events each with Alfie Hobbins (8) winning the 50m freestyle.

In the girls’ events, the titles were shared more evenly as no one girl totally dominated. This was most notable in the 14-and-over age category as three different swimmers took titles.

Toni Keal (14) broke the 50m butterfly and backstroke records when taking first place with Stephanie Goodale also breaking the 15-year-old backstroke record. Amelia Murfin (15) claimed the individual medley title with Susannah Yielding (15) winning the 50m freestyle and breaststroke titles and breaking the 50m breaststroke record that had stood since 1994.

In the 11 to 13 age group Amber Nuttman (12) took three titles — 50m backstroke, breaststroke and individual medley and in doing so broke the 50m breaststroke and backstroke records with Hannah Macleod (13) taking the 50m butterfly and freestyle titles.

Bethany Holderness won three titles in the 10-year age group including a new championship record in the 50m freestyle which had stood since 1994. Jessica Pettitt took the remaining titles in this age group, 50m butterfly and individual medley.

Charlize Arundell (9) was the most dominant girl at the gala, winning four events in her age group but was denied winning all five events by Libby Dean-Allen who won the 100m individual medley. Eight year old Amber Blower won all three events in her age group when coming first in the 50m backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle.

Due to a packed autumn schedule, the long distance races were brought forward to July. Again the swimmers were in fine form as a total of seven championship and one county record were broken, the majority by the girls. In the 1500m freestyle Bethany Holderness (10) set a new county record with a time of 21 mins 17.80 seconds. Amber Nuttman reduced the 12-year-ld record by over a minute-and-a-half with Hannah Macleod (13) and Rebecca Craven (14) both breaking their respective age group records. The only boy to set a new record was George Hobbins (11) taking just over 20 seconds off to record a time of 19.13.50.

In the 800m freestyle George was again in fine form recording a new record time of 10.02.40. Having broken the 1500m record Rebecca Craven was at it again in the 800m taking six seconds off the 14 years old record and Susannah Yielding knocked seven seconds off the 15 years old age group record.

8/u years old: Archie Bulman, 50m breaststroke, 100m individual medley; Isaac Reed, 50m backstroke, butterfly; Alfie Hobbins, 50m freestyle.

9-year-old: Jordan Clare, 50m backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle, 100m individual medley.

10-year-old: James Hurley, 50m backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle, 100m individual medley; Sam Macleod, 800m and 1500m freestyle.

11 to 13-year-old: Luke Jones, 50m backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle, 100m individual medley; George Hobbins, 800m and 1500m freestyle.

14-plus: Patrick Ikhena, 50m breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle, 100m individual medley; Lewis Moses, 50m backstroke; Reuben Reed, 800m and 1500m freestyle.

8-years-old: Amber Blower, 50m backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle.

9-years-old: Charlize Arundell, 50m backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle; Libby Dean-Allen, 100m individual medley.

10-years-old: Bethany Holderness, 50m backstroke, freestyle, 100m individual medley; Jessica Pettitt, 50m breaststroke, butterfly, 800m and 1500m freestyle.

11 to 13 years old:Amber Nuttman, 50m backstroke, breaststroke, 100m individual medley, 800m and 1500m freestyle; Hannah Macleod, 50m butterfly, freestyle.

14-plus: Susannah Yielding, 50m breaststroke, 50m freestyle; Toni Keal, 50m backstroke, butterfly; Amelia Murfin, 100m individual medley; Rebecca Craven, 800m and 1500m freestyle.

Championship records: Rebecca Craven (2), George Hobbins (6), Patrick Ikhena (3), Connor Spinks, James Hurley (2), Bethany Holderness, Hannah Macleod, Amber Nuttman (3), Toni Keal (2), Stephanie Goodale , Susannah Yielding (2).

Report for July 17

Two teams representing Boston Swimming Club hit the road for their latest gala action. Boston A travelled to Bedford and Boston B went to Whittlesey for round three of the Anglian Swimming League.

A strong Boston B team took on league leaders St Ives hoping to take valuable league and gala points off them in the hope of boosting the A teams hopes of retaining their league title. Although the team started slowly race wins by Reuben Reed (15/u 100m butterfly) and Lewis Teague (13/u 100m freestyle) left the team one point behind St Ives after the first 10 races with West Norfolk establishing a commanding lead.

Further race wins by Sam Macleod (13/u 200m individual medley), Toni Keal (15/u freestyle) and Lauren Hurley (13/u 100m backstroke) kept the team hot on the heels of their competitors with just 10 races remaining.

A further four race wins in the final 10 events by Lauren Hurley picking up her second win of the evening in the 13/u 100m butterfly, Rebecca Craven winning the 15/u 200m individual medley and George Hobbins winning both the 13/u 100m butterfly and breaststroke meant the team finished in third place on the night just behind St Ives with West Norfolk taking maximum league points.

This result meant that a convincing win for Boston A would take them top of the league with one round to go.

This they achieved in a comfortable manner. They were quick out of the blocks with 6 race wins out of the first 10 events. Having quickly establishing a commanding lead they never looked back as a further four race wins in the next 10 races increased their lead and by the end of the evening having been victorious in five of the last 11 races they took their gala points tally to 100 and gained maximum league points.

Most notable performances on the evening came mostly from the girls as Amber Nuttman (15/u 100m breaststroke, 100m backstroke and 200m individual medley) and Susannah Yielding (15/u 100m butterfly, girls open 50m butterfly and freestyle) both won three races each and Stephanie Goodale (girls open 50m backstroke and 100m individual medley) two races.

For the boys, the ever green Alex French won the open 50m butterfly in a new personal best time and Jordan Ward (13/u 100m butterfly) knocked some impressive seconds off his previous best time in taking first place.

This result meant the team top the league for the first time this season equal on league points with St Ives but crucially one gala point better off with just one round remaining.

Race winners: Boston A, Henry Careless, Matthew Coleman, Alex French, Stephanie Goodale (2), Beth Hutchings, Michael Keal, Hannah Macleod, Amber Nuttman (3), Jordan Ward, Susannah Yielding (3), relay team; Boston B, Rebecca Craven, George Hobbins (2), Lauren Hurley (2), Luke Jones, Toni Keal, Sam Macleod, Reuben Reed, Lewis Teague.

Personal best times: Liam Brotherton, Henry Careless, Brendan Clark, Rebecca Craven (3), Alex French, Stephanie Goodale, Bethany Holderness, George Hobbins, Lauren Hurley, Beth Hutchings, Luke Jones (2), Michael Keal, Toni Keal (2), Hannah Macleod, Sam Macleod (2), Jessica Pettitt, Reuben Reed, Oliver Street, Thomas Tamberlin, Lewis Teague, Jordan Ward.

Report for July 10

Boston swimmers shine at Midland Championships

Nine swimmers from Boston Swimming Club travelled to Coventry’s 50m long course pool to take part in the Midlands Championships held over two weekends.

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.

Ten-year-old James Hurley was Boston’s busiest swimmer competing in 11 events. James’ best result came in the 100m freestyle where he claimed a bronze medal and lowered his own county record to 1 minute 10.98 seconds.

James also made the final of the 200m butterfly finishing in eighth position, again lowering his own county record to 3:11.05. These results were backed up by a string of other impressive swims to claim eighth place in his age group BAGCAT awards which also included James lowering two more of his own county records in the 200m individual medley and 400m freestyle.

George Hobbins (11) was Boston’s highest placed swimmer in the BAGCAT awards by achieving seventh place. This came after an impressive six top ten finishes. George’s best results came in the 200m freestyle when he reached the final to claim fifth place and just missed out on his national qualifying time by less than a second and two sixth place finishes in the 100m and 400m freestyle.

In total, George lowered eight of his own county records that included the 100m/200m and 400m freestyle, 100 and 200m breaststroke, 200m backstroke, 200 and 400m individual medley.

Luke Jones (13) was the only other Boston swimmer to reach a final. Competing in three events Luke entered the 200m breaststroke final sixth fastest from the heats. Although swimming faster in the final than his heat Luke had to settle for seventh overall. Luke also recorded impressive times in both the 200m and 400m individual medley.

Connor Spinks (12) competing in the 100m and 200m backstroke events found the going tough but produced two determined swims and produced a personal best time in the 100m backstroke.

Competing in four events in his first Midland Championship 10-year-old Sam Macleod gained valuable experience competing at this level. Although just off his personal best times, Sam’s highest place finish of 27th came in the 200m individual medley. Older sister Hannah had just the one race, 200m backstroke and struggled to come to terms with the competition finishing in 33rd place.

Bethany Holderness competing in the 10-year-old age category swam very well in her first Midland Championship finishing in 15th place in the BAGCAT awards. Bethany competed in six events with her best results being ninth in the 400m freestyle and 10th in the 400m individual medley with Bethany also lowering her own county record by eight seconds in the 200m backstroke.

Amber Nuttman (12) continued her year-on-year improvement at this competition to good effect when finishing in 24th place in the BAGCAT awards. From her six events, Amber’s best place finishes came in the 100m and 200m breaststroke event where she finished in 13th and 11th place respectively.

Unfortunately for Boston’s Reuben Reed, illness meant he could not compete in his events on the first weekend and although he tried his best in the 200m freestyle held on the second weekend he was clearly far from his best and had to withdraw from his remaining events.

Report for July 3

Boston A topple league leaders

The Geoff Moulder Swimming Pool played host to round three of the Fenland Swimming League.

Both Boston A and B teams were in action with the hope of toppling league leaders Peterborough B.

Boston A, starting the evening in fifth place in the league got off to a very strong start by winning eight out of the first 10 races. Jason Barnes and Jessica Pettitt set the team on its way by winning the girls and boys 12/u 100m individual medley.

This was quickly followed by Lewis Teague and Hollie Royce taking first place in the 13/u 50m backstroke. Libby Dean-Allen (9 years 50m freestyle) and Jordan Clare (10/u 50m breaststroke) kept the ball rolling. And when Gwion Joyce and Yasmin Martin both won the 11/u 50m butterfly this left the team with a 14-point lead after the first 10 races.

At no stage during the evening did the team ever look like surrendering this advantage. And by the half-way stage they had increased their advantage to 26 points, winning 13 races. Although not quite as dominant in the second half of the evening, a further eight race wins increased their lead to a winning margin of 38 points.

Over the evening Jordan Clare won three out of four races and finished second in the other with Jason Barnes, Liam Brotherton, Libby Dean-Allen, Jessica Pettitt, Becky Pimlott and Lewis Teague all providing good support by winning two races each. This result moves the team into third place in the league.

Boston B found the going slightly harder but a close battle with Ely for fourth place kept the team pushing hard for personal best times and valuable race points. It took team captain Hannah Macleod to record the B squad’s first race win of the evening when succeeding in the girls 13/u 50m breaststroke. This result was soon followed by their only other win on the night when Beth Hutchings took first place in the 13/u 50m butterfly.

Joe Reed was their busiest swimmer on the night with six races in which he achieved four personal best times with his highest finish coming in the 10/u 25m butterfly and Evan Heward achieved three personal best times from his four races.

Most consistent but unluckiest swimmer was Chloe Mallett who matched the winning time in the 11/u 50m freestyle but was placed second. Chloe also achieved two more second place finishes and a third.

Although the team fought hard, they could not quite take fourth place, missing out by just one point. This result dropped the team one place to 14th in the league.

Race winners were:

Boston A: Charlize Arundell, Jason Barnes (2), Liam Brotherton (2), Jordan Clare (3), Libby Dean-Allen (2), Gwion Joyce, Michael Keal, Jasmin Martin, Jessica Pettitt (2), Becky Pimlott (2), Hollie Royce, Lewis Teague (2), 8 x 25m freestyle relay.

Boston B: Beth Hutchings, Hannah Macleod.

Personal best times: Charlize Arundell (2), Caoimhe Atkin-Palmer, Chloe Baldry (3), Jason Barnes (3), Myles Beagles, Amber Blower, Liam Brotherton (2), Hugh Cadle, Jordan Clare (3), Megan Coleman, William Craven (2), Libby Dean-Allen (2), Evan Heward(3), Beth Hutchings, Gwion Joyce, Michael Keal, Hannah Macleod, Chloe Mallett (3), Yasmin Martin (2), Laura Mathews, Jessica Pettitt (3), Becky Pimlott (3), Joe Reed (4), Hollie Royce, Thomas Tamberlin, Lewis Teague (2).

Report for June 27

County records tumble to Boston swimmers

Thirteen youngsters from Boston Swimming Club made the longest trip of the year to the Welsh national pool to compete at the Swansea Open meet.

This meet gave the swimmers valuable racing experience in a 50-metre pool before June’s Midland Championships. It was no surprise to see the swimmers performance improve as the weekend progressed once they got use to the pool.

Due to the new long course set up for county records it also gave the swimmers a chance to gain county records which they did with aplomb as 53 new county records were set over the three-day event.

In the boys’ events Reuben Reed (14) competing in eight events reached the finals of the 200m butterfly and 200m freestyle where he finished in fourth and fifth place respectively. On both occasions Reuben improved by two places on his heat placing. Other notable placings were fifth in the 400m freestyle and 6th in the 800m freestyle.

Younger brother Joe (10) had the quietest weekend of all the swimmers with just the one race where he finished in 23rd place in the 200m breaststroke.

Oliver Street (14) produced a string of solid performances with his highest finishes coming in the1500m freestyle with 4th place and 11th in the 200m butterfly.

Luke Jones (13) reached the final of the 200m breaststroke. Starting the final eighth fastest Luke improved as he race went on to finish in sixth place. Luke’s highest place finish of the weekend also came in the 1500m freestyle where he finished in third.

Connor Spinks (12) had a quiet weekend with only four races. Connor’s highest place finish came in the 1500m freestyle when finishing fourth and he made the final of the 200m backstroke where he achieved seventh place.

George Hobbins (11) was the busiest swimmer over the weekend with 13 races. Although competing against boys a year older, he produced a series of high place finishes. George finished in first place in the 1500m freestyle and made the finals of the 200m butterfly (5th), 200m individual medley (eighth), 200m Freestyle (sixth) as well as sixth 400m individual medley and eighth 400m freestyle in the heat-declared winners’ races. His attempt to gain his National qualifying time in the 200m freestyle just failed as he finished just over a second outside the required time.

Two other busy swimmers were 10-year-olds James Hurley and Sam Macleod who competed in 10 races each. Both swimmers made the final of the 200m butterfly where Sam finished seventh and James eighth. It was difficult for both swimmers to achieve high place finishes as they were both competing in the 12-year-old age category, although James consistently achieved the high place finishes especially in the 400m individual medley were he finished in ninth place.

Susannah Yielding (14) joined the team for the Sunday events and made the long trip worthwhile by finishing in fifth place in the 800m freestyle and reached the final of the 100m breaststroke coming seventh.

Twelve-year-olds Amber Nuttman and Hannah Macleod competing in 12 and 11 races respectively both made two finals each. Hannah entered the 200m backstroke final slightly faster from their heats but it was Amber who snatched fifth place in a finger tip finish to just edge out Hannah.

Hopes were high for Amber in the 200m breaststroke when she qualified in third place but could not quite keep up the same momentum finishing in fifth place in the final but then produced arguably the best swim of the weekend in the 1500m freestyle when finishing in third place in a new short course personal best time. Hannah’s second final came in the 200m butterfly. Entering the final sixth fastest she knocked two seconds off her heat time to finish in fourth place. Hannah also came sixth in the 800m freestyle.

Boston’s third 12-year-old girl was Lauren Hurley who competed in five races swimming consistently in each one with her highest finish in the 1500m freestyle coming fifth.

Bethany Holderness (10) was the only Boston swimmer to finish in the top three of a final when finishing in third place out of three in the 200m butterfly. Bethany also achieved high place finishes with sixth in the 400m freestyle and seventh in the 400m individual medley.

New county records: George Hobbins 18, James Hurley 15, Bethany Holderness 7, Amber Nuttman 6, Hannah Macleod 3, Luke Jones 2, Sam Macleod 1, Reuben Reed 1.

Report for June 20

Novices show promise for the future

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

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

Any swimmer beating the designated cut-off time gained just half-a-point for their team instead of their full place points — a ruling that tests the selectors’ judgement when choosing team line-ups, especially as 25 of the 31 races produced personal best times by the Boston swimmers.

After the first set of relays Boston found themselves in fourth position. Gemma Pimlott was the first race winner for Boston when she triumphed in the 13/u 50m freestyle. This was quickly followed by Lily Ross who took first place in the 12/u 50m breastroke. Lily later followed up with a second race win in the 50m freestyle.

Further race wins by Jason Barnes (11/u 25m butterfly) and Nathan Sealey (12/u 50m freestyle) saw Boston move into third place on the night. The second set of relays saw the 12/u girls freestyle pick up maximum points and with Katy Tointon winning the 13/u 50m butterfly. The team had thus closed to within five points of 2nd place Huntingdon.

Although Katy won her second race of the night in the 12/u 50m butterfly and Brendon Rodrigo claimed first place in the 12/u 50m breaststroke to close within one point with two relay races to come, Boston could not overhaul Huntingdon and had to settle for third place on the evening.

Boston race winners: Jason Barnes, Gemma Pimlott, Brendon Rodrigo, Lily Ross (2), Nathan Sealey, Katy Tointon (2).

Personal best times: Chloe Baldry, Jason Barnes, Myles Beagles, Hugh Cadle (2), Adam Clark (2), Megan Coleman, Heather Deith, David Guy (2), Rayna Koshy, Chloe Mallett, Laura Mathews, Harriet Needham (2), Gemma Pimlott (2), Edward Proctor, Brendon Rodrigo, Lily Ross (2), Nathan Sealey (2), Katy Tointon.

Report for June 13

Patrick takes silver at Midland Championship

Four youngsters from Boston Swimming Club made the journey to Coventry to compete in the Midland Youth Championships.

Patrick Ikhena (16) kept up his good record at this meet by making the finals in three of his four events. His best result came in the 50m freestyle. Entering the final as the quickest swimmer from the heats, Patrick went slightly faster in the final to record a national qualifying time of 25.27 seconds. But he was edged out to finish in second place.

In the 50m butterfly Patrick swam consistently in both heat and final recording a similar time of 28.37 seconds in both races when finishing in fourth place. In his third final, the 50m breaststroke, he could not quite match his heat time and finished sixth in a time of 33.19 seconds. The only event in which he did not make the final was the 100m freestyle where he finished in 10th place in a time of 56.49 seconds.

Younger brother Ose (15) also competed in the 50m breaststroke where he finished in 21st place with a time of 35.77 seconds.

Boston’s third male swimmer to make the championships was Sam Wright (17) who finished 11th in the 200m freestyle in a time of 2 minutes 12.89 seconds and 32nd in the 50m freestyle in 27.19 seconds.

Breaststroke specialist Susannah Yielding was Boston’s only female competitor. In the 14-year-old age group, she reached the final of the 50m event. Entering the final as eighth fastest, Susannah produced a determined swim to finish seventh in a time of 38.26 seconds. In the 100m event, she came 14th place in a time of 1:23.29.

Report for June 6

Tulip successes for Boston youngsters

A youthful Boston squad travelled to Spalding for the 26^th Tulip Open meet.

Heats were swum first with the fastest six swimmers in each age group qualifying for the finals at the end of each session — all finalists being guaranteed a trophy.

This meet is always 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 morning started off quietly for the Boston swimmers with only three youngsters making the finals. Nine-year-old Charlize Arundell and Jordan Clare reached the girls and boys 50m breaststroke final respectively with Charlize finishing in second place and Jordan in fifth spot.

Boston’s most experienced swimmer at the meet, 15-year-old Stephanie Goodale reached the 100m backstroke final where she finished in fourth place.

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

Fully refreshed from the lunch-time entertainment, Boston swimmers set to work in their attempts to reach the evening finals.

Both Charlize and Jordan reached their second final, this time the 50m backstroke with Charlize finishing fifth and Jordan third. Boston’s other two finalists came in the 10-year-old 100m butterfly with Sam Macleod finishing third in the boys final and Jessica Pettitt sixth in the girls event.

After a good night’s rest it turned out to be a positive second morning session for Boston which saw several familiar swimmers reaching the finals.

Charlize and Jordan reached their third finals of the competition in the 50m butterfly but both were unfortunate to be disqualified for differing reasons in the final.

Sam Macleod finished fifth in the 100m freestyle final and Jason Barnes (11) achieved a creditable sixth in the 100m backstroke. It was left to Beth Hutchings and Jordan Ward to reach the 12-year-old girls and boys 100m butterfly final where they finished in fifth and sixth places respectively to round of a productive morning for Boston.

The final session of the meet saw the boys take the honours with three more finalists. Jordan Clare became Boston’s only swimmer to reach the final in all four of his races when he finished in fifth place in the 50m freestyle and after just missing out on a final place in his previous races Liam Brotherton (11) produced a good swim in the final to finish in second place in the 100m butterfly.

It was left to Sam Macleod in the 100m breaststroke final to try and record Boston’s first win of the competition. Although trailing at the half-way stage by a couple of body lengths, Sam had pulled even going under the flags for the final time but missed out on first place in a finger tip finish.

Second places: Charlize Arundell, Liam Brotherton, Sam Macleod.

Third places: Jordan Clare, Sam Macleod.

Fifth places: Charlize Arundell, Jason Barnes, Jordan Clare (2), Stephanie Goodale, Sam Macleod.

Sixth places: Charlize Arundell, Jordan Clare, Beth Hutchings, Jessica Pettitt, Jordan Ward.

tchings (3), Holly Hutchings (4),

Personal best times: Charlize Arundell (3), Caoimhe Atkin-Palmer (2), Chloe Baldry (4), Jason Barnes (3), Nesta Baxter, Emily Brotherton, Liam Brotherton (3), Jordan Clare (2), Sophie Clayton (2), Hannah Deith (2), Heather Deith (3), Beth Hutchings (3), Holly Hutchings (4), Gwion Joyce (4), Sam Macleod (2), Chloe Mallett (3), Jasmin Martin (4), Rhea Panjwani, Jessica Pettitt (4), Becky Pimlott (3), Edward Proctor (2), Brendan Rodrigo, Holly Sauntson (4), Joseph Taylor, Luke Thomas (2), Jordan Ward (3).

Report for May 30

Amber leads quest for Midlands qualification

Boston Swimming Club took 18 youngsters from its top performance squad to Braunstone to compete in the Leicester open meet.

The meet was their last opportunity for swimmers to gain Midland qualifying times for this summer’s championship. With many of the Boston swimmers having already achieved qualification in their main events, this meet gave them the chance to concentrate on secondary events.

The first evening started in blistering style. In heat one of the opening discipline (the 400m individual medley) Sam Macleod (10) took an impressive 40 seconds off his previous best time to achieve the first Midland qualifying time of the weekend. In the same heat James Hurley (10), having already gained his qualifying time, broke the county record by 11 seconds to set a new time of 6 minutes 07.47 seconds when finishing in second place. On the same evening James also finished in second place in the 400m freestyle.

Also gaining trophies in the 400m freestyle were Jordan Clare (9) in first place, Bethany Holderness (10) and Reuben Reed (13) for second places and George Hobbins (11) who picked up third place in both the 400m freestyle and 400m individual medley.

In the girls’ event, Amber Nuttman (12) set the tone for an amazing personal weekend by gaining the first of her four Midland times. She quickly followed up her 400m individual medley success by achieving the exact qualifying time needed in the 400m freestyle.

On day three, Amber then achieved the necessary qualifying times in both the 100m breaststroke and 200m freestyle capping a fine weekend by achieving personal best times in all nine of her races.

Saturday started off at a more sedate pace until the boys 100m backstroke. Connor Spinks (12) achieved his first Midland time in the heats and finished in fourth place in the final. Connor later achieved a second qualifying time in the 200m backstroke. James Hurley and Sam Macleod both reached the 100m backstroke final where they both set faster times than their heats when finishing in second and sixth places respectively.

Also reaching a final on the second day was Bethany Holderness, finishing in sixth place in the 100m freestyle. Susannah Yielding (14) took silver in the 200m individual medley and Hannah Macleod (12) bronze in the 200m butterfly. It was Hannah who possibly received the biggest cheer of the weekend from coach, parents and fellow swimmers alike when she achieved her first Midland time in the 200m backstroke.

Reaching his second final of the day was Sam Macleod who finished in third place in the 100m breaststroke as did Luke Jones in the 13/14 boys final. Toni Keal finished in fourth place in the girls 13/14 100M butterfly final. The 200m freestyle saw Reuben Reed take first place with Jordan Clare picking up his second medal of the weekend when claiming silver and George Hobbins and James Hurley bronze.

The third and concluding day saw Boston’s good form continue as Sam Macleod knocked 20 seconds off his personal best time to achieve his second Midland time of the weekend in the 200m Individual Medley and Luke Jones also achieved his time in the same event with James Hurley achieving bronze. James’ form continued to be of a high standard as both he and Sam Macleod reached further finals in the 100m freestyle and butterfly. James set a new club record of 1.09.73 in the 100m freestyle when finishing in first place and he also took first place in the 100m butterfly with Sam in third spot. James finished off the weekend by lowering his own county record to 3.10.06 when taking second place in the 200m butterfly.

The butterfly events brought Boston further success as both Michael Keal (12) and Reuben Reed took silver in both the 100 and 200m events and Oliver Street picked up bronze in the 200m butterfly and finished in fourth place in the 100m final. Also finishing in fourth place in a final was Toni Keal in the 100m backstroke and Bethany Holderness taking fifth in her age group.

The final medal of the weekend was won by Jordan Clare in the 200m backstroke who achieved third place with Reuben Reed achieving the final Midland qualifying time in the 100m freestyle to end a very successful weekend for the Boston swimmers.

First places: Jordan Clare, James Hurley (2), Reuben Reed.

Second places: Jordan Clare, Bethany Holderness, James Hurley (4), Michael Keal (2), Reuben Reed (3), Susannah Yielding.

Third places: Jordan Clare, George Hobbins (3), James Hurley (2), Luke Jones, Hannah Macleod, Sam Macleod (2), Oliver Street.

Personal best times: Liam Brotherton, Jordan Clare (3), Rebecca Craven (2), George Hobbins (7), Bethany Holderness (7), James Hurley (6), Lauren Hurley (2), Luke Jones (6), Michael Keal (5), Toni Keal (5), Hannah Macleod (2), Sam Macleod (7), Amber Nuttman (9), Joe Reed, Reuben Reed (3), Connor Spinks (6), Oliver Street (5), Susannah Yielding (2).

Report for May 23

Girls lead Boston A to second place

Cambridge and Grantham played host to round two of the Fenland Swimming League. Traditionally this is a round in which Boston struggle due to many of the squad competing in the Leicester Open meet.

Unperturbed by this, the Boston A team put in a spirited display when finishing in second place to Deepings. With many swimmers competing in three or four races, rest time was at a premium.

Several swimmers excelled on the night especially Jessica Pettitt who won the 10/u 50m breaststroke, freestyle and backstroke and picked up four personal best times from her five races. Becky Pimlott also claimed three race victories when she won the 11/u 50m breaststroke, butterfly and 12/u 50m backstroke.

Although Deepings had built up a substantial lead by the midway point the above race wins had kept Boston in contention for second place as a close contest ensued with Bottisham and West Norfolk A. Further race wins by Gwion Joyce (10/u 50m freestyle), Chloe Mallett (11/u 50m backstroke) and Jordan Ward (13/u 50m freestyle) enabled Boston A to snatch second place on the night which keeps them in fifth place in the league.

A very inexperienced Boston B travelled to Grantham and had the misfortunate to come up against league leaders Peterborough B and a very strong Grantham team.

Not to be put off by this they put up a strong performance by producing 29 personal best times. Race wins by Charlize Arundell (10/u 50m breaststroke) and Libby Dean-Allen (50m freestyle) kept the team in touch for third place at the midway stage.

Although second place finishes by Myles Beagles (9/u 50m backstroke), Caiomhe Atkin-Palmer (12/u 100m individual medley) and Yasmin Martin (11/u 50m butterfly) aided the points tally the team faded in the final 10 races to finish in fifth place on the night and 13^th in the league.

Race winners:

Boston A: Becky Pimlott (3), Gwion Joyce, Chloe Mallett, Jessica Pettitt (3), Jordan Ward

Boston B: Charlize Arundell, Libby Dean-Allen

Personal best times: Charlize Arundell, Caoimhe Atkin-Palmer (4), Nesta Baxter, Myles Beagles (2), Jason Barnes (2), Amber Blower, Emily Brotherton, Hugh Cadle (3), Megan Coleman (2), Harry Dean-Allen, Libby Dean-Allen (2), Evan Heward (2), Beth Hutchings, Gwion Joyce (3), Chloe Mallett, Jasmin Martin (3), Jessica Pettitt (4), Becky Pimlott (2), Edward Proctor, Hollie Royce (3), Holly Sauntson, Nathan Sealey (4), Joseph Taylor (2), Lewis Teague, Jordan Ward.

Report for May 9

Toni inspires Boston A to decisive win

The Geoff Moulder Swimming Pool played host to round two of the Anglian Swimming League. A strong Boston A team entered the gala knowing a win was essential if they had any aspirations of retaining the title they have won for the past two years.

The team got off to the best possible start as Sam Wright won the opening race the boys open 100m individual medley. This was quickly followed by further wins for Susannah Yielding (15/u 100m butterfly) and Michael Keal and Beth Hutchings (13/u 100m freestyle).

To round off a commanding start in the first 10 races, Stephanie Goodale won the girls open 50m freestyle and Luke Jones was victorious in the boys 15/u 100m breaststroke. This gave the team an 11 point advantage over their nearest rivals West Norfolk and a lead that they never looked likely to lose for the rest of the evening.

Although only three further race wins came from the next 10 races — through Paige Royce (girls open 50m butterfly), Oliver Street (boys 15/u 100m freestyle) and James Hurley (13/u 100m backstroke) — the team added five second place finishes to extend their lead to 13 points.

The final 10 races saw the team extend this lead even further as Toni Keal continued her good form to win all three of her races on the night and Beth Hutchings and Luke Jones each winning their second. Reuben Reed took the boys 15/u 100m backstroke and Hannah Macleod (13/u 100m breaststroke) to end the night with a comfortable 17-point winning margin. This result leaves the team in second place in the league.

Boston B also competed in the same gala and although no swimmer managed a first place, there were several good performances as they recorded 12 personal best times from the 30 races. Michael Craven had a busy night by competing in five races with his best result coming in the 15/u 100 backstroke when he finished in second place and Heather Guy competing in four races picked up two second place finishes.

Hollie Royce and Matthew Coleman each had three races and these swimmers produced the most consistent form of the night with two seconds and a third place with Hollie producing personal best times in all of her races.

These results meant a close contest ensued with St Neots with Boston B edging ahead for the first time with five races remaining. Unfortunately a disqualification with two races remaining dropped the team below St Neots and left them in fourth place at the end of the evening.

Race winners were: Boston A, Stephanie Goodale, Beth Hutchings (2), James Hurley, Luke Jones (2), Michael Keal, Toni Keal (2), Hannah Macleod, Reuben Reed, Paige Royce, Oliver Street, Sam Wright, Susannah Yielding.

Personal best times: Liam Brotherton, Megan Coleman, Michael Craven (2), Stephanie Goodale, Heather Guy, George Hobbins, Georgia Hodgkiss, Bethany Holderness, James Hurley, Lauren Hurley, Beth Hutchings (2), Luke Jones (2), Michael Keal, Toni Keal, Reuben Reed, Hollie Royce (3), Connor Spinks, Abigail Teague (2), Jordan Ward, Susannah Yielding.

Report for May 2

Swimmers finish championships in style

Boston Amateur Swimming Club officials handed out county champion awards to successful youngsters at the Geoff Moulder Leisure Complex swimming pool.

For the first time the 800m and 1500m freestyle long distance events were held at Corby’s 50m pool over two weekends.

Freestyle specialist Reuben Reed (13) again showed his class as he won the 800m and finished second in the 1500m event. In the same age group Luke Jones finished a respectable fifth and seventh respectively and Oliver Street came sixth in the 800m.

In the boys’ 11-year-old age group George Hobbins took first place in the 800m closely followed by Harry Dean-Allen in second.

In the girls 800m event Bethany Holderness (10) finished in secondplace, Amber Nuttman (12) was seventh, Hannah Macleod (12) came 11th and Susannah Yielding (14) was sixth — the latter also finished in seventh place in the 1500m. All the girls recorded personal best times.

The above results were added to the short course events to complete the final placings for the Bagcat (age group) points awards. The Bagcat prizes are broken into five categories: sprint (any 50m event); form (200m backstroke, breaststroke or butterfly); individual medley (100m, 200m, 400m), 100m (any stroke); distance (200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m).

Boston swimmers recorded 17 top 10 placings in their respective age groups with James Hurley (10) and George Hobbins (11) both finishing in first place.

Bagcat placings were as follows:

Nine-year-olds: Jordan Clare, fourth; Nesta Baxter, ninth, Charlize Arundell 10^th.

10-year-olds: James Hurley, first, Sam Macleod, seventh; Bethany Holderness, second, Jessica Pettitt 11^th, Jasmin Martin 17^th.

11-year-olds: George Hobbins, first, Harry Dean Allen, third, Michael Keal, fourth, Liam Brotherton, 10^th; Caiomne Atkin-Palmer 15^th, Becky Pimlott 16^th, Holly Hutchings 22^nd, Chloe Mallett 24^th.

12-year-olds: Connor Spinks, eighth, Jordan Ward, 18^th, Thomas Tamberlin, 24^th, Lewis Teague, 25^th; Hannah Macleod, seventh, Amber Nuttman, ninth, Lauren Hurley 23^rd, Beth Hutchings 25^th.

13-year-olds: Reuben Reed, second, Luke Jones, fifth, Oliver Street, ninth; Toni Keal, seventh, Rebecca Craven, 11^th.

Report for April 18

More county titles for ‘fab four’

The third weekend of the Lincolnshire County Swimming Championships moved back to the Meridian Centre, Louth.

Boston swimmers continued their impressive form from the previous week by claiming a further 10 gold medals, nine silvers and eight bronzes. They also achieved personal best times in more than 80 percent or their races which culminated in a further 11 Midland qualifying times and one county record.

For a third weekend in a row James Hurley (10) and George Hobbins (11) dominated their respective age groups. Both boys won all four of their races to take gold in the 50m butterfly, 100m individual medley, 200m backstroke and 400m freestyle with both boys also gaining Midland qualifying times in the 200m backstroke and 400m freestyle.

James’ time of 5 mins 12.14 seconds in the 400m freestyle broke the previous 10-year-old county record, which was held by George by just over half a second.

The Boston boys’ domination of the 11-year-old age group continued as Harry Dean-Allen increased his championship medal haul by three when finishing second in the 100m individual medley and 200m backstroke and third in the 400m freestyle with Michael Keal claiming bronze in the 50m butterfly.

Freestyle specialist Reuben Reed (13) continued to dominate this discipline when winning the 400m in a Midland qualifying time and also picked up bronze medals in the 100m individual medley and 100m breaststroke.

Boston swimmers gained further successes in the 100m breaststroke as Luke Jones (13) and Ose Ikhena (15) both claimed silver medals and Sam Wright bronze in the open age group. In finishing third Sam’s time of 1 min 11.78 seconds qualified him for the senior boys’ final where he finished in fifth place.

Patrick Ikhena (16) supremacy in the sprint events continued by winning his age group in the 50m butterfly and taking the senior boys title in a Midland qualifying time. Patrick also won the 100m individual medley and by doing so qualified for the senior boys final where he finished in second place.

The 200m backstroke proved successful for two of Boston’s youngest swimmers as nine-year-old Jordan Clare finished in third place and Sam Macleod (10) who will be Boston’s youngest swimmer at this years Midland Championships. Sam gained his qualifying time when finishing in fourth place in his age group.

The 200m backstroke became the favoured stroke of the Boston girls as Amber Nuttman (12) gained her Midland qualifying time when finishing in fifth place and Stephanie Goodale (15) finished in bronze medal position. Bethany Holderness (10) sustained her form from the two previous weekends when taking silver and gaining Midland qualifying times in both the 200m backstroke and 400m freestyle.

Susannah Yielding achieved her second Midland qualifying time of the championships when taking silver in the 100m breaststroke. Susannah’s time of 1 min 20 seconds gained her a place in the senior girls’ final where she finished in fourth place. Susannah also claimed a silver medal in the 100m individual medley.

In the 10-year-old 200m butterfly age group Jessica Pettitt claimed her first county medal when she took 36 seconds off her personal best time to finish in second place and Toni Keal (13) finished in bronze medal position in the 50m butterfly.

First places: George Hobbins (4), James Hurley (4), Patrick Ikhena (2), Reuben Reed

Second places: Harry Dean-Allen (2), Bethany Holderness (2), Ose Ikhena, Luke Jones, Jessica Pettitt, Susannah Yielding (2)

Third places: Jordan Clare 200 Back, Harry Dean-Allen, Stephanie Goodale, Michael Keal, Toni Keal, Reuben Reed (2), Sam Wright

Midland times: George Hobbins (2), Bethany Holderness (2), James Hurley (2), Patrick Ikhena, Sam Macleod, Amber Nuttman, Reuben Reed, Susannah Yielding

Personal best times: Charlize Arundell, Nesta Baxter, Liam Brotherton, Jordan Clare (3), Rebecca Craven (3), Harry Dean-Allen (2), Alex French, George Hobbins (4), Bethany Holderness (3), James Hurley (4), Lauren Hurley, Beth Hutchings, Ose Ikhena (2), Patrick Ikhena, Luke Jones (5), Michael Keal (4), Toni Keal (5), Hannah Macleod (5), Sam Macleod (3), Yasmin Martin, Amber Nuttman (4), Jessica Pettitt (3), Becky Pimlott (2), Reuben Reed (3), Connor Spinks (3), Oliver Street (4), Abi Teague, Jordan Ward (2), Sam Wright, Susannah Yielding (5).

Report for April 4

More fine displays in championships

The second weekend of the Lincolnshire Swimming County Championships took place in the more familiar surroundings of the Meres Leisure Centre, Grantham.

After a steady first weekend the Boston swimmers appeared to enjoy their more familiar surroundings as they clicked into top gear winning 12 gold medals, 11 silvers and eight bronzes accolades.

To go with their medals haul the Boston youngsters also produced 14 Midland qualifying times, four county records and two club records with personal best times being achieved in more than 75 percent of their races.

As in the previous week in the boy’s competition, James Hurley (10), George Hobbins (11), Reuben Reed (13) and Patrick Ikhena (16) all excelled again.

Boston swimmers dominated the younger age groups of the 400m individual medley as Reuben, George and James all claimed gold. To back George up in the 11-year-old age group Boston took a clean sweep as Harry Dean-Allen claimed silver and Michael Keal bronze with Luke Jones (13) also claiming bronze.

James Hurley’s 10-year-old time of 6mins 14 seconds broke George’s previous County record time by more than four seconds and also enabled him to claim a Midland qualifying time. Also claiming Midland times in this event were George and Luke.

James’ good form continued throughout the day as he dominated his age group by picking up further gold medals in the 50m and 200m freestyle and 200m butterfly. In the butterfly James lowered his own county record by a further five seconds when finishing in a time of 3 minutes 12 seconds. James also won silver in the 50m breaststroke and gained further Midland qualifying times in the 200m freestyle and butterfly.

The 200m butterfly also saw Boston swimmers claim another clean sweep in the 11-year age group as Michael Keal retained his county title with Harry Dean-Allen in second and George in third. Oliver Street (13) also produced a good swim when claiming silver.

To round off a good day for the junior boys both George and Reuben achieved Midland times in winning the 200m freestyle with Reuben finishing in third place overall in the junior boys category. Harry Dean-Allen picked up his third silver of the day in the same event, George finished second in the 50m freestyle with Luke Jones second, Reuben and George third in the 50m breaststroke and Connor Spinks (12) 3rd in the 100m backstroke.

Flying the flag in the senior boys’ competition was 16-year-old Patrick Ikhena. He won his age group in the 50m freestyle as well as the senior boys category in a Midland qualifying time and lower his own county and club records. In doing so, this enabled him to qualify for the A final of the 50m Freestyle Skins. This event combines sprinting speed with stamina.

Eight swimmers compete in a 50m freestyle starting every three minutes with the slowest swimmer being eliminated. Patrick used all of his charisma to get the poolside crowd on his side and cruised through the eliminating legs to swim in the head to head final where his was narrowly edge out to finish second.

He also showed his sprinting ability in the 50m breaststroke where he finished second in the open age group in a Midland qualifying time of 32.41 seconds, equalling the 16-year-old county and club record of his team-mate Sam Wright. Although Sam (17) was still recovering from a recent illness, he still managed to achieve Midland qualifying times in both the 50m breaststroke and freestyle.

Although not as prolific as the boys the girls were not to be out swam as Susannah Yielding (14) won two gold medals. After going so close in recent years to attain a breaststroke Midland qualifying time Susannah’s persistent paid off when she achieved this in claiming first place in the 50m breaststroke.

Susannah’s other gold came in the 200m butterfly. Also picking up a medal in the 200m butterfly was Hannah Macleod (12) and Bethany Holderness (10) when finishing in third place.

Bethany then went on to produce a series of excellent swims to finish in second place in both the 200m freestyle and 400m individual medley. In both races Bethany achieved the Midland qualifying times.

Boston’s last medal of the day went to Heather Guy (17) who achieved silver in the 200m freestyle.

First places: George Hobbins (2), James Hurley (4), Patrick Ikhena , Michael Keal, Reuben Reed (2), Susannah Yielding (2).

Second places: Harry Dean-Allen (3), Heather Guy, George Hobbins, Bethany Holderness (2), Luke Jones, James Hurley, Patrick Ikhena, Oliver Street.

Third places: George Hobbins (2), Bethany Holderness, Luke Jones, Michael Keal, Hannah Macleod, Reuben Reed, Connor Spinks.

Midland qualifying times: Bethany Holderness(2), George Hobbins (2), James Hurley (3), Patrick Ikhena (2), Luke Jones, Reuben Reed, Sam Wright (2), Susannah Yielding

Personal best times: Charlize Arundell (2), Caiomhe Atkin-Palmer, Nesta Baxter (2), Liam Brotherton (2), Henry Careless (2), Jordan Clare (3), Rebecca Craven, Harry Dean-Allen (3), Stephanie Goodale, George Hobbins (4), Bethany Holderness (4), Joseph Howe (2), James Hurley (4), Holly Hutchings, Patrick Ikhena (2), Luke Jones (5), Michael Keal (3), Toni Keal (6), Hannah Macleod (4), Sam Macleod (2), Amber Nuttman (5), Jessica Pettitt (2), Becky Pimlott, Reuben Reed (5), Connor Spinks (2), Oliver Street (3), Susannah Yielding (5).

Report for March 26

Boston youngsters claim county titles

The newly opened Meridian Leisure Centre in Louth played host to the opening weekend of the Lincolnshire Swimming Short Course County Championship.

Boston Swimming Club had a total of 36 swimmers competing in the five events of boys’ and girls’ 50m backstroke, 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle, 200m breaststroke and 200m individual medley. In total the club won five gold medals, nine silvers and seven bronzes. Not only were county titles up for grabs, but it was also the penultimate competition for swimmers to gain Midland qualifying times for this summer’s championships.

The 200m breaststroke provided the Boston swimmers with most success as Luke Jones (13) and Joseph Howe (15) both won their respective age groups. Luke’s time of 2 minutes 52 seconds was also a Midland qualifying time and enabled him to finish in third place in the junior boys’ section. Also picking up Midland qualifying times were Amber Nuttman (12) and George Hobbins (11), both claiming silver medals and James Hurley (10) when gaining bronze. Other swimmers picking up medals in this event were Jordan Clare (9) with silver and Reuben Reed (13) and Amelia Murfin (15) with bronze.

The 200m individual medley also proved successful as James Hurley claimed his second Midland qualifying time of the day when claiming gold. Also claiming gold was Harry Dean-Allen (11) and Reuben Reed. Bethany Holderness (10) gained silver with Michael Keal (11) bronze.

Reuben’s good form continued when picking up silver in the 100m freestyle, with Patrick Ikhena (16) finishing in bronze position. Patrick’s Midland qualifying time of 55.86 seconds gained him a place in the championship finals race where although going slightly faster than his heat time 55.23, Patrick finished in fourth place.

The medals continued to come Boston’s way as George Hobbins, James Hurley and Toni Keal (13) all picked up silver medals with Jordan Clare and Susannah Yielding (14), bronze in the 50m backstroke. The final medal of the day went to Heather Guy (17) who claimed silver in the 100m butterfly.

First places: Harry Dean-Allen, Joe Howe, James Hurley, Luke Jones, Reuben Reed,

Second places: Jordan Clare, Heather Guy, Toni Keal, George Hobbins (2), Bethany Holderness, James Hurley, Amber Nuttman, Reuben Reed.

Third places: Jordan Clare, James Hurley, Patrick Ikhena, Michael Keal, Amelia Murfin, Reuben Reed, Susannah Yielding.

Midland qualifying times: George Hobbins, James Hurley (2), Patrick Ikhena, Luke Jones, Amber Nuttman

Personal best times: Charlize Arundell, Caoimhe Atkin-Palmer, Liam Brotherton (2), Jordan Clare (2), Brendan Clark, Rebecca Craven (2), Harry Dean-Allen (2), Alex French, Stephanie Goodale (2), George Hobbins, Bethany Holderness, James Hurley (2), James Hurley, Beth Hutchings, Ose Ikhena, Patrick Ikhena, Luke Jones (3), Michael Keal (2), Toni Keal (3), Zak Lomas, Hannah Macleod (3), Sam Macleod (2), Amber Nuttman (4), Jessica Pettitt, Reuben Reed (5), Connor Spinks (2), Oliver Street, Abi Teague, Jordan Ward (2), Susannah Yielding (3).

Report for February 28

Reigning champions beaten in season opener

The new season of Anglian League swimming started at the weekend with both Boston teams on their travels. Reigning champions Boston A made the trip to St Ives who had finished runners-up for the past two years. As expected both teams dominated the event but it was St Ives who started the better.

Amelia Murfin claimed Boston’s first win in the girls 15/u 100m butterfly and this was quickly followed by further wins for Lauren Hurley (13/u 100m freestyle), Matthew Coleman and Amelia Murfin (15/u breaststroke) to leave Boston just two points adrift of St Ives after 10 races.

This was as close as Boston got to the lead as although they consistently picked up second place finishes they could not beat their St Ives counterparts on a regular basis. After 20 races, further race wins by James Hurley boys 13/u 100m backstroke and Heather Guy (girls open 50m freestyle) enabled Boston to be in a comfortable second place.

Over the remaining 11 races Boston matched St Ives for races wins with Stephanie Goodale (15/u 200m individual medley), Joseph Howe (15/u 100m backstroke), Michael Keal (13/u 100m butterfly) and Connor Spinks (13/u 100m breaststroke) all claiming maximum points as the team had to settle for second place on the night.

Boston B travelled to King’s Lynn for what proved to be a difficult night.

The team got off to a slow start although Brendan Clark picked up a couple of personal best times before claiming first place in the boys open 50m freestyle. Also swimming well was Michael Craven who picked up two second place finishes before winning his last race of the night the 15/u 100m backstroke.

Arguably Boston’s best swimmer on the night was Lewis Teague who won the boys 13/u 100m backstroke and finished second in the 100m freestyle, both in personal best times. Older sister Abi also did well with two second place finishes from her three races.

When Harry Dean-Allen won the boys 13/u 100m butterfly, Boston B had moved into third place but a string of low-place finishes meant the team eventual finished the evening in fourth place.

Race winners were: Boston A, Matthew Coleman, Stephanie Goodale, Heather Guy, Joseph Howe, James Hurley, Lauren Hurley, Michael Keal, Amelia Murfin (2), Connor Spinks. Boston B, Brendan Clarke, Michael Craven, Harry Dean-Allen, Lewis Teague.

Personal best times were recorded by: Brendan Clark (2), Bethany Holderness (2), George Hobbins, Georgia Hodgkiss, James Hurley, Beth Hutchings, Holly Hutchings, Michael Keal, Hollie Royce, Connor Spinks, Lewis Teague (2), Ben Warren (2).

Report for February 21

Youngsters in battle for gala trophies

Boston Swimming Club took 23 swimmers to compete in the Thetford Dolphins open gala at the weekend.

This gala gave the chance for Boston’s more junior swimmers to gain valuable competition experience. With trophies being awarded for the first six swimmers in each age group, this gave youngsters a good opportunity of picking up some rewards for their efforts.

Coach Ian Wells must have been pleased with his recent decisions to move several of his younger swimmers into Boston’s top training squad as it was mainly these swimmers that showed how well they have been progressing by picking up the top placings.

Ten-year-old James Hurley continued his recent good form by winning all five of his races, three in personal best times. Also competing well in the boys 10-year age group was Sam Macleod who picked up two third places, one fourthand a sixth. Not to be outdone by the boys, 10-year-old Jessica Pettitt picked up trophies by finishing fourth in the 50m butterfly and fifth in the 100m individual medley.

The boys 12-year age group also enjoyed their share of success as Connor Spinks finished third in the 100m backstroke and sixth in the 200m individual medley while Jordan Ward finished sixth in the 100m butterfly.

Boston’s last and youngest performance squad swimmer to pick up a trophy was nine-year-old Jordan Clare. Jordan finished with four trophies when coming second in the 50m backstroke, fourth in the 50m freestyle and 100m individual medley, fifth in the 50m breaststroke.

Boston’s most experienced swimmer at the meet was 15-year-old Stephanie Goodale who used all of her experience in winning the 100m backstroke, second in the 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley and sixth in the 100m breaststroke.

The 100m individual medley continued to be Boston’s most successful event as Chloe Baldry (9), Jason Barnes (11) and Becky Pimlott (11) all finished in sixth place in their respective age groups.

As well as the trophy haul there were also 62 personal best time with Matthew Coleman, Georgia Hodgkiss, Jessica Pettiit, Nathan Sealey and Joseph Talyor gaining personal bests in all the events they entered.

First place trophies, Stephanie Goodale, James Hurley (5); second places, Jordan Clare, Stephanie Goodale; third places, Connor Spinks, Sam Macleod (2); fourth places, Jordan Clare, Sam Macleod, Jessica Pettitt; fifth places, Jordan Clare, Jessica Pettitt; sixth places, Chloe Baldry, Jason Barnes, Stephanie Goodale, Sam Macleod, Becky Pimlott, Connor Spinks, Jordan Ward.

Personal best times: Chloe Baldry (3), Jason Barnes (4), Emily Brotherton, Jordan Clare (2), Matthew Coleman (3), Megan Coleman (2), Brad Cooke (2), Stephanie Goodale, Georgia Hodgkiss (4), James Hurley (3), Lauren Hurley (4), Gwion Joyce (4), Sam Macleod (2), Jessica Pettitt (5), Becky Pimlott (3), Edward Proctor, Joe Reed (3), Brendon Rodrigo (3), Nathan Sealey (4), Connor Spinks, Joseph Taylor (3), Jordan Ward (2).

Report for February 14

Solid start for swimmers in season opener

The Geoff Moulder pool in Boston played host to round one of the 2010 Fenland Swimming League.

An usually tough opening contest saw both Boston A and B teams drawn alongside last year’s league winners and runner-up, Peterborough and Cambridge respectively.

Boston A got off to the perfect start with Jordan Ward winning the opening race, the boys 12-and-under 100m individual medley. This was quickly followed by Connor Spinks winning race three, the 13/u 50m backstroke and Libby Dean-Allen, in her first competitive league race winning the 9yo 50m freestyle.

Sam Macleod then claimed victory in the boys 11/u butterfly to leave the team in second place behind Peterborough after the first 10 races.

Three further wins by Jordan Clare (10/u 50m backstroke), Sam Macleod (11/u 50m freestyle) and Lauren Hurley (12/u 50m backstroke) coupled with at least a top three finish in the next 10 races meant the team cemented their second place, although they could not make any inroads on the Peterborough lead.

This was a theme that carried on for the rest of the competition as both teams results cancelled each other out.

For Boston, a further five race wins by Lewis Teague (12/u 50m breaststroke), Connor Spinks (13/u 50m freestyle), James Hurley (11/u 50m breaststroke), Becky Pimlott (11/u 50m breaststroke) and Jordan Ward (13/u 100m individual medley) enabled the team to finish in a comfortable second place and get their season off to a good start.

As expected, Boston B found the going more difficult. With several of the younger swimmers making their competitive debuts, the team put in a spirited display with 26 personal best times being set from the 42 individual races. It soon became clear that it would be a tight battle between Mildenhall and Boston B for fourth place.

Liam Brotherton had an outstanding night when competing in his four races. He achieved three race wins — in the 12/u 50m freestyle and butterfly, 11/u 50m backstroke and gained personal best times in all four races.

Other race winners for Boston B were Gwion Joyce in the 10/u 25m butterfly and Hannah Macleod in the 13/u 50m freestyle. These wins kept the team within touching distance of Mildenhall. But due to a couple of disqualifications, they entered the last race of the night, the 8 x 25m relay, two points adrift. A close race ensued between the two teams as Boston B’s younger swimmers all recorded fast times during their legs enabling Hannah Macleod on the anchor leg to enter the pool at the same time as her Mildenhall counterpart and bring the team home in fourth place. This result meant that both teams finished on equal points to take a share of fourth place on the night.

Race winners were:

Boston A: Jordan Clare, Libby Dean-Allen, James Hurley, Lauren Hurley, Sam Macleod (2), Becky Pimlott, Connor Spinks (2), Lewis Teague, Jordan Ward (2).

Boston B: Liam Brotherton (3), Gwion Joyce, Hannah Macleod.

Personal best times: Charlize Arundell (2), Caoimhe Atkin-Palmer, Andrea Barnes, Jason Barnes, Nesta Baxter, Emily Brotherton, Liam Brotherton (4), Archie Bulman, Hugh Cadle (2), Jordan Clare, William Craven, Harry Dean-Allen, Libby Dean-Allen (3), George Hobbins, Bethany Holderness, James Hurley, Lauren Hurley (2), Beth Hutchings, Holly Hutchings (2), Gwion Joyce (3), Michael Keal (2), Hannah Macleod, Sam Macleod (2), Yasmin Martin, Amber Nuttman, Jessica Pettitt, Becky Pimlott (3), Joe Reed, Brendon Rodrigo (2), Holly Sauntson (2), Connor Spinks (2), Lewis Teague (3), Jordan Ward, Pippa Wilson.

Report for February 7

James impresses on club debut

Boston swimming club took 17 swimmers to Biggleswade for their 11^thannual open meet.

This gave the Boston swimmers their first realistic opportunity of gaining Midland qualifying times for this summer’s Midland Championship.

Competing against strong opposition the Boston swimmers produced an excellent weekend of swimming when picking up 14 firsts, 14 seconds and 18 third place finishes and gained personal best times in 60 percent of their races. A total of six Midland qualifying times were achieved over the weekend, with several swimmers lowering their times to within touching distance of Midland qualification.

Competing for Boston for the first time, James and Lauren Hurley proved they will add extra quality to the team over the coming years. Lauren (12) gained four personal best times from her races but it was younger brother James (10) who proved to be Boston’s stand-out swimmer of the weekend. Although James had a demanding schedule he collected four firsts, five second and two third place finishes. James also achieved four Midland times in the 200m and 400m freestyle, 200m backstroke and 200m individual medley and well as setting a new county record time of 3 minutes 17.61 seconds in the 200m butterfly. These set of results enabled James to finish in second place in the top boy competition.

Boston’s most senior swimmer, Sam Wright (17), also had a successful weekend. Sam picked up four first place finishes in the 100 and 200m breaststroke and freestyle events and a trio of third places. Sam also achieved a Midland qualifying time in the 50m freestyle as well as setting two new club records in the 200m individual medley and 200m freestyle.

In the last event of the weekend, Sam put his 50m freestyle speed to good use when competing in the boys’ skins final. This event combines sprinting speed with stamina. Eight swimmers compete in a 50m freestyle race starting every three minutes with the slowest swimmer being eliminated. Sam used all his experience to ensure safe qualification in the early rounds without exerting too much energy. This ensured he had enough energy left in the final sprint to ensure victory and make himself £30 richer in the process.

In the girls’ competition 10-year-old Bethany Holderness produced a determined swim to win the 200m butterfly but it was the 400m freestyle that gave her most satisfaction when she achieved her first Midland qualifying time when finishing in third place. Bethany also finished second in the 200m Freestyle and gained another third place finish in the 400m Individual Medley.

The Butterfly events became Boston’s most successful discipline as Oliver Street (13) won the 100m and both Hannah Macleod (12) and Susannah Yielding (14) winning their respective age groups in the 200m. Susannah also won medals by finishing second in the 400m individual medley and third in the 50m and 100m breaststroke and butterfly events.

Amber Nuttman (12) was Boston’s other winner over the weekend when coming first in the 200m breaststroke as well as clinching second place in the 400m freestyle.

First places: Bethany Holderness, James Hurley (4) Hannah Macleod, Amber Nuttman, Oliver Street, Sam Wright (4) including free skins, £30, Susannah Yielding.

Seconds places: Harry Dean-Allen, James Hurley (5), Luke Jones, Michael Keal (2), Bethany Holderness, Sam Macleod, Amber Nuttman, Oliver Street, Susannah Yielding.

Third places: Harry Dean-Allen (3), Bethany Holderness, James Hurley (2), Ose Ikhena, Luke Jones, Michael Keal, Toni Keal, Hannah Macleod, Sam Wright (3), Susannah Yielding (4).

Personal best times: Jordan Clare, Harry Dean-Allen (4), Bethany Holderness (3), Joseph Howe, James Hurley (9), Lauren Hurley (4), Luke Jones (5), Michael Keal (6), Toni Keal (4), Hannah Macleod (5), Sam Macleod (3), Chloe Mallett (3), Amber Nuttman (7), Oliver Street (4), Sam Wright (4), Susannah Yielding (5).

Report for January 31

Top honours for Boston swimmers

Boston Swimming Club held their fifth annual open meet at the Meres Leisure Centre, Grantham.

Held over two days, this meet gave swimmers their last opportunity to gain county qualifying times for the County Championships in March.

Boston swimmers dominated the weekend’s event, with 80 first places, 58 seconds and 61 thirds being recorded, coupled with a total of 235 personal best times. This performance meant the team collected the top club award with a total of 421 points with Grantham finishing in second place on 261 and South Lincs third with 140.

On an individual basis, Amber Nuttman (11) picked up the award for top girl with 11 wins from 13 races and George Hobbins (10) had to settle for a share of the top boy award with South Lincs’ Ryan Horrocks (9) as both swimmers recorded 15 wins out of 15 races. George also lowered his own county record in the 400m freestyle by five seconds when recording a time of 5 minutes 12.89 seconds.

Boston swimmers also dominated the top 10 places in both boys and girls categories.

For the boys Joseph Howe finished in fourth place after winning 11 races, Reuben Reed was sixth and Harry Dean-Allen and Sam Wright were joint seventh. For the girls, Susannah Yielding was fourth (including five race wins), Toni Keal was sixth and Bethany Holderness was 10^th.

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 — a sentiment that was echoed by the majority of visiting clubs, parents and swimmers.

Boston swimmers’ results:

First places: Rebecca Craven (3), Harry Dean-Allen (5), Stephanie Goodale (2), Heather Guy (2), George Hobbins (15), Bethany Holderness (4), Joseph Howe (11), Michael Keal (2), Toni Keal (6), Hannah Macleod, Amber Nuttman (11), Emma Penniston, Reuben Reed (4), Connor Spinks (2), Sam Wright (7), Susannah Yielding (5)

Second places: Natasha Berg (2), Liam Brotherton, Rebecca Craven (2), Harry Dean-Allen (5), Alex French, Stephanie Goodale, Heather Guy (3), Bethany Holderness (2), Joseph Howe, Luke Jones (3), Michael Keal (3), Toni Keal (2), Hannah Macleod (6), Sam Macleod (3), Amelia Murfin (2), Amber Nuttman, Reuben Reed (7), Connor Spinks (3), Oliver Street, Abi Teague, Lewis Teague, Jordan Ward, Sam Wright (2), Susannah Yielding (4)

Third places: Charlize Arundell, Nesta Baxter, Natasha Berg (3), Liam Brotherton, Jordan Clare (6), Brendan Clark, Rebecca Craven, Harry Dean-Allen, Alex French, Stephanie Goodale (3), Bethany Holderness (4), Joseph Howe, Luke Jones (4), Michael Keal (4), Toni Keal, Hannah Macleod, Sam Macleod (3), Amelia Murfin (2), Amber Nuttman, Joe Reed, Reuben Reed (2), Connor Spinks (8), Oliver Street, Abi Teague (2), Molly Wright (2), Sam Wright, Susannah Yielding (4)

Personal best times (235 in total): Charlize Arundell (6), Caoimhe Atkin-Palmer, Chloe Baldry (6), Jason Barnes (6), Nesta Baxter (6), Emily Brotherton (5), Liam Brotherton (5), Jordan Clare (8), Rebecca Craven (3), Harry Dean-Allen (13), Alex French (3), Stephanie Goodale, Heather Guy (2), George Hobbins (6), Bethany Holderness (10), Joseph Howe, Beth Hutchings (6), Holly Hutchings (6), Gwion Joyce (10), Luke Jones (7), Michael Keal (6), Toni Keal (4), Hannah Macleod (6), Sam Macleod (9), Chloe Mallett (2), Yasmin Martin (5), Amber Nuttman (7), Emma Penniston (2), Jessica Pettitt (9), Becky Pimlott (4), Edward Proctor, Joe Reed (7), Reuben Reed (10), Brendon Rodrigo (2), Holly Sauntson (8), Connor Spinks (8), Oliver Street (4), Thomas Tamberlin (6), Abi Teague (6), Lewis Teague (3), Jordan Ward (7), Sam Wright (2),Susannah Yielding (6).

Report for December 18

Swimmers achieve survival in relegation battle

Boston Swimming Club travelled to Wellingborough for round three of the Arena National Swimming League, East Midlands Region. With Lincoln Pentaqua already relegated, it was a battle between the five teams in this gala to who would be relegated with them.

Traditionally, Boston start slowly with the first set of relay races. But on this occasion with the boys 11/u and 15/u freestyle relay teams both winning, it enabled the squad to sit just one point behind leaders Deepings after the first 10 races, albeit just two points off bottom team Moderians. Within the 11/u relay race, lead-off swimmer George Hobbins (10) set a new county record for 50m freestyle with a time of 31.95 seconds.

Although the team found the going tougher in the next 10 races with no race wins, several second place finishes by Amber Nuttman (11/u 50m backstroke), Luke Jones (13/u 100m breaststroke), Patrick Ikhena (men’s open 100m butterfly) and Michael Keal (11/u 50m butterfly) kept the team just eight points off the lead, although they had dropped to fourth place overall.

In a remarkable next 10 races, the competition became really tight as race wins by Ben Pogson (men’s open 100m backstroke), Amber Nuttman (11/u 50m breaststroke) and several second place finishes propelled Boston back into second place, just two points behind leaders Kettering but also just four points in front of last place Moderians.

The racing continued to be tight with all the teams taking points off each other. Boston had dropped to last place after 40 races, although race wins by George Hobbins (11/u 50m freestyle) and Patrick Ikhena (men’s open 100m freestyle) meant the team were only five points off the leaders Milton Keynes.

Unfortunately this was as good as it got for Boston as the wheels started to come off with a run of poor performances as the pressure mounted in the battle to survive relegation. With the boys 11/u medley relay team winning their race and the boys 15/u coming second, it gave the squad hope. And they eventually finished in fifth place on the night, although just eight points behind winners Kettering.

This left Boston with a nervous wait to see if they had survived relegation as it meant they finished with the same league points as Melton Mowbray. But thankfully on countback Boston had a superior gala points difference to survive relegation and stay in Division One for next season.

Race winners: George Hobbins, Patrick Ikhena, Amber Nuttman, Ben Pogson, boys 11/u and 15/u freestyle relay, 11/u medley relay teams.

Personal best times: Harry Dean-Allen, George Hobbins (2), Bethany Holderness, Ose Ikhena, Luke Jones (3), Toni Keal (2), Amber Nuttman (3), Reuben Reed (2).

Report for December 11

Records tumble at winter championships

Due to the closure of Boston Swimming Club’s traditional training pool venue, the Geoff Moulder Leisure Pool played host to the club’s annual winter championships.

To further complicate matters, the championship had to be held earlier in the calendar than normal. This caused difficulty for several swimmers who missed the completion as they were away on holiday, with the 800 and 1500m freestyle being held in early December. This competition gives the swimmers their main opportunity to gain county qualifying times for next spring’s county championships.

A total of 21 championship records were broken along with four new club and two county records being set. Once again the main star of the competition was 10-year-old George Hobbins. Not only did he win all 14 races in his age group, but he also broke 11 championship records (100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m freestyle, 100m, 200m backstroke, 100m butterfly and 100m, 200m, 400m individual medley), set three county records (400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle) and established two club records (800m and 1500m freestyle).

The other two club records to fall were both in the long distance freestyle races with 10-year-old Bethany Holderness taking 53 seconds off the 1500m time to set a new record of 22 mins 27 sec and Reuben Reed (9.22.26) breaking Ben Pogson’s 800m freestyle time by just .07 of a second. Reuben’s time was also a championship record.

The 1500m freestyle proved to be the most profitable race for new standards as five swimmers broke championship records. Bethany Holderness (10), Amber Nuttman (11), Hannah Macleod (12) and Rebecca Craven (13) all lowered the girl’s records with George Hobbins (10) the only boy to do so.

Amber Nuttman claimed her second championship record by lowering the 11-year-old 200m backstroke time to 2mins 46 and Hannah Macleod (12) also claimed her second record of the competition in the 200m butterfly with a time of 2mins 52. The records continued to fall for the girls as Kimberley Van Haren (14) claimed the 200m freestyle record, 2mins 23 and Jessica Murfin (16) 100m individual medley 1min 14.

Trophies were also awarded for the most improved swimmers from last year’s championships. In the 10-and-under age group, eight-year-old Libby Dean-Allen won most improved girl and George Hobbins most improved boy. In the 11-and-over category Toni Keal (13) claimed the girls’ trophy and Luke Jones (13) won the boys’ equivalent.

Race winners:

Boys:

9 years – Sam Macleod, 400m individual medley, 100m backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle, IM, 200m backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, freestyle, IM, 400m freestyle.

10 years – George Hobbins, 400m IM, 100m backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle, IM, 200m backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, freestyle, IM, 400m, 800m, 1500m fFreestyle.

11 – 13 years – Luke Jones, 400m IM, 100m backstroke, breaststroke, 200m breaststroke, 400m freestyle; Reuben Reed, 100m freestyle, IM, 200m backstroke, butterfly, 800m, 1500m freestyle; Oliver Street, 100m butterfly, 200m freestyle, IM.

14-plus – Joseph Howe 200m breaststroke; Patrick Ikhena 100m breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle, IM, 200m freestyle, IM; Ben Pogson, 100m and 200m backstroke; Sam Wright, 200m butterfly, 400, 1500m freestyle, 400m IM,

Girls:

8 years – Libby Dean-Allen, 100m backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, IM, 200m backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, freestyle, IM, 400m freestyle.

9 years – Jessica Pettitt, 400m IM, 100m backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle, IM, 200m backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, IM, 400m freestyle.

10 Years – Bethany Holderness, 100m backstroke, freestyle, 200m backstroke, butterfly, freestyle, IM, 400m, 800m, 1500m freestyle, 400m IM; Becky Pimlott, 100m breaststroke, IM, 200m breaststroke.

11-13 Years – Rebecca Craven, 100m breaststroke, freestyle, 200m breaststroke, freestyle, 400m, 800m, 1500m freestyle; Toni Keal, 100m butterfly, IM, 200m IM; Hannah Macleod, 100m backstroke, 200m butterfly; Amber Nuttman, 200m backstroke, 400m IM.

14-plus – Jessica Murfin, 100m backstroke, butterfly, freestyle, IM, 200m backstroke, butterfly, freestyle, IM, 400m, 800m freestyle, 400m IM; Kimberley Van Haren, 200m breaststroke; Susannah Yielding, 100m breaststroke, 1500m freestyle.

Report for November 29

Patrick claims Midlands title

Four swimmers from Boston Swimming Club competed at the East Midlands short course (25m) championships held over two days at Corby.

For the first time in several years, a very strong Loughborough University contingent entered the competition to go with several county performance teams from across the region. It all added up towards making the event a strong one competitively.

The added competition appeared to spur on Boston’s most successful swimmer of the weekend as 15-year-old Partick Ikhena claimed gold in the junior boys’ 100m individual medley in a new personal best time of 1 min 02.29 seconds.

In all Patrick competed in six events, claiming a further two silver medals, setting new county record times in the 50m breaststroke (31.55 seconds, just missing out on first place by 1/10^th of a second) and 50m freestyle (24.42 seconds).

He just missed out on medals in the 100m freestyle when finishing fourth and fifth in the 50m butterfly.

In his sixth race of the weekend, the 100m butterfly, Patrick finished a creditable ninth.

Team-mate Sam Wright (17) competed in five races in the men’s open age category. Unfortunately he was just off his best form and just missed out on his personal best times, but produced a series of solid swims to finish in 28^th, 19^th and 30^th in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke respectively and 43^rd and 79^th in the 100m individual medley and 50m freestyle.

Other swimmers to represent Boston were Ben Pogson (17), 41^st in the 100m backstroke and Jessica Murfin (16), 91^st in the 50m freestyle.

Report for November 22

Trophy success continues for Boston A

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

Holders for the past seven years, Boston A were under pressure to keep their run going.

Although they started the evening in steady fashion wins by Jessica Pettitt and Amber Nuttman in the 9 years and 11/u 200m breaststroke respectively enabled the team to take a slender points advantage after nine races.

This was a lead they quickly extended as Amber Nuttman produced another strong swim to gain her second win of the evening in the 11/u 200m backstroke and Hannah Macleod stormed to victory in the 13/u 200m butterfly to be the only swimmer on the night to gain personal best times in both individual races.

Jessica Pettitt became the second swimmer to win both individual races in a very tight finish in the 9 years 200m individual medley as Boston A produced a strong finish to the gala by winning two and finishing second eight times in the final 10 races.

Michael Keal became the first boy to record a victory in the 11/u 200m butterfly and Luke Jones won the final individual race of the evening in the 13/u 200m breaststroke.

Boston A’s 9 years and 11/u freestyle relay teams were victorious to claim victory in two out of the three relay races which resulted in the team comfortably retaining the trophy for an eighth consecutive year.

Boston B found the going slightly harder and it soon became clear they were in for a tight battle with Deepings and Wellingborough B for fifth place.

On the evening, Nesta Baxter, 9 years 200m backstroke, produced the teams only first place finish although Gwion Joyce (9 years) and Lewis Teague (11/u) both beat their A team counterparts in the 200m backstroke.

Lewis’ second place finish and a team total of seven personal best times helped the team keep in contention with Deepings and Wellingborough B but unfortunately the team suffered from four disqualifications which hindered their chances of fifth place and they had to settle for seventh.

Race Winners:

Boston A: Luke Jones, Michael Keal, Hannah Macleod, Amber Nuttman (2), Jessica Pettitt (2), 9 years and 11/u freestyle relay teams.

Boston B: Nesta Baxter.

Personal best times:

Charlize Arundell, Caioimhe Atkin-Palmer, Jordan Clare, Harry Dean-Allen (2), Beth Hutchings, Holly Hutchings, Gwion Joyce, Luke Jones, Hannah Macleod (2), Sam Macleod, Harriet Needham, Amber Nuttman, Jessica Pettitt, Joe Reed (2), Holly Sauntson, Abigail Teague.

Report for November 15

Swimmers shine in Fenland finals

The finals of the Fenland League took place at the weekend with swimmers representing Boston tackling a double action bill.

The A team squad travelled to Deepings to compete in the main final while Boston B made the longer journey to Newmarket to compete in the C final.

Having scraped into the main final, Boston A knew they would have to swim well to make any impression on the night. But they swam in fantastic style.

Initially it was the younger swimmers who responded to the challenge as nine-year-old Jordan Clare picked up the team’s first win on the night in the 50m freestyle. Two more wins quickly followed in the boys and girls 10/u 50m breaststroke as Ashley Berg and Becky Pimlott showed great determination to just edge out their main rivals.

After 10 races Boston A sat in third place just four points off the leaders Cambridge. Although Boston had dropped to fourth place after 20 races, they were still only three points away from second place Peterborough.

Subsequently, further race wins for Becky Pimlott (girls’ 10/u 50m backstroke, Jordan Ward (boys’ 11/u 50m freestyle) and Thomas Tamberlin (boys’ 12/u 50m backstroke) kept the team in contention.

It was at this point that both Peterborough and Cambridge put together a string of strong performances to pull away from Boston. But although there were no race wins for the team for the next 10 races, Boston had performed well enough to be in a comfortable third place.

This was a position they stayed in for the rest of the night, although they did considerably close the gap on the leading two team through further race wins for Pippa Wilson (girls’ 12/u 50m breaststroke), Sam Macleod (boys’ 9 years backstroke), George Hobbins (boys’ 10/u 25m butterfly) and Amber Nuttman (girls’ 12/u 50m butterfly).

Nevertheless this was a good team performance and a result that enabled the team to finish in fourth place in the league.

Boston B also produced a good night of swimming. With the team entering the C final in 13th place in the league they were determined to end the competition on a high. With the team consistently finishing in the first two or three places this meant they stayed in contention with both Grantham and Mildenhall who had both beaten the Boston A team earlier in the season.

Boston B snatched three quick-fire wins as Joe Reed (10/u 50m breaststroke) produced the team’s first win which was quickly followed by wins for the borther and sister combination of Lewis (12/u) and Abi (13/u) Teague in the 50m freestyle and breaststroke respectively.

Chloe Mallett then won the first of her two wins on the night in the girls’ 10/u 50m backstroke. Lewis Teague then produced his second win in the 12/u boys’ 50m backstroke and with Hollie Royce winning the girls event this put the team into second place after 20 races.

Try as they might to close the gap on Mildenhall, however, they could never quite exert enough pressure and although further race wins came through Joe Reed and Harriet Needham in the boys’ and girls’ 9 years 50m breaststroke, Liam Brotherton 11/u 50m backstroke they were still behind by seven points going into the last 10 races.

The team produced another five race wins through Gwion Joyce and Charlize Arundell (9 years 50m backstroke), Chloe Mallett and Brendon Rodrigo (10/u 25m butterfly) and Sofia Parla (13/u 100m individual medley) but these wins were offset by their Mildenhall counterparts and the team had to settle for a very creditable second place on the night, although this result still left them in 13 place overall in the final league table.

Boston A race winners: Ashley Berg, Jordan Clare, George Hobbins, Sam Macleod, Amber Nuttman, Becky Pimlott (2), Jordan Ward.

Boston B race winners: Charlize Arundell, Liam Brotherton, Gwion Joyce, Joe Reed (2), Chloe Mallett (2), Harriet Needham, Sofia Parla, Brendon Rodrigo, Hollie Royce, Abigail Teague, Lewis Teague (2).

Personal best times: Charlize Arundell, Jason Barnes, Liam Brotherton, Jordan Clare, Megan Coleman, Harry Dean-Allen, George Hobbins (3), Bethany Holderness, Holly Hutchings (2), Gwion Joyce (2), Michael Keal, Chloe Mallett (3), Jasmin Martin, Harriet Needham, Amber Nuttman (2), Sofia Parla, Becky Pimlott (3), Holly Royce, Brendon Rodrigo, Megan Sargent, Holly Sauntson, Oliver Street, Thomas Tamberlin, Abigail Teague, Lewis Teague (2), Jordan Ward (2), Pippa Wilson.

Report for November 8

Ashley leads club’s medal charge

Boston Swimming Club took 32 youngsters to Downham for the West Norfolk Open Meet.

Trophies were awarded for the first three swimmers in each age category and it soon became apparent that the Boston swimmers would be taking home their fair share.

In total, Boston achieved 12 firsts, 27 seconds and 17 third place finishes to go with setting 54 new personal best times.

It was Boston’s more experienced swimmers who took the majority of race wins with four boys all collecting two wins each.

Ten-year-old Ashley Berg was the most successful swimmer on the day by winning the 50m Breaststroke and Butterfly to add to his trio of second place finishes. Matthew Coleman (14) won the 50m breaststroke and 100m individual medley to go with two second places and Connor Spinks (12) who also won the 50m breaststroke and 100m individual medley to go alongside a second and two third place finishes. Luke Jones’ (13) two race wins came in the 50m backstroke and butterfly but unfortunately Luke had to miss the afternoon session through illness.

For the girls Bethany Holderness (10) won the 50m freestyle and added four second place finishes with Susannah Yielding (14) the other girls winner in the 50m breaststroke to go with her third place finish in the 100m individual medley.

Other race winners were Michael Keal (11) and Reuben Reed (14), both in the 50m backstroke.

It was also nice to see some of the more inexperienced swimmers picking up their first open meet medals with Sam Macleod (9) collecting three seconds and a third, Jordan Ward (12) a second and two thirds and Jessica Pettitt (9) two third place finishes. Jessica was one of two swimmers to gain personal bests in all five races, the other being 13-year-old Toni Keal.

A special mention must also go to 12-year-old David Guy who after several years of persistence picked up his first ever open meet medal in the 50m breaststroke.

Trophy winners were:

First places: Ashley Berg (2), Matthew Coleman (2), Bethany Holderness, Luke Jones (2), Michael Keal, Reuben Reed, Connor Spinks(2), Susannah Yielding.

Second places: Ashley Berg (3), Natasha Berg (2), Matthew Coleman (2), Bethany Holderness (4), Michael Keal (3), Toni Keal, Sam Macleod (3), Chloe Mallett (2), Reuben Reed (3), Scott Richmond, Paige Royce, Connor Spinks, Jordan Ward.

Third places: Natasha Berg, Jordan Clare, Keal, David Guy, Sam Macleod, Chloe Mallett, Jessica Pettitt (2), Scott Richmond, Paige Royce (3), Connor Spinks (2), Jordan Ward (2), Susannah Yielding.

Personal best time: Chloe Baldry (2), Jason Barnes (3), Ashley Berg (3), Emily Brotherton (2), Alys Cadle, Jordan Clare (2), Matthew Coleman (2), Brad Cooke (2), David Guy (2), Bethany Holderness, Gwion Joyce, Luke Jones, Toni Keal (5), Sam Macleod (3), Chloe Mallett (2), Jessica Pettitt (5), Edward Proctor, Joe Reed (2), Reuben Reed (3), Sam Reed, Megan Sargeant, Holly Sauntson (3), Connor Spinks (4), Jordan Ward (2).

Report for November 1

Testing time in quest to meet coach’s expectations

Boston Swimming Club members made the long trip to Biggleswade for the first round of the National Arena Swimming League.

This is the only national contest the club enters. And with the standard of competition so high the swimmers knew they would be in for a hard evening. To make matters worse, the team arrived over 30 minutes late due to road works on the A1 — giving them a very rushed warm-up.

Coach Ian Wells’ best expectations were for a fourth place finish. And it soon became evident that Biggleswade, Lowestoft and Peterborough would be too strong for their Boston counterparts.

With the team tasked with achieving personal best times, a titanic battle soon developed between Boston and Kettering for the all-important fourth spot.

No sooner had Boston built up a lead of a handful of points, then Kettering hit back to build their own mini-lead. This battle continued throughout the evening but tremendous second place finishes by Ben Pogson (boys open 100m backstroke), Patrick Ikhena (boys open 100m butterfly), Amber Nuttman (girls 11/u 50m breaststroke) and Reuben Reed (boys 13/u 100m freestyle) eventually gave the team some breathing space with an eight-point cushion going into the final set of eight relay races.

Again the two teams traded points, but Boston held on to record a creditable fourth place finish which puts them into a comfortable mid-table position of 12^th in the East Midlands Regional league after the first round.

Personal best times: Henry Careless, George Hobbins (2), Bethany Holderness (2), Joseph Howe, Toni Keal, Amber Nuttman, Susannah Yielding.

Report for October 25

George shines in race for qualifying times

The first open meet of the new season took place at Leicester with 22 Boston swimmers taking part.

Trophies were awarded for the first five swimmers in each age category and although very early in the season this meet gave swimmers their first opportunity to gain Midland qualifying times for next summers championships. Four Boston swimmers took advantage of this opportunity when gaining seven qualifying times.

George Hobbins (10) continued his fine form from last season winning seven of his nine races and finishing second in his other two. George also gained Midland qualifying times in the 200m breaststroke, freestyle and individual medley and set a new county record of 3 minutes 19 seconds in the 200m breaststroke..

The Ikhena brothers produced some strong performances with Patrick (15) winning both the 50m breaststroke and butterfly in Midland qualifying times. Patrick also won the 100m butterfly and finished third in the 50m backstroke. Not to be outdone by his elder brother, Ose (15) also gained a Midland time in the 50m breaststroke when finishing second.

To finish off a successful weekend for the boys, Sam Wright (16) picked up three third place finishes in the 100m individual medley and 50m and 100m breaststroke but it was his 100m freestyle that gave him his Midland qualifying time.

Although the girls struggled to match the very high standard of the boys, they consistently produced personal best times with Kimberley Van-Haren (13) their most successful swimmer. She won the 100m butterfly, with four second and three third place finishes.

Trophy Winners — first places, George Hobbins (7), Patrick Ikhena (3), Kimberley Van-Haren; second places, George Hobbins (2), Ose Ikhena, Kimberley Van-Haren (4), Sam Wright (3); third places, Patrick Ikhena, Luke Jones, Michael Keal, Kimberley Van-Haren (3); fourth places, Joseph Howe, Luke Jones (3), Michael Keal, Hannah Macleod, Sam Wright (2); fifth places, Liam Brotherton (2), Rebecca Craven (2), Joseph Howe, Ose Ikhena, Patrick Ikhena, Oliver Street, Reuben Reed (4), Sam Wright.

Personal best times: Natasha Berg, Liam Brotherton (3), Henry Careless, Michael Craven, Rebecca Craven (3), Harry Dean-Allen (4), Stephanie Goodale, George Hobbins (5), Joseph Howe (2), Patrick Ikhena, Ose Ikhena (3), Luke Jones (5), Michael Keal (3), Hannah Macleod (7), Amber Nuttman (6), Reuben Reed, Connor Spinks, Kimberley Van-Haren (4), Sam Wright.

Report for October 18

Boston A retain league crown

The Meres Leisure Centre at Grantham hosted the final of the Anglian Swimming League.

In a repeat of last year’s final, champions Boston A started the evening with a two-point league lead over their nearest rivals St Ives — although St Ives held a superior gala points advantage that would prove crucial if the teams finished level on league points.

The night started slowly for Boston A with several low placed finishes in the first 10 races leaving them trailing St Ives by 11 points and West Norfolk by 21.

But a turning point came in race 12 where Natasha Berg stormed to victory in the girls’ 13/u 200m individual medley.

Although race wins were still hard to come by, Natasha’s victory re-ignited the team’s competitive spirit, initially through the girls as Alys Cadle (13/u 100m backstroke), Toni Keal (open 50m butterfly) and Rebecca Craven (15/u 100m freestyle) all produced high placed finishes.

This eventually spurred the boys into action as Harry Dean-Allen (13/u 100m backstroke) and Sam Reed (50m freestyle) scored well to cut the points deficit to just three points behind St Ives and 13 behind West Norfolk after 20 races.

The team then produced their best performances of the evening with Natasha Berg picking up her second win of the night in the 13/u 100m butterfly and Luke Jones winning the boys 13/u 100m butterfly. Two second place finishes by Matthew Coleman (open 50m breaststroke) and Toni Keal (15/u 100m backstroke) meant the team took the lead for the first time in the gala with three races remaining.

However, this was a lead they could not quite hold onto outright as St Ives won two of the remaining three races leaving them equal on points at the end of the gala. This result replicated last years final and was good enough for Boston A to retain their title and be crowned champions for 2009.

Boston B were also in the same final. Starting the evening in eighth place, the team found their competitors in too good a form. Kimberley Van Haren produced the team’s only win on the night in the girls open 100m individual medley. Kimberley was ably supported by both Michael Keal and Bethany Holderness who both finished second in the boys’ and girls’ 13/u freestyle events respectively.

This result left the team in eighth place both on the night and in the final league table.

Race wins: Boston A, Natasha Berg (2), Luke Jones; Boston B, Kimberley Van Haren.

Personel best times: Natasha Berg (2), Liam Brotherton, Alys Cadle, Brendan Clark, Matthew Coleman, Rebecca Craven, Harry Dean-Allen (2), George Hobbins, Georgia Hodgkiss, Bethany Holderness, Michael Keal (2), Toni Keal, Ben Warren, Pippa Wilson (3).

Report for September 20

Feat achieved as A-team earn final place

After a six-week summer break, Boston Swimming Club were soon back in Fenland League action after only two weeks of training. The previous league round saw Boston A travel to Cambridge lying in seventh place in the league knowing only a victory would guarantee them a place in the A final. This task was all the more difficult considering three of the four competing teams were above them in the league.

Harry Dean-Allen got the team off to the perfect start when winning the Boys 12/u 100m Individual Medley in a new personal best time. This set the tone for the rest of the evening as the team achieved a further sixteen race wins, setting 21 new personal best times with 10 swimmers breaking the cut-off times.

The evening saw Boston and Cambridge dominate proceedings. After ten races Boston held a narrow one point lead. Pippa Wilson stretched this lead with the first of her three race wins in the 12/u 50m freestyle, followed by the50m backstroke and 11/u 50m breaststroke all in PB times to be Boston’s most successful swimmer of the evening. Although Amber Nuttman won both of her races (13/u 50m backstroke and breaststroke), Cambridge had built up a four point cushion at the half-way stage.

This was a lead Cambridge never relinquished, although Boston kept up the pressure especially by Becky Pimlott winning the 10/u 50m breaststroke and freestyle, Hannah Macleod in winning the 13/u 50m butterfly and 100m individual medley, Megan Sargeant 12/u 50m butterfly and Chloe Mallett 10/u 50m backstroke.

Although the boys found race wins harder to come by, Sam Macleod won both his races in the 10/u 50m freestyle and 25m butterfly, breaking the cut-off times in both races when setting PBs as did Jordan Ward in winning the 11/u 50m butterfly with Ashley Berg the other boys winners in the 10/u 50m breaststroke.

The last race of the night, the 8 x 25m freestyle relay saw an exciting race develop between Boston and Cambridge with the lead changing hands several times before Boston snatched victory by just 4/10 of a second.

Although Boston finished second on the night, results elsewhere went in their favour to enable them to snatch the all important fifth league place to progress to the A-final in October.

Boston B made the shorter trip to Deepings with the aim of trying to improve on their lowly 14^th position in the league. With all the competing teams higher than them in the league they knew they had their work cut out.

Although the team struggled to cope with the strength in depth of the Peterborough and Deepings squads they comfortably held third place after the first 10 races and their position was never threatened throughout the rest of the evening by West Norfolk or Ely. Abigail Teague (13/u 50m butterfly) and Lucy Howlett (11/u 50m butterfly) produced two outstanding swims in winning their races. These feats were backed up by the rest of the team as they produced a string of high placed finishes when gaining 14 personal best times.

This impressive result moved the team into 13^th place in the league and a place in the C final in October.

Race wins were recorded by:

Boston A – Ashley Berg, Harry dean-Allen, Hannah Macleod (2), Sam Macleod (2), Chloe Mallett, Amber Nuttman (2), Becky Pimlott (2), Megan Sargeant, Jordan Ward, Pippa Wilson (3), relay team.

Boston B – Lucy Howlett, Abigail Teague.

Personal Best Times:

Charlize Arundell (2), Jason Barnes, Natasha Berg, Liam Brotherton, Brad Cooke (2), Rebecca Craven, Harry Dean-Allen, George Hobbins, Bethany Holderness, Lucy Howlett (3), Holly Hutchings, Luke Jones, Hannah Macleod (2), Sam Macleod (2), Chloe Mallett, Amber Nuttman (2), Becky Pimlott (2), Joseph Reed, Megan Sargeant, Holly Sauntson, Connor Spinks, Oliver Street, Abigail Teague, Jordan Ward, Pippa Wilson (3).