It was a case of frustration for some and success for others as attention turned to the second weekend of the County Championships last week. Sadly, established swimmers:
Elliott Stevens, Thomas Wheeler, Ryan Wheeler, Harrison Stevens, Tim Wood were all prevented, due to illness or injury, from competing to their full ability.  We wish them a speedy return to winning ways.

SESSION 6 - DAY THREE - Saturday, 7th March

Tim Wood, Harrison Keith, Evan Draper, Harrison Stevens and Ryan Wheeler roused the sleepy Beacon supporters in the first session of Saturday morning.

In the 100m Freestyle, Harrison Stevens made a valiant effort to achieve his best, despite struggling with a leg injury and Tim came fifth to qualify for the Final before succumbing to illness.

Harrison Keith turned in a great performance to qualify for the Final, where he earned a seventh place in 1:02.47.  He also competed well in the 50m Breaststroke (36.68).

Ryan Wheeler took thirteenth place in the 13 Yrs Group, in a time of 1:06.96.

In the 12Yrs Group Evan Draper took his Heat (1:04.39), knocking three seconds off his PB. In the Final he took the race by the scruff of the neck but slipped to second place and the Silver Medal in the last three metres (1:04.28).  Later, in the Open 200m IM, Evan also secured fourth place (2:43.18).

Event 74 – Girls 9/10 Yrs 50m Backstroke – Charlotte Down and Gabrielle Taylor picked up from where they had left off. Charlotte took fifth place in her Heat and Gabrielle took sixth. In the Final, Charlotte came seventh (45.27) and Gabrielle stormed to third winning herself a well earned Bronze (39.45). Gabrielle also swam well in the 200m Open Freestyle, taking eleventh place (2:51.57).

SESSION 6 - DAY THREE (continued…) - Saturday, 7th March

Will Brown and Lee Fenner made an emphatic start to the session, qualifying first and third respectively in the 9/11 Yrs 50m Breaststroke. Will turned a particularly impressive performance in the Final, having all but won, he was thwarted only in the lunge for the finishing touch (41.08). Lee finished in seventh.  Later, Will competed well in the 200m IM securing sixth place (3:01.24).

Callum Gray, competing in the 10Yrs Group also swam well, recording a time of 50.11.

In the Girls 11Yrs/Over 50m Backstroke Rachael Stevens swam well to record a time of 36.80. Rebecca Smith closely following in 37:14.

Excitement mounted on the balcony as the two Beacon teams prepared for the Boys 16/Under 200m Medley. Adam Fenner joined the B Team, allowing Tom Wheeler to move to the A Team to replace Elliott Stevens, who was too ill to swim. Both teams performed well.

Team A comprised: Tim Wood, Harrison Keith, Tom Wheeler, Andrew Ducker – tenth place (2:09.83).
Team B comprised: Adam Fenner, Ryan Wheeler, Harrison Stevens, Evan Draper – twelfth place (2:20.28).

SESSION 6 - DAY FOUR - Sunday, 8th March

Marcus Goldsmith, Will Brown, Lee Fenner and Callum Gray competed well in the 9/11 Yrs 50m Freestyle - the opening event of the session. Will and Marcus finished second fastest in their Heats, Lee finished thirteenth and Callum took seventeenth. In their respective Finals, Marcus won the Silver in 35:03, while Will won a fourth place Rosette (32:37). Marcus and Will later went on to compete in the 200m Breaststroke with Marcus coming fifth in his Heat and Will qualifying fastest in his Heat. In their subsequent Finals Marcus did really well taking the Silver and Will went one better with a fantastic swim to win Gold.  Later, Marcus and Will completed a very successful day, both taking Bonze medals in the 100m IM finals. In the same event Lee took fourth and Callum eleventh.

The Womens’ 16/ Under 200m Freestyle Team, comprising: Rachael Stevens, Rebecca Smith, Amelia Brice and Amy Allen, were next to wake the slumbering Beacon family of spectators. The team turned in a great swim in 2:03. 43.

Making a valiant attempt to fight off the bugs, Tim Wood and Elliott Stevens then took to the water in the Boys 12Yrs / Over 50m Butterfly. Tim turned in a time of 30:66 and Elliott 32:33.

Charlotte Down, Helen Roome, Jo Chrismas and Lily Morris, making up the Womens’ 9Yrs 100m Freestyle Team, competed really well to finish in sixth place, ahead of Crawley A and Worthing, in a time of 1:16.00.

As the Championships were drawing to a close Will Brown and Evan Draper competed in the 400m Freestyle. Both boys pushed themselves through the sixteen lengths, Will taking seventh place and Evan taking sixth.  This was followed by event 125, the Boys Open 100m Breaststroke, which saw Evan undertake very impressive swims in both the Heat and Final, ultimately winning the Silver ( just missing first place on the lunge (1:22.78).

Event 131 – the Girls 11Yrs/Over 50m Freestyle saw Amelia Brice and Rebecca Smith, competing once more.   Both girls swam well with Amelia recording a time of 30:44 and Rebecca a time of 30:73.

Well done all Club swimmers
Beacon Swimming Club