YDSC Yeovil District Swimming Club

A fantastic first weekend for YDSC at the ASA South-West Regional Age-Group Championships at Millfield saw 13 year-old Beth Aitchison take her first ever regional title in the girls 100 metres freestyle. Click here for more gold medals......

The ASA South-West Regional Age-Groups is a 2 weekend competition for the top 10-14 year-old boys and 10-13 year-old girls in the South-West. The first event last weekend was the boys 400 metres freestyle. 13 year-old Daniel Liu placed 3rd last year but has has worked very hard on his freestyle this year. Daniel stepped up and smashed 11 seconds off of his pb to take the gold medal. 1 event 1 gold. Well done Daniel.

Next event was the boys 100 metres backstroke. 12 year-old Ben Tipler took an amazing 3 seconds off of his pb to place 9th and 1st reserve for the final. This is Bens highest ever placing at the regionals. In the girls 100 metres freestyle 11 year-old Maddy White swam to a 2 second pb and also placed 9th & 1st reserve for the final. Well done Ben & Maddy.

13 year-old Beth Aitchison looked destined to improve on the 1 bronze medal she claimed at last year's championships. In the 100 metres freestyle Beth cooly won the heats before stepping up to take control of the final. She lead from the start to the finish and claimed the gold medal and her first regional title. Great swimming Beth.

Next up was the boys 200 metres breaststroke. Zak Aitchison swam a very tactical race, pb'd and succesfully defended his 2009 title. Zak dipped 6 seconds inside his national qualifying time and became YDSC's 3rd regional champion of the meet! Well done Zak. Below you can see Zak receiving his gold medal.

In the 13 year-old boys Daniel Liu swam his first long-course 200 metres Breaststroke for 3 years. Daniel swam a massive pb, went 6 seconds inside of his national qualifying time and took 2nd place, narrowly missing the gold by1 second! Top swim.

10 year-old Alice Hake was not only swimming in her 1st ever regional championships but also racing her first ever long-course 200 metres backstroke. She swam very confidently and placed 19th. Well done Alice, one to watch in the future!. 13 year-old Lucy Flynn swam a cracking 6 second pb in her 200 metres backstroke to place 11th and a 2 second pb in the 100 metres freestyle to finish 14th. Good swimming Lucy.

Next up was the boys 200 metres butterfly. 10 year-old Francois Blake was also swimming in his 1st ever regional championships. Francois swam very well to 11th place. Another one to watch in the future.

In the 13 year olds Daniel Liu swam 5 seconds inside of the national qualifying time and claimed his 2nd gold of the championships & YDSC's 4th! Picture below 

In the girls 200 metres breaststroke YDSC had 2 finalists in the 13 year old age group. Lucy Gregory had smashed an incredible 11 seconds from her pb to qualify in 6th place. In a tough final Lucy placed placed 8th but still well pleased with her swim in the final. Also in the final was a tired Beth Aitchison. Beth swam hard to a great bronze medal - her 2nd of the meet so far.

In the boys 100 metres freestyle 11 year-old Zak Aitchison swam to 6 second long-course pb to grab 5th place, 12 year-old Ben Tipler swam a 2 second pb to place 23rd and finally in the 13 year-olds Daniel Liu swam a cracking race, leading from start to finish knocking 2 seconds off of his pb and somehow managing to come 2nd?  But seriously this was Daniel's 8th national qualifying time this year and that is a remarkable achievement. Well done Daniel.

So at the end of the first weekend of the 2010 ASA  South-West Regional Age-Group Championships YDSC came away with 7 medals - 4 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze. 

Full results can be viewed at: http://www.swimwest.org/results/age10/index.htm

If you would like any further information or would like to enquire about the opportunities that YDSC can offer you please contact our Head Coach Alex Pinniger: 07919 540737 / apinniger@somerset.gov.uk