YDSC Yeovil District Swimming Club

Yeovil swimmers were competing in the first weekend of the Somerset ASA Championships at Hutton Moor. They came away with 18 fantastic medals - 4 more than last year.

The first event was the boys 200 metres butterfly and 10 year-olds Francois Blake and Mark Stevens swam superbly to take 2nd and 6th respectively. Francois also achieved his first ever regional qualifying time. In the 12's Ben Tipler placed 6th. Daniel Liu won the 13 year-olds in a national qualifying time and placed 4th in the overall championship. Elliott Carter swam a great pb to place 6th.

In the boys 100 metres breaststroke Daniel Liu placed 2nd in the 13 year-olds. In the girls 100 metres backstroke 11 year-old Jasmine Boucher swam a great pb to finish 8th in a regional qualifying time. Beth Aitchison won the 12 year-olds with a 3 second pb and another regional qualifying time. Catherine Thomas continued her incredible backstroke improvement to place 4th in the 16/17s and claim a regional qualifying time.

Next was the girls 400 metres freestyle. 10 year-old Chloe Bishop swam a 10 second pb to grab 3rd place. 11 year-old Maddy White swam a 5 second pb to finish a highly creditable 7th. Beth Aitchison won he 12 year-olds in a pb and her first regional qualifying time in this event. In the 13's Yasmin Chick and Lucy Flynn swam good pb's to finish 6th and 8th respectively. Beth Adams and Charley Stone placed 2nd and 3rd respectively in the girls 14/15 years resulting in a 4th and 5th place in the overall championship.

In the girls 200 metres breaststroke 9 year-old Alice Hake marked her first Somersets with a 14 second pb and 8th place finish. In the 12 year-olds Beth Aitchison swam a 6 second pb and regional qualifying time to win and Lily Kitto swam a 7 second pb to take 7th. Lucy Gregory swam a 6 second pb to grab 3rd in the 13 year-olds. Bronwyn Clifford was in great form to pb and win the 14/15 age group and claim 3rd in the overall championship.

Next up was the boys 100 metres backstroke. In the 12 year-olds Ben Tipler swam a 3 second pb to a regional qualifying time and Callum Lovegrove swam a 10 second pb. They placed 8th and 9th respectively. In the girls 100 metres butterfly Beth Aitchison swam a 3 second pb to claim 2nd. Beth Adams continued her excellent recent performances to swim a 3 second pb and place 4th in the 14/15s.

The 200 metres backstroke displayed YDSC's next generation of emerging talent. In the 9 year-olds Jonathon Dey, Rupert Hague, Callum Hendrie and Jacob Bailey swam tremendously to finish 4th, 5th, 6th & 7th respectively. Well done boys. In the 10's Mark Stevens swam a 13 second pb to finish 4th. Bradley Seager, Joe Best and Ben Card all swam 16 second pb's from times set just over 2 months ago. 12 year-old Ben Tipler swam a 7 second pb to grab another regional qualifying time. 

In the boys 400 metres freestyle 10 year-olds Mark Stevens and Bradley Seager swam great pb's to take 5th and 6th places. 11 year-old Zak Aitchison claimed 3rd in a very good pb. Jordan Bishop swam another good middle-distance swim to take 8th in the 12's as did Elliott Carter and Sam Johnson in their age-groups. 

In the 13/14 girls relays YDSC placed 2nd in the medley (Yasmin Andrews-Urvoy, Bronwyn Clifford, Courtney Bishop, Lucy Flynn) and 4th in the freestyle ( Yasmin Andrews-Urvoy, Yasmin Chick, Courtney Bishop, Lucy Flynn). In the girls 16 and under relays YDSC placed 2nd in the freestyle (Courtney Bishop, Beth Aitchison, Beth Adams, Charley Stone) and 3rd in the Medley (Catherine Thomas, Bronwyn Clifford, Robyn Sharp, Charley Stone). The boys 16 and under team of Daniel Liu, Sam Johnson, Olly Wells and Ben Murcer placed 4th in the medley relay and 5th in the freestyle relay.