Bagcats Applaud Luke

Event: South West Age Group Regional Championships (50m)

Venue: Millfield School

Date: June 9/10 & 16/17

A sad week for Swindon Dolphin, which saw 18 year old swimmer Luke Herbert lose his long battle against cancer, ended with the culmination of the fund raising efforts inspired by Luke’s illness and a celebration of his memory.

Tigersharks’ Sam Clayton and Swindon Dolphin’s Tim Berry presented Otto Putland a cheque for over £6,000

Swindon Dolphin’s Tim Berry and Tigersharks’ Sam Clayton presented Otto Putland a cheque for over £6,000 in response to Otto’s Challenge, an initiative to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Otto’s challenge to swimming clubs throughout the country was taken up by Luke’s brother Liam who was due to compete at the championships and to present the cheque but was unable to attend. The fund raising efforts began at the Wiltshire County BAGCAT Championship in March, following which both Swindon Dolphin and Tigersharks organised sponsored swims and raised money through raffles and cake sales. Over 100 swimmers and officials, including a team of 15 parents, participated in the Dolphin swim alone.

The presentation of the cheque, which took place during the second weekend of the South West Regional BAGCAT (Age Group) Championships at Millfield on Saturday, was followed by a minute of applause and cheering in remembrance of Luke, and in recognition of the efforts of swimmers, officials and parents of both clubs who, in less than three months, have together helped Otto to beat his current target. Otto swims with the number 6 written on his arm, representing the number of teenagers who are diagnosed with cancer in the UK each day, and on Saturday the number was also worn by the Dolphin boys and coaches. >

Swindon boys wore number 6 on their arms

In the pool Dolphin had another successful weekend and finished the 2007 championship with a total of 6 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals and reached the top eight in 35 events. The very promising Samantha Berry accumulated three new National Qualifying Times (NQTs) and previous qualifiers James Clark and Cathal Westman improved their NQTs.

The highlights of the second weekend included gold medal performances from Charlotte Pitts (10 years, 400m freestyle), Samantha Berry (11 years, 100m butterfly) and James Clark (12 years, 200m breaststroke). Rosie Wells (13) collected a silver in the 200m backstroke while Pitts and Cathal Westman (14) both took bronze in their 200m breaststroke events. Other impressive performances included Clark ’s fourth place in the 100m fly and fifth place in the 400m freestyle, Pitts’ fifth in the 100m fly, and a fifth for Samantha Berry in the 200m back. >

Tess Farr & Anthony Clark at the presentation

Source: Swindon Dolphin Press Team