Dolphin Sprint to a Huge Haul

From the Swindon Advertiser, first published Wednesday 8th Feb 2006.

Swindon Dolphin produced an awesome set of results at Milton Road in last weekend’s county sprint championships, the third block of the Wiltshire County Championship.

Their medal tally reached a staggering 123, surpassing last year’s record breaking total to extend their lead at the top of the medal table.

And the Dolphin club, competing on home territory, relished the sprint challenge and underlined their strength in depth across all age groups with 14 swimmers competing in 26 finals.

Arguably the highlight for Dolphin in a weekend of high performances came in the men’s category with the club making a clean sweep in the medal stakes with a 1-2-3 in every final.

In terms of senior championship gold medals the club won six out of a possible eight.

However, Dolphin’s success was not just confined to senior individual level, with the collective efforts of swimmers bringing just reward in relay competition.

In the open mixed 8 x 1 medley relay, Dolphin A and B teams claimed gold and silver respectively with third spot going to Tigersharks with Dolphin C fourth.

In the junior championship medley relay, Tigerharks A took gold but Dolphin again showed strength in depth with the A and B taking silver and bronze.

And there is plenty of promise among the junior ranks with Dolphin claiming nine out of the 14 new age group best times that were set.

In the final of the men’s breaststroke sprint, Dolphin swimmers occupied all five starting blocks with Commonwealth Games swimmer Chris Jones receiving the perfect send-off by claiming his second gold ahead of Nigel Masters and Andi Manley.

Results summary.

Championship Finalists: Kath Baker (breaststroke 2nd); Kimberley Fisher (free 2nd, back 4th); Andrea Alleyne (breaststroke and free 1st, fly 4th); Kathryn Rees (breaststroke 5th); Katie Hall (free 3rd); Tilly Gray (fly 3rd); Jon Audis (back 2nd, fly 3rd, breaststroke 4th); Mark Tanner (free 2nd, fly 4th); Dan Rose (breaststroke); Nigel Masters (breaststroke 2nd); Andi Manley (back and free 1st, fly 2nd, breaststroke 3rd); Richard Fouracre (free 3rd); Chris Harber (back 4th); Chris Jones (breaststroke and fly 1st, back 3rd, free 4th).

 Dolphin swimmers set nine Wiltshire age group best times, they were: Tom Iles (2), Cathal Westman (2), Mark Tanner, Katie Carter (2), Charlotte Pitts, Tilly Gray.