Rose and Berry Blossom in Bath

Matthew Rose became the fifth Swindon Dolphin swimmer to achieve a 2009 National Qualifying Time with a superb swim in the 50m freestyle at the Team Bath Grand Prix Open Meet last weekend. Rose was also looking to hit the mark on the 100m freestyle but fell short by just 0.22s although with the progress made by the 18 year old so far this season, he looks almost certain to make the grade before the summer.

Twenty other Dolphin swimmers also made the short trek down the M4 to compete in the three day gala. Top performing BAGCAT swimmer was Samantha Berry who made finals and poduim finishes in every one of the seven events entered, winning no fewer than four gold medals. Many of Berry’s swims also fell just a few percentage points short of the national qualifying mark and again continued progress at the current rate should soon see another name added to the list of 2009 Dolphin National Qualifiers.

Other top three finishes went to Joe Kerslake (1 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze ), Alex Chantler (1 silver), James Clark (1 silver, 1 bronze), Victoria Jennings (1 silver), Lauren Matthews (2 silver), Charlotte Gardo (1 bronze) and Matthew Sambrook (1 bronze).