Harwich Swimming Club travelled to Saffron Walden to compete in the second round of the Essex Mini League, wanting to emulate their success at Clacton the previous month where they won by 1 point. The team did not disappoint. Competing against hosts Saffron Walden, Clacton, Halstead and Hornchurch, Harwich soon continued their winning ways. With 5 first places and 6 second places in the first 12 races, Harwich took the lead. First places came from Sean Bibby in 11 & under 50m Backstroke, sister Alicia in the 10 & under 50m Backstroke, Ethan Davenport in the 10 & under 50m Backstroke cutting 1.5 seconds off his personal best and Max Stapleton in the open 50m Butterfly in a new personal best time of 33.56. The under 10 Girls Medley Relay team of Anise Arthey, Daisy Tilley-Smith, Nancy Garner and Olivia Hunt swam a strong race gaining a well deserved first place. In the second quarter of the gala, Alice Messenger cut 2 seconds off her pb in the 11 & under 50m Freestyle to gain first place closely followed by Jasmine Hall-Barnet swimming a very strong 50m backstroke to come in first in the open age group. Thomas Richardson cut nearly a second off his PB in the 13 and under 50m Breaststroke to achieve a well deserved 1st place. By now, Harwich were storming away in the lead, going from strength to strength. In the third quarter relay firsts came in the 6 x 1 Fly relay and 11 & under 4 x1 Freestyle relay. Isabelle Tye swam a strong 50m backstroke in the 13 & under age group coming first in a new personal best time of 38.99. Thomas Richardson closely followed in the same age group gaining another first place in the 50m backstroke, equalling his personal best time. Again the 9 and under relay team excelled themselves, this time coming first in the 4 x 1 freestyle relay. Double first came in the 10 & under 25m Butterfly events, Tabitha Pickersgill for the girls, gaining a 3 second PB and Ethan Davenport for the boys, again in a personal best time. Butterfly firsts kept on coming, this time in the 11 and under age group at 50m. Alice Jennings cut nearly 2 seconds off her pb to gain first place and Sean Bibby made it a double, smashing his personal best by 7 seconds. Relay victories closely followed in the 6 x 1 Breaststroke relays for the Girls and the Boys. The 10 & under boys relay team were not to be outdone. Comprising of Jack Dowton, Albert Jacques, Arthur Weston and Ethan Davenport the team gained first place by more than4 seconds. A grand total of 19 first places, 17 second places, strong relay swimming, no disqualifications and only one time fault ensured that Harwich won the gala by some 52 points, with Halstead in second place on 138 points, Saffron Waldon 3rd with 120 points, Clacton on 115 points and Hornchurch on 104 points. Swimmer of the gala was Ethan Davenport.
