KENDAL had 15 swimmers attend Copeland Swimming Club’s annual Griffin Gala at Whitehaven.

The under 9s proved to be real stars of the afternoon, led by the performances Austin Woodburn who took double gold and silver from his events.

His first effort in the 50m backstroke saw him just touched out of gold after pushing hard to overtake the leader. His 50m breaststroke had him locked shoulder to shoulder with Cockermouth’s Sam Watson before coming out on top for the win.

His second gold came from a superb 50m butterfly swim where right from the start he took complete control. He picked up another silver in the 100m individual medley.

Another gold in this group went to Annie Bottomley whose natural ability for butterfly brought her a brilliant win in the 50m event.

Kate Collin kept up the momentum with silver medals in 50m breaststroke and 100m individual medley with some excellent swimming.

Turning to the under 10s, Mathew Foster featured prominently matching Woodburn’s haul. A dazzling 100m individual medley brought him his first gold where he had to call on all his skills and technique to outwit Cockermouth’s Joshua Lowes. His 50m freestyle saw him caught up in another desperate battle, this time taking on Jackson Jardine from Copeland, but again he got the better of his opponent.

Another ordeal developed for him when clubmate Alec Walton took to the water in the 50m breaststroke. Both displayed immaculate stroke patterns and it came down to Walton finding that extra bit of power to win with Foster settling for silver. Foster went on to collect another silver in the 50m butterfly.

The under 11s were not quite as successful but many of them produced a lifetime best performance and posted qualifying times for other galas later in the year.

The under 12s had Elliot Woodburn entered in every event where he reigned supreme taking all five gold medals.

Starting with 50m backstroke, he took it on and cruised to an easy victory. He then had another comfortable win from his 50m breaststroke and continued to dominate when it came to 50m butterfly. His finest win came from the 100m individual medley by taking a commanding lead to which his challengers had no answer. He completed a full house with the gold medal for 50m freestyle.

It then came down to the lower medals with James Escolme also settling for silver in the 50m breaststroke and a bronze for the 100m individual medley.

Bronze medals also went to Jessie Keech and Adam Stansfield.