SWIMMING

Kendal swimmers were back on the road travelling to Blackpool to compete in an open meet in the Palatine pool. A dazzling performance from 13 year old Adam Stansfield brought him a whole clutch of medals and personal best times. Commencing his programme with the gruelling 400 freestyle he got away to a great start and quickly got into his stroke pattern and with the pace relentless he had to work hard to keep in touch with the leaders. Drawing on all his skill he drove into the finish hitting the pads in 5:07 69 and his first p.b. However it was his sprinting skills that were to lead to his greatest successes, starting out with the 50 butterfly. His reaction time off the block was fantastic and out of transition he immediately took command and dominated the race. Over the first length he held his rivals at bay and following a brilliant turn began to wind it up. Into the pressure zone he dug into his reserves and did just enough to win gold. Then it was on to 50 freestyle and probably the most exciting race of the meet. Again, Stansfield got a brilliant start along with five others who were all shoulder to shoulder and matching each other stroke for stroke. Superb turns and transitions made no difference, the winner could be any one of them. Storming through the last length all six hit the pads in an amazing blanket finish on 28 seconds and it emerged that Stansfield had taken gold by nine hundredths of a second. At 50 Backstroke he also showed outstanding skill and again got into a medal winning position. Attacking from the start he looked very confident matching the pace over the first length and saving his main effort for the final 25. Preston’s Leo Jessop made his bid for glory and Stansfield responded with a powerful burst, but in the charge for the finish he had to settle for silver. The 100 freestyle turned out to be another classic and again Stansfield found himself heavily involved. The pace was furious and over the first 50 seven swimmers were all within two seconds of each other. From there on Stansfield refused to be overawed and staying completely composed charged into the finish to take the bronze medal. Not content he participated in a further five events and was never outside the top five enabling him to take third place in the “top boy competition in his age group. Another set of star performances came from Lucie Bulman who had to call upon all her technique and talent whilst being involved in some desperate finishes. Her 50 freestyle event was a real thriller with a group of six swimmers battling it out for the medals. Brilliant turns and sheer power saw them all hit the pads on 29 seconds with Bulman winning silver. Her 100 Freestyle produced a similar result following another tremendous battle with Fleetwood’s Freya Miller in which both girls finished on 1:04 and with Bulman being touched out into silver. Back to sprinting and another tight finish in the 50 butterfly, she snatched the bronze medal by a split sec with four swimmers fighting for places on 33secs. She too went on to make p.b. times in a number of her other five events. Lennon Bell also had a series of results that he could be proud of. Swimming in nine events he achieved p.b. times in four of them His greatest success came from his 50 Breaststroke with a display of controlled aggression coupled with a superb stroke pattern. A great start and transition put him in a position for success and despite a Fleetwood swimmer pulling ahead Bell continued to match the pace and in a desperate finish took the bronze medal by a split second. Although outside the medal list from then on he nevertheless gave stunning performances that were all inside the top ten and was delighted to get his Age Group qualifying times from his 200 breaststroke and freestyle. These results were supported by fine swims from the rest of the squad bringing them p.b.s and qualifying times. Natalie Pinder’s 400 Free was particularly outstanding as was 10 year old Ellie Bottomley’s 200 individual medley and Jessie Keech displayed extraordinary all round skill and stamina, taking on nine events ranging from sprinting to middle distance.