Farnham finish third behind Hart and 'missing' Guernsey team

Farnham swimmers came third at the recent National Speedo Round 1 Gala on Sat 8th October at Hart Leisure Centre.

Other participating clubs were Hart, Guernsey, Wey Valley, Feltham and Chichester.

Stars of the night for Farnham were their pair of U14 girls, Sarah Taylor and Adenais Vachon with a total of six victories each. This was a very strange gala in that it was swum with an empty lane where the Guernsey competitors should have been! Due to logistics the Guernsey swimmers swam earlier in the evening at their own pool back on the island. The five other teams then competed against, not only each other, but also the missing Guernsey swimmer whose time was announced prior to each race !

Farnham fought hard throughout and there were some fantastic successes and some very strong swims. Farnham's victories came from Sarah Taylor (U14 & U16 100m Breaststroke), Adenais Vachon (U14 100m Butterfly, U14 100m Freestyle), Katherine Browne (U14 100m Backstroke), Fleur Robertson (U16 100m Backstroke), Richard Hall (U16 100m Backstroke), David Pallant (U16 100m Butterfly) and David Smith (U16 100m Breaststroke). These were all great victories against some top class opposition.

There were also good second places for Martin Smithers (Open 100m Butterfly), Richard Hall (U16 100m Freestyle) and David Smith (Open 100m Breaststroke). Farnham's team of U14 and U16 girls picked up great victories in both the 4X1 Freestyle and Medley relays. Congratulations to Sarah Taylor, Katherine Browne, Adenais Vachon and Freya Robertson for the U14's and Sarah Taylor, Fleur Robertson, Sarah Fox, Adenais Vachon and Emily Webster for the U16's. There were also a pair of good second places in the boys U16 Freestyle and Medley relays (Richard Hall, David Pallant, David Smith, Daniel Traylen)

This was a high quality gala and Farnham swam well for their 3rd place. Their coach Dirk Cox is currently away competing at the world Triathlon championships but will be heartened by the improvements shown.