Swimming: Squad seal win by two points

WATFORD Swimming Club's junior team produced another outstanding performance on Saturday when they competed in the second round of the Peanuts League at Borehamwood.

Watford already knew that their main opponents from the six teams competing would be Six Hills Swimming Club, and after 12 of the 41 events the team were only lying in third place, some 15 points behind Six Hills and Cheshunt.

However, the situation changed when the relay events began, and the youngest girls team - nine-year-olds Natalie Riley, Rebecca Sills, Rebecca Maguire and Carla White - showed no signs of nerves to record an excellent second place in the freestyle relay, while in the next event the nine-year-old boys of Nicholas Rogers, Eliot Webber-Rosewall, Kevin Williams and Peter Beardsworth went one better to record Watford's first win.

After further good swims the team were in second place at half way, just five points behind Cheshunt.

In the following individual events Dean White and Guy Rogers both won their 25m breastroke races, and Tom Rose took his freestyle but was just touched off in his fly event.

For the girls Emily Ginty took the under 11 25m backstroke and was runner-up in the 25m fly.

The final relay events saw some terrific swimming from the teams, but going into the penultimate event, the boys' under 13 freestyle relay, Watford held a slender lead of just one point.

But a fantastic effort from Mark Ponsford, Stuart Carter, Glen White and Tom Rose meant that Watford went into the final event, the squadron, with a very slight advantage.

Both teams knew how close the gala was, and the squadron was very tight, with Cheshunt just winning the 8 length race by a mere 0.13 seconds.

However, second place was enough to secure victory for Watford by just two points.