Swimming: Poole's progress capped with a final (From Bournemouth Echo)

Swimming: Poole's progress capped with a final

7:00am Thursday 17th November 2011 in Swimming By Roger Guttridge

All roads west were paved with gold as the Bournemouth area’s top four teams stormed into their respective National Arena League Western finals.

A comfortable second place behind 2005 national champions Millfield in round two earned Poole lane six in their first-ever Premier Division final next month.

And Swim Bournemouth A will be just two lanes away at Millfield on December 10 thanks to their own outstanding second place at Newport behind City of Cardiff A, who have won the national B final three times in the past four years.

Seagulls extended their lead at the top of Division One and Swim Bournemouth B are second in Division Two.

Poole look destined to be scrapping over third place with Cardiff, who are just 10 gala points ahead of them in the table.

Coach Robin Armayan said: “There is no pressure for us in the final because we have come up from Division One. We are already the most improved club in that division.”

Poole’s results included 13 wins and they finished out of the top three only seven times in 50 events.

Maddy Kemp led the scoring with wins in the 13/u 100m butterfly (1:08.49) and breaststroke (1:17.42) and a quarter-share in two relay wins with Jade Norman, Sophie Eaton and Jasmine Holmes.

Dan Speers, 14, became the fastest 100m freestyler in Poole’s 80-year history as he won the 15/u event in 53.29, which knocked 0.05sec off Mark Moreland-Francis’s club record and broke the club records for four other age groups.

They were among 47 club records broken at Millfield.

Speers also clocked 24.84 as he anchored national title-winning team-mates Alan Wong (back 28.79), Noah Vides (breast 30.65) and Todd Price (fly 27.48) to victory in the 15/u 4x50m medley relay.

The 10-11yrs swimmers scored well with wins from Jacob Peters (50m back 34.83), Harry Kemp (50m free 29.45), Georga Harrison (50m fly 33.95) and Peters, Kemp, Kelvin Wong and Lewis Harding in both boys’ relays.

Alex Price and Courtney Rowan completed a run of four consecutive wins as they respectively took the boys’ 13/u 100m breaststroke (1:18.32) and the girls’ 15/u 100m backstroke (1:06.10).

At Newport, Swim Bourne-mouth gave Cardiff a contest, finishing just 16 points behind them compared with 61 last month. They also saw off Nofio Sir Gar and West Wilts Force 5, who were both above them in the table beforehand.

Bournemouth’s 11/u boys’ team of Matthew Collins, Ethan Bell, Chris Parsons-Lowey and Ben Samuels won all six of their events.

With Poole’s 11/u boys also dominant in their first and second round galas, it makes for an intriguing Dorset sub-plot in the final.

Bournemouth’s other individual winners were Jemma Green in the 11/u 50m backstroke, Ben Wickens in the 13/u 100m breaststroke and 15/u swimmers Lucy Kirkham in the 100m freestyle and Dorset record holder Jack Burton in the 100m breaststroke.

Bournemouth’s five relay wins also included the boys’ 13/u freestyle, the men’s medley and a men’s 6x50m freestyle which had swimmers and supporters on their feet to cheer their winning finale.

Premier final line-up (spearheaded lane draw in brackets): Plymouth Leander (four), Millfield (five), Cardiff (three), Poole (six), Exeter City (two), Nofio Sir Gar (seven), Taunton Deane (one), Swim Bournemouth (eight).

National Arena League West, round two (League placings in brackets) – Premier Division, Gala One (at Millfield): 1 (2) Millfield 258, 2 (4) Poole 228, 3 (9) Swim Swansea 180, 4 (10) Somerset Cheetas A 155, 5 (14) Keynsham 118, 6 (17) Yeovil 109.

Gala Three (at Newport): 1 (3) City of Cardiff A 234, 2 (8) Swim Bournemouth A 218, 3 (6) Nofio Sir Gar 185, 4 (13) City of Newport 148, 5 (12) West Wilts Force 5 A 138, 6 (18) Soundwell 121.

Division One, Gala One (at Weston-super-Mare): 1 (1) Seagulls 263, 2 (4) Weston-super-Mare 188, 3 (5) Southwold 155, 4 (16) Kingsbridge Kingfishers 150, 5 (15) Bleanau Gwent 143, 6 (14) Newton Abbot 140.

Division Two, Gala Two (at Millfield): 1 (2) Swim Bournemouth B 263, 2 (4) Dawlish 250, 3 (10) Swim Swansea B 229, 4 (11) Carn Brea 221, 5 (14) Bristol North 160, 6 (17) Torridgeside 156, 7 (21) Severnside Tritons B 114.

Division Three, Gala One (at Exeter Riverside): 1 (1) Ilfracombe 280, 2 (3) Tiverton 255, 3 (6) Bridport Baracudas 211, 4 (7) Exmouth 192, 5 (10) Oddi-combe 152, 6 (13) N Dorset Turboes 100.

Gala Two (at Horfield, Bristol): 1 (2) Lydney & Cinderford 270, 2 (4) Cirencester 217, 3 (5) Bristol Penguins 233, 4 (9) Backwell 189, 5 (8) Bishopsworth 204, 6 (11) Wareham 140, 7 (12) Merthyr T 132.