Young swimmers making a splash
SOUTH Tyneside swimmers are determined to be a success despite going through some tough times recently.
And they are already making a splash, with a number of youngsters celebrating medals and personal bests.
The South Tyneside team has been rebuilding during the last year after many youngsters left for Wearside's City of Sunderland SC, and the top-class facilities on offer at the new Aquatic Centre.
Head coach Ken Nesworthy explained: "At the end of January 2009, the top end of our team was decimated in just a few short weeks, and the thousands of hours of work we put into these swimmers was lost.
"This left the team in a difficult situation as the drop in numbers had an immediate effect on our income and ability to hire pool time.
"Since then, the coaching, teaching staff and supporters have been terrific as we all pulled together and started to rebuild the junior section of the swim team.
"To make sure we were prepared for the new season, the team trained through the summer months – including tough training in the sea."
Early autumn results proved positive as the young team topped the podium several times at the North Durham County Graded series, which is seen as a good indicator of what is to come during the season.
Four of the team's juniors – Annabel Watson, Anna Blake, Shannon Tighe and Faye Pinder – made the qualifying times for the Senior County Championships held at Sunderland last month.
And there was further success at the Neptune Aquatic Arena in Middlesbrough, which was the venue for the Northumberland and Durham Counties Championships.
Mortimer School pupil Pinder qualified for the County Junior championships. The confidence of putting a solid block of winter training behind her certainly paid dividends as the 13-year-old won her first County gold.
Going into the 200m breaststroke final as the underdog, Pinder locked into a two-swimmer battle with Middlesbrough's Georgia Nixon.
Nixon began to push the pace early in the race, but undeterred and unwilling to let go throughout every metre, Pinder's smooth controlled technique and excellent turns paid off as she edged out her rival in the last 25m to take gold for the first time.
Pinder's all-round ability was reflected in her medal tally – she also took silver in the 100m breast stroke and bronze in the 200 and 800 freestyles.
There were also medals for nine-year-old Dylan Pinnock, who took silver in the 50m backstroke, and bronze in the 100m individual medley and 50m butterfly.
James Lane, 11, took silver in the 200m freestyle, while Shannon Tighe took bronze in the 100m and 200m breast stroke.
Nine-year-old Amber Rodgers won silver in the 50m butterfly, and Nicole McCulla secured the bronze in the 200m butterfly.
Anna Blake, 13, and Hannah Kirsop, 11, were finalists in the 4x100 medley relay teams, with Kirsop also reaching the finals in the 800m freestyle, and Chloe Middleton, 11, in the 200m breaststroke.
Rachel Taylor, 10, and Jake Whitelock, 12, both achieved personal bests.
The swimming club meets at Hebburn Pool from 6.30pm on Wednesday nights.
Anyone interested in joining the team should call in or visit the club's website, via this link.
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Weather for South Shields
Saturday 11 February 2012
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Temperature: 2 C to 4 C
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