Some thirty swimmers, mainly from Ealing Dolphins and Ealing Marlins, competed with considerable success in the Middlesex County Spring Development meets held in Enfield.

The “A” competition held on the 19th and 20th April saw the swimmers achieve a rich haul of  medals, speeding tickets and personal best times. Overall there were twenty-one speeding tickets, achieved for times in access of the upper limit A grade time, eleven gold, four silver and five bronze medals.

For many of the swimmers this was their first exposure to open competition and they responded well, particularly the 9 year olds where Helen Papworth, Gabriel Bar-Cohen, Aengus Lynch all achieved speeding tickets in all the events they entered. – Helen in the 50m breaststroke, backstroke and freestyle and the 100m medley; Gabriel in the 50m freestyle and backstroke and Aengus in the 50m backstroke and 200m freestyle. Issac Lillington also did well, achieving speeding tickets in the 100m medley and 50m backstroke, and the bronze in the 50m butterfly.

Amongst the 10 year olds, Billy Kelly gained a speeding ticket in the 50m freestyle, the gold in the 50m backstroke and silver in the 50m breaststroke, while Noel Markos gained a ticket in the 100m medley and bronze in the 50m freestyle and Gabriella Bishop took the gold in the 100m medley and bronze in the 50m butterfly.Annabee Mizen (12) gained speeding tickets in the 100m medley and 50m butterfly and Annabel Jones (12) won the 800m freestyle. In the same age group, Nicolas Raffel, won the gold in the 100m medley and 50m backstroke and the bronze in the 200m freestyle.

Katie Clarke (13) was particularly pleased with her results as she obtained a London Region qualifying time and a speeding ticket in the 200m medley. She also gained tickets in the 100m freestyle and medley, the 400m freestyle and medley and silver in the 200m freestyle.

Daniella Raffel (14) gained a ticket in the 100m freestyle and Lara Simson (15) took the silver in the 100m freestyle and bronze in the 50m breaststroke, while Sammy Kafshdooz Behrooz (20) won a grand total of six gold medals with one silver and one speeding ticket in addition to assisting on pool side.

The “B” competition took place on the 26th and 27th April and again Ealing swimmers produced some notable results, amassing a total of thirteen speeding tickets, eleven golds, three silver and two bronze medals and again achieving some very creditable best times.

Christina Weldai (15) and Alex Macdonald (12) both gained speeding tickets in all their events – Christina in the 50m freestyle (where she made an A grade time) and butterfly and 100m medley and freestyle; and Alex in the 50m backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle and the 100m medley. Milo Whittaker (12) also had a good meet gaining tickets in the 50m breaststroke and 100m medley with gold in the 50m backstroke as did Evie Whaley (11) who won a ticket in the 50m breaststroke and the gold in the 50m butterfly. Rosie Ackroyd (11) gained a speeding ticket in the 50m breaststroke, as did Khori Hue (12) in the boy’s 50m backstroke with a silver in the 50m freestyle. Osama Ali Ahmed (19) collected gold medals in all his events (50m butterfly and freestyle and 100m medley and freestyle), while Lucy Naud (15) won three golds and one silver -  in the 50m and 100m backstroke and 400m freestyle and 200m medley respectively. Miranda Leslie (12) won gold medals in the 200m and 400m freestyle, silver in the 50m breaststroke and bronze in the 200m breaststroke and Mary Sheard (12) gained the bronze in the 100m backstroke.

The Ealing team was led in both competitions by two of Ealing’s developing coaches Hatim Morsy and

Sammy Kafshdooz Behrooz who were delighted not only by the swimmers’ results but also by the manner in which they handled the challenges of competition.