Ealing Swimming Club finished a highly creditable second in the B Final of the National Speedo League held in Sheffield last Sunday in which ten teams from all over the country battled it out in an atmosphere of high excitement and a great deal of noise.

Under the rules of this league, teams compete in three rounds in their own division, following which a virtual gala is held to determine which go forward to the two finals, with sometimes rather unexpected results. Last year, Ealing found themselves in the B final while teams that they had beaten in the qualifying rounds were allocated to the A final.

There were many fine performances from all the teams but the struggle for first place quickly settled down to a three way contest between Ealing, who led for much of the gala, Ferndown and City of Cardiff. Ealing shook off Ferndown but ultimate victory went to the Welsh team.

There was some consolation in Ealing’s securing three of the awards made to individual swimmers. Charlie Turner (23) and Gina Heyn (23) were named male and female Swimmer of the Meet – awarded to swimmers who score most Fina points in an open event. Charlie’s time (50.77) in the 100m freestyle was a then new competition record. Gina gained her winning points in the 100m breaststroke which she won in  1.12.17. Eamonn Haroun (11) was Best Boy in the 10/11 age category, having won both the 50m butterfly and freestyle in that age band.

Other swimmers who won their events were Joao Matias (21) who was first in the 100m butterfly and Jenna Turner (17) who won the open 100m freestyle. Joao will soon be off the Beijing where he is representing Angola, while Jenna has achieved selection for the British team for the World Youth Championships in Mexico in August.

Second places were gained by Natalie Durant (17) and Ian Hulme (24), both in the 200m medley, by Rohan Singh (11) in the 10/11 50m backstroke, Sophie Shafique (15) in the 15/u 100m backstroke and Lauren Turner (14) in the 100m freestyle. Tom Brommage (13), Zak Shafique (15), James Crawford (19) and Ed Howard (15) gained third places in the 100m breaststroke, 100m backstroke, and 100m freestyle in their respective categories.

In the relay events, the open swimmers were particularly successful winning both the mens and women’s 4 x 50m medley and the men’s 6 x 50m freestyle. An unfortunate disqualification cost the women first place in their freestyle event. The women’s medley team was  made up of Holly Mills (19), Natalie Durant, Gina Heyn and Jenna Turner and the men’s consisted of James Crawford, Tariq Miller (16), Ian Hulme, and Charlie Turner with David Hickman (18) and Joao Matias joining them for the freestyle race. Also victorious in their race were the 9-11 boys team of Eamon Haroun, Rohan Singh, Aaron Pullen (10) and Joseph Sheehan (11) who won the 4 x 50m freestyle while both the boys and girls teams in the 15/u category came third in their freestyle events.

Ealing’s coaches were delighted with the team’s overall performance. Ranked seventh at the start of the gala, they not only finished second but the swimmers improved their times in forty-eight of the programme’s fifty events. The new Speedo League season starts in September and the swimmers will be hoping to reach the national final again in 2009.

The Club is very grateful to Greenwich Leisure Ltd for their generous sponsorship of the team at this year’s final.