RTW Monson bag breaststroke wins at British champs

Swimmers from local club RTW Monson produced a series of impressive performances at the Aquatics GB Next Gen Championships at Ponds Forge in Sheffield last month, with the team enjoying a medal haul, numerous finals appearances and a host of personal bests across a busy programme of racing. 

The club’s girls enjoyed an especially strong spell in the breaststroke events. Olivia Quiller, 16, produced a superb swim in the 100m breaststroke final, taking silver after a nail-biting finish and setting a new personal best. She went on to win gold in the 200m breaststroke event, in a time of 2.32.97. 

Scarlett Davie and Imogen Myles, fresh from her gold medal winning performance at the recent European Juniors meet in Munich, competed in the 17/18 age group for the 200m breaststroke, both booking themselves into the finals, with Scarlett finishing in eighth and Imogen racing to gold after another hugely impressive performance which saw her win with a lead of eight seconds. Earlier in the competition, Imogen had also claimed silver in the 50m breaststroke. 

17-year-old Lucas Sanders was another standout performer in the boys’ breaststroke events. He qualified second for the 50m final after recording a personal best, before narrowly missing the podium to finish fourth. He also battled his way to fourth in a closely fought 100m final. 

There were strong performances across the freestyle programme too. Rohan Bissett, 16, produced one of the most dramatic moments of the meet on the final day, qualifying for the 200m freestyle final after winning a nail-biting swim-off. After an extraordinary three swims in the event, he finished a commendable 10th in the final. 

Jessica Gable, 18, enjoyed a particularly successful meet, reaching finals in the 200m freestyle, 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle. She finished eighth in both the 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle finals, producing composed and well-paced swims throughout. 

14-year-old Tyla-Jade Thomas also enjoyed a busy and successful programme, reaching the 200m Backstroke final, and improving both her time and position in the final to finish sixth overall. 

There were strong showings from the boys in the backstroke and butterfly events, with Josh Hill recording a personal best in the 100m backstroke and finishing 11th, just one place outside the final. He later reached the 50m backstroke final, finishing seventh. 

Olly Ratchford, 15, continued his excellent form in the 50m butterfly, knocking more than half a second off his time in the final to finish seventh. He had earlier qualified 12th in the 100m butterfly. 

The relays also provided plenty of excitement. The 14/16 girls’ 4 x100m freestyle team of Tyla-Jade Thomas, Mae Davies, Billie Ballach and Bella Jones qualified for the final before producing an even faster performance to finish sixth. The race was particularly notable for Mae and Billie, who were making their Aquatics GB Next Gen debut. 

The 17/18 girls’ 4 x100m Medley team of Jessica Gable, Imogen Myles, Maddie Hind and Scarlett Davie also impressed, fighting all the way to a fifth-place finish in the final. The 14/16 boys’ medley team of Lanre Dada, Lucas Sanders, Olly Ratchford and Rohan Bissett qualified for the final and finished ninth. 

Earlier in the meet, the 14/16 girls’ 4 x2 00m Freestyle team of Tyla, Bella, Billie and Mae finished sixth, while the club’s two 17/18 teams also put in determined performances, finishing 11th and 20th. 

There were plenty of other encouraging individual swims. Maddie Hind, 17, Ilana Nightingale-Ellis, 18 and Lilly Dellar, 17 all competed in the demanding 17/18 200m butterfly, while 17-year-old Reese Huckle showed great determination to race the 50m butterfly despite an ankle injury sustained the previous week. 

Maddie also came 16th in the competitive 17/18 yrs age group for the 50m butterfly. Olivia Quiller also produced a standout performance in the 400m individual medley, finishing fourth in the final with a personal best after an especially strong breaststroke leg. 

The performances at Ponds Forge represent an excellent showing for RTW Monson, under the guidance of coach Richard Smith, with the team showing both depth and determination throughout the championships.