DRSA

The third and final round of the Speedo league took place on Saturday 9th December at Keynsham, Bristol. It was to be a winning gala for Devonport with some excellent swimming.

We didn’t have a complete squad but this didn’t deter our swimmers. They began confidently and every swimmer committed themselves to every race. All our relay teams proved their ability, rarely finishing out of the top three.

Shepton Mallet, Backwell, Cinderford, Monnow and Paignton were our opposition. Our first win came from our girls 11 and under freestyle relay team, Sinead Davies, Rebecca Ward, Victoria Philpot and Rebekah James. In addition, our boys 15 and under freestyle relay team were again in top spot Jordan Nicholson, Danny Banks, Ryan Moreno-Chamorro and Tom Mermagen. Rebecca Ward added the 11 and under 50m backstroke to our winning ways. After sixteen events, Devonport lay in second place with 64 points. Sinead Davies clinched an excellent first place in the 11 and under 50m breaststroke. Nat Chartres matched this win with success in the 13 and under 50m freestyle. After forty-two events Devonport were in 3rd place with 157 points. Paignton had 160 points and Monnow were narrow leaders with 166 points. We headed into the final stages, confident of improving on third position; with the relays to come we had everything to swim for. The girls 11 and under medley team were again convincing winners, Rebecca Ward, Sinead Davies, Rebekah James and Victoria Philpot. The girls continued to impress with the 15 and under medley team taking a win, Abbey Ward, Jade Leeke, Abby McBeath, and Sam Wilkes. Devonport finished in the top three of the final eight relays. Our ladies Open freestyle relay team were winners Holly Smith, Nicki Stepp, Louise Brightwell, Abbey Ward, Sam Wilkes and Jade Leeke. It was an exciting finale to what had been a very convincing Devonport performance. The final totals left Backwell in 6th with 123 points, Shepton Mallet with 166 points, Cinderford were in 4th with 170 points, Paignton had clinched 3rd with 187 points, previous leaders Monnow were beaten into second with 193 points and Devonport had taken the top spot with 198 points. The spectators were treated to an excellent evenings’ entertainment where they enthusiastically supported every race. Huge thanks to Terry and Caroline for their expertise and well done to our swimmers-Fantastic!