MORE than 30 Pioneer 79 Swimming Club members took part in the Preston Swimming Club’s Christmas Countdown Competition at Darwen Leisure Centre recently. With swimmers travelling to the meet from as far as Carnforth, Harrogate and Dane Valley, the event was very oversubscribed; so many swimmers were unfortunately rejected from the event which was very disappointing. However, the swimmers that were accepted on their entry times did themselves proud! The event was a Level Three competition, so each swimmer must enter a time for each event which falls between a lower and upper limit. Should any swimmer finish in a faster time than the ‘upper’ limit, they are awarded a ‘Speeding Ticket’, swimmers are subsequently awarded medals on times that fall slower than the ‘upper’ limit.

During the course of the competition, many swimmers achieved personal best times, Lancashire County Championship Qualifying Times and Regional Qualifying Times. Swimmers finishing in the top three positions, accumulated points which were subsequently collated and at the end of the competition, the visiting team with the most points won the ‘Top Club’ trophy. And Pioneer 79 Swimming Club were overjoyed to find that they had won the trophy after the final event had finished. Head Coach, Mike Wilson said: “It is encouraging to see so many of our swimmers achieving personal best times, qualifying times for the Lancashire County and Regional Championships so early in the season. Pioneer 79 Swimming Club is getting progressively successful and the hard work the swimmers are putting into their training is most certainly paying off! “I would like to congratulate them all on their achievements over the last 12 months, and wish them another successful year in 2014.”

n Results Speeding tickets: Matthew Sharpe (14) 100m butterfly; Meghann Leaver (13) 50m/100m breaststroke, 200m IM, 50m/200m freestyle and 200m backstroke; Mikaela Shackleton (10) 50m backstroke and 200m IM; Martha Smith (12) 50m freestyle; Lucy Lambert (11) 50m freestyle; Ben Havers-Strong (10) 100m/200m IM, 50m butterfly and 200m freestyle; Eleanor Collin (13) 200m backstroke.

n Medallists: Izabel Forrest (11) gold 200m freestyle, silver 50m/100m freestyle and 100m butterfly, bronze 200m breaststroke Harry Robinson (9) Gold 50m/200m backstroke, bronze 50m butterfly.

Ben Havers-Strong (10) gold 50m freestyle, 200m butterfly and 200m backstroke, bronze 200m breaststroke.

Mikaela Shackleton (10) gold 50m butterfly and 200m backstroke, silver 200m butterfly and 100m IM.

Martha Smith (12) gold 50m butterfly and 200m IM, bronze 50m/200m backstroke.

Lucy Lambert (11) gold 100m IM & 100m freestyle, silver 200m freestyle, bronze 100m backstroke.

Ben Turland (12) gold 50m/100m/200m freestyle, 100m IM, 50m/100m backstroke and 50m butterfly, silver 200m IM, 200m backstroke and 50m breaststroke Eleanor Collin (13) gold 200m breaststroke and 50m backstroke, silver 50m freestyle.

Connor Jenkinson (15) gold 50m freestyle Millie Hall (16) gold 100m butterfly Ben Makin (11) gold 200m freestyle, bronze 200m breaststroke Meghann Leaver (13) gold 100m freestyle, silver 50m/100m backstroke, 200m breaststroke and 50m butterfly.

Ellie Perris (13) silver 100m breaststroke and 200m butterfly, bronze 200m IM.

Dylan Gregg (12) silver 100m butterfly.

Joseph Murray (14) silver 100m breaststroke, bronze 50m/200m breaststroke.

Abigail Murray (12) silver 200m breaststroke, bronze 50m breaststroke.

Simone Ellson (11) silver 50m butterfly, bronze 200m butterfly, 50m freestyle and 200m IM Jakob Ward (13) silver 50m breaststroke, bronze 100m breaststroke.

Olivia Nicholls (13) bronze 200m freestyle and 200m backstroke.

Jacob Waddington (11) bronze 50m butterfly.

Matthew Sharpe (14) bronze 200m freestyle, 200m IM and 100m backstroke.

Ana Bradbury (11) bronze 50m breaststroke Charlotte Cootes (12) bronze 200m butterfly.