Salisbury Stingrays travelled to Western Super Mare on Saturday 8th of December for round 3 of the Speedo League, division 3. The event was held at the Hutton Moor sports venue, where Salisbury were amongst tough competition. With several swimmers missing, Salisbury called up on some young novices to make their first swims for the city.
True to form Adam Davidson, Jordan Neale, Callum Bailey & Sam Greenslade preformed well and got Salisbury's first win of the evening in the boys under 13 200 meter (4 * 50 metres) medley relay. After the first points count Salisbury were in 3rd place over all.
Gabby Pountney swam a fine race coming 1st in the girls under 50 metres breastroke. Having suffered two disqualifications Salisbury had slipped to 5th when the second points total was announced.
The under 13 age group continued to shine when Callum Bailey grabbed a win in the 50 metre butterfly, this help Salisbury claw there way back in to fourth place over all.
Salisbury gained two first place finishes in succession when Adam Davidson won the boys under 13 50 metres freestyle and Hannah Drewett in the under 15 100 metres breastroke. This was significant in Salisbury returning to third place over all.
In the final sector of the competition Salisbury pushed for the line with a win from Captain Phil Muspratt in the Open (age group) 100 metres freestyle. Added to this was another win for the under 13 boys, this time in the 200 metre freestyle relay. Adam Davidson, Jordan Neale, Callum Bailey & Sam Greenslade made up the successful team. How ever it wasn't to be, with two more disqualifications Salisbury's final position suffered, where they came 4th.
Take nothing away from the swimmers. This is the first time in several years Salisbury have competed in the National Speedo league. Having been ranked 7th going into this round, Salisbury again showed their worth amongst a tough field, by coming 4th. We missed out on promotion by just one place as the top three gained promotion, however we achieved beyond our advanced ranking & expectations
Again Salisbury swam beyond expectation - other coaches paid tribute to our head coach Jo Osgood after the event, saying we swam really well.
