Clevedon Swimming Club’s Mini Series team recorded its second victory in the competition.

Round two of the current Mini Series saw Clevedon’s team in action at Horfield, all set to continue their strong form and looking for their second win.

An exciting evening of racing followed with some excellent gala results, and good demonstration of skills and technique on display under the watchful eye of coach Pat Leaman.

Poppy Leaman started the proceedings superbly for Clevedon with a win and personal best time in the 100m IM, followed by a further top spot in the 50m fly.

After the first 20 events, Clevedon were just two points off the lead, but after 40 events, Clevedon had surged ahead by 19 points.

A particularly strong second half saw Clevedon’s swimmers, sponsored by Hotspring Southwest and Wales, secure 15 first places overall in the gala, with swimmers notching up a total of 17 personal bests.

Other individual wins came for Tabitha Pollard, Anna Papalouca, Ryan Baldwin, Harriet Chambers, Lewis Farmery, Addy Ledward and Clara Finch.

Swimmers combined well in the relays with wins for Isobel Major, Anna Papalouca, Caitlin Mark and Erica Godfrey in the 12-and-under girls’ medley, with Addy replacing Caitlin for victory in the freestyle relay.

Caitlin and Addy also swam for the 11-and-under medley winning team, along with Chloe Price and Meredith Pollard.

For the boys, the 10-and-under freestyle team comprising of Sam Ledward, Daniel Goldberg, Alex Davies and Lewis Farmery chalked up another victory, while Max Patterson, Ryan Baldwin, Blayne Stanbrook and Sam Streeter touched first in the 11-and-under medley relay.

The final ‘legal’ team win of the night came from the 12-and-under boys in the freestyle relay, with William Finch joined by 11-year-olds Blayne Stanbrook, Sam Streeter and Ryan Baldwin touching first.

Also swimming fast, but unfortunately too fast to earn points for their swims, were 10-year-olds Lauren Mennie and Giselle Fitton, 11-year-old Max Patterson, 13-year-olds Sophie Chambers, Sophie Mennie, Lucas Hayles, Roman Bessant, Finlay James and Max Streeter.

With noisy excitement going through the roof, the current points standings could not be heard prior to the final race, a mixed 8x25m relay otherwise known as the canon.

Teams can swim this event in any order, therefore making the outcome of the race exciting and unpredictable right up until the end.

With neither Severnside nor Clevedon knowing for sure who the victor would be, both teams lined up alongside the pool in readiness for the ‘team victory jump in’ and waited for the final results to be announced.

Final points were: Clevedon 180, Severnside 162, Soundwell 156, Bishopsworth 127 and Bristol Central 123.

With the second win of the series in the bag, Clevedon’s mighty Mini Series team have now clocked up an impressive six back-to-back wins to date.

Team manager Fran Chambers is very proud of the fantastic achievements of the whole team, past and present.

Choosing star swimmers for the gala proved to be as difficult as ever, with a number of swimmers doing well while swimming extra events up in higher age groups. The awards were given to Clara Finch (10) and Ryan Baldwin (11), who both swam consistently well and achieved wins in higher age group events.

Every gala can only take place with the much needed and appreciated support of a team of many volunteers, and swimmers families. Accompanying Clevedon’s strong team of swimmers were marshals Jayne Patterson, Kate Ledward, Sue Mennie and Gerry Goldberg, and a six-strong team of the club’s officials: Darren Mennie, Paul Chambers, Keith Hayles, Steve James, Justin Goldberg and James Ledward.

Clevedon are currently looking for new members to be part of this successful club. With competition opportunities available at all levels, swimmers are encouraged to contact the club for an assessment. Details are available on the club’s website – www.clevedonasc.co.uk