Tough gala in Nottingham for Dolphins

WORKSOP Dolphins made a relatively short trip to Beechdale pool in Nottingham for the second round of the Arena League.

A tough outing was expected, and proved to be the case, with limited success on the night for the Worksop swimmers.

City of Cambridge, Bramcote and Lincoln Vulcans all had strength in depth and Worksop had to field youngsters in older age groups to fill gaps.

There were second places for Owen Smith, Luke Higginbottom and Charlie Humphries. Smith was second in the 11-years 50m backstroke, Higginbottom in the 11-years 50m butterfly and Humphries in the 100 backstroke and 100 freestyle.

Hannah Butler came third in the 11-years 50m backstroke and freestyle, Jade Platts was third in the 13-years 100m backstroke and Lorna Milligan was third in the 15-years 100m backstroke.

The older ‘open age group’ swimmers for Dolphins were outstanding on the night and Matthew Dobson swam a brilliant 100 freestyle coming third, 0.2 of a second behind the winner in a blanket finish. He also came a close third in the 100 breast stroke.

In the ‘open’ girls Megan Berridge was third in the 100 breast stroke and 100 butterfly events.

The final event of the night saw the boys open age group team of Ben Dixon, Alex Hunter, Elliott Clark, Paul Gordon, Matthew Watkinson and Matthew Dobson finish second by 0.04 of a second.

The race was nip and tuck all the way and was a fitting end to a difficult and challenging gala.

As expected the City of Cambridge swim team were overall clear winners, with Worksop Dolphins in fifth position.

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