Sevenoaks was the venue on Saturday 21st June 2008 for the first round of this year’s Kent Junior League Division 1 competition. City of Canterbury fielded a thirty strong squad of swimmers aged between 9 and 13 against teams from Beckenham, Bexley, RTW Monson, Sevenoaks and Thanet in a gala comprising a mixture of individual and team relays over 53 events.

During a highly competitive evening’s swimming in an electric atmosphere Canterbury produced no less than 11 first places, 10 second places and 11 third places, which contributed to an overall points total of 205, enough to give the young team a comfortable and creditable 3rd place overall behind Thanet (224 pts) and eventual winners Beckenham (260 pts).

Individual first places went to: Liam Drew (Boys 13/U 200m Freestyle and 100m Butterfly), Charlie Champs (Boys 12/U 100m Butterfly and 100m Freestyle), Cameron Foreman (Boys 12/U 100m Individual Medley), Stuart Lindsay (Boys 11/U 50m Butterfly), Sophie Weymouth(Girls 13/U 100m Backstroke), and Eleanor Weymouth(Girls 10/U 100m Individual Medley).

A very strong Boys 12/U Relay team of Cameron Foreman, Benedict Esdale, Charlie Champs and Oliver Kilby produced first places in both the 4x50m Medley Relay as well as the 4x50m Freestyle Relay to gain the team more maximum points.

The final first place of the evening for Canterbury went to the Boys 13/U 4x50m Freestyle team of Reece Parsons, Cameron Foreman, Charlie Champs and Liam Drew.

The determination of the Canterbury swimmers also saw some 17 individual personal best swims during the course of the evening by the following competitors:

Sophie Weymouth (Girls 13/U 200m Freestyle, Girls 13/U 100m Backstroke), Lucy Morgan (Girls 11/U 50m Breaststroke), Sophie Wilmshurst (Girls 12/U 100m Butterfly), Charlie Champs (Boys 12/U 100m Butterfly), Joseph Davies (Boys 10 years 50m Backstroke), Oliver Brawn (Boys 13/U 100m Breaststroke), Kirsty Taylor (Girls 12/U 100m Backstroke), Georgina Crowther (Girls 11/U 50m Freestyle), Erin Walsh (Girls 12/U 100m I.M., Girls 12/U 100m Breaststroke), Cameron Foreman (Boys 12/U 100m I.M.), Stuart Lindsay (Boys 11/U 50m Butterfly), Georgia Gardiner (Girls 10 years 50m Freestyle), Rory Howard (Boys 10 years 50m Freestyle), Liam Drew (Boys 13/U 100m Butterfly) and David Jones (Boys 10 years 50m Breaststroke). Valuable team contributions were also made by: Victoria Champs, Isabelle Cornfoot, Jessica Devereux, Bethany Seaman, Simone Ward, Daniel Westbrook, Katie French, Barney Howard, Sanchez Seagrove-Castle and Samuel Wilmshurst.

These galas are always keenly fought and are an ideal way in which to introduce some of the younger swimmers to competitive racing at a high level. The atmosphere generated both on the poolside and on the balcony really helps to spur the swimmers on and our thanks go to all those parents who attended and to the poolside staff for their contribution.