First victory of 2009 for the RASCALS

The Dinsdale League gives the club the chance to give our younger swimmers a chance of competitive swimming races against other teams. The club welcomed Sam Harrison, Adam Cunliffe, Joseph Greenhalgh and Thomas Priestly for their first caps.

Thorne, who are usually one of our strongest rivals, were not at full strength but they still kept the races tight throughout. There were a number of races where it was Rossington A versus Rossington B but our boys and girls still swam down lengths racing each other :)

There were 22 personal bests on the day spread between the swimmers with Eva Pinkney's 12.62 improvement in the 25m Breaststroke the highlight.

The final result was Rossington 272 and Thorne 174 - well done RASCALS and respect to the Thorne swimmers for a massive effort.

Dinsdale League v Thorne Tigers @ Rossington

Viking Sprints - our longboats landed and we pillaged gold (and silver and bronze and other precious metals)

Another long day but a prosperous one, when Sandra and I set off with Jacob, Jordan, Lauren P and Sasha we knew it was going to be a long day but we had great fun. The kids once again swam well and they kept us entertained throughout; Sasha started the ball rolling by telling us that the Patron Saint of Travellers was Thomas Cook :) - I almost swerved the car!

The John Charles Centre is very impressive and so was the hospitality and organisation from Team Jorvik. The morning session saw Jacob, Jess, Sasha and Lauren P swimming; Jordan was there as chief cheerleader as he wasn't swimming until the afternoon. The early start suited our swimmers as between them there was 13 personal bests and 18 medals of various colours; Sasha and Lauren are working with each other and improving times, Jess is cementing her position as an A grade swimmer and Jacob is growing with every meet - he even got to swim in the blind date race and brought his team home to victory in an unofficial time of 30.84 seconds for 50m freestyle.

The afternoon saw a mass of our younger girls land in Leeds and Sandra and I had to cope with six 9/10 year old girls together with Newby, Shannon, Chelsea (sick-note), Farrah (Noisy), Jord and Joshua. There seemed to be hundreds of swimmers but our team were not overawed; Eva coming away with a gold, Leah following up her Swim-Along-A-Santa exploits with more medals, Lucy achieved a well earned personal best. Shannon bagged two medals in a strong performance, Chelsea arrived from her sick bed to grab a pb and two medals and Farrah continues to mature picking up three pbs and four medals. Caitlin in her maiden individual gala came away with two medals and breezed through the event, the experience of Lauren W and Katie P shone through with both of them picking up silverware in the A grade section. The boys team of Chris, Jordan and Joshua faired just as well; Chris retiring his granny butterfly to storm to a personal best and getting a gold in the freestyle, Jordan pocketed personal bests and medals and Joshua maintained the reputation of the boys team with a medal and personal bests. In all there were 27 personal bests in the afternoon and 27 medals - a brilliant haul. Caitlin, Leah and Katie also had a crack at the blind date race acquitting themselves well in a thrilling finale.

All in all the RASCALS came 11th in the team event with 106 points - helping DARTES along the way to their success over team Jorvik by lending them some of our swimmers, well done DARTES on your victory.

Tale of the tape - 40 personal bests, 45 medals (10 gold, 5 silver, 8 bronze and 22 finalists).

Many thanks for the support from our officials; Sandra, Andy, Glynn, Heather, Jordan and Clive.

Team Yorvik Viking Sprints 2009

A deserved second place for RASCALS

Recapturing second place in the BML was what we came for overtaking both Dearne Valley and Thorne in the process; City of Sheffield are a club that we can all aspire to and with performances like this getting there may not be that far away.

It was the second half of the gala where Rossington came into their own with first and second places galore with the team pulling into second place and holding the position until the end.

There were 16 personal bests on the day out of 32 individual events some of which were huge, most notable was Sophie Moseley's 12.62 second personal best in the 50m freestyle. The club welcomes Sam Sellars for his first cap and welcomes back Jess Griffiths after time off due to injury.

The team would also like to pass on their thanks to our new cheerleaders in the crowd - Natalie, Cath and Dot. The three of them out shouted City of Sheffield all by themselves - keep up the good work ladies.

The end result was City of Sheffield 211, Rossington 160, Dearne Valley 153, Thorne 143.

Barnsley Minors League Results (Round 3) - Dearne Valley ASC