Thirty-seven young swimmers from Hornchurch based swimming club, The Killerwhales, took part in the first annual Sunrise Gala on Saturday 27th July 2019. The event has been organised to give club swimmers aged between 7 & 11 years, the opportunity to experience competitive racing and prepare them for future cross-county licenced meets in the years to come. All competitors took part in three sprint races - Freestyle, Backstroke and Breaststroke.
In the 7-year-old boys category, Joshua Kicks came out on top in both the 50m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke races, while Charlie Calero-Smith took first place the 50m Breaststroke.
In the 7-year-old girls category, Maisy Jeffery took a hat-trick of top places in all three sprint races and clean sweeps were much the same in the 8-year-olds boys and girls categories, with Kavith Thanthirogoda and Summer Smith taking all three first places. Summer is certainly one to watch for the future, setting down the fastest times in both 50m Freestyle (39.57s) and 50m Backstroke (47.48s) across all age groups.
In the 9-year-old categories Emily Francis and Mille Middleton took top spots for the girls, with Toby Keegan and Luca Baumslag-Grisi taking top spots for the boys. Luca snatched the fastest 50m Breaststroke time of the day in just 54.22s.
More triple first places came in the 10-year old categories for Stanley Pigott and Karolinka Wojewodka, both swimming impressively throughout.
Abigail Dickinson took top spot in the 11-year-old girls 50m Breaststroke race and Sophie Patis-Stannard finished first in the both the 50m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke sprints.
The morning event was rounded off with all the young swimmers taking part in a relay race finale supported by top competitive squad swimmers from the Killerwhales. Everyone was rewarded with a well-deserved doughnut and an excitement for more racing next season.
The Killerwhales Swimming Club has 30 years of experience, providing the best opportunity for children and young people to excel in swimming in the London Borough of Havering. The Club caters for the very youngest through to their Masters section, but above all, they are a club for children and young people who want to achieve their potential in competitive swimming.
If you would like to join please email membership.kwsc.uk@gmail.com for more details.