Isle of Man Swimming Club took a strong squad of 60 swimmers to the Robin Hood Open Meet at the Ponds Forge International Swimming Centre in Sheffield recently.  

The Utmost Wealth-sponsored Manx team’s performances exceeded all expectations and they returned with the best visiting club trophy, as well as an incredible haul of more than 100 medals.  

Ed Pearson kicked off the medal rush in the age 12 400m metres freestyle, taking the gold medal in a speedy four minutes 51.69 seconds ahead of Oscar Maddrell who finished in a fantastic fourth in a very creditable 5:09.84.   

Carter Kneale claimed the 13-year-old win in 4:52.50, while Ben Wright swam well to clock a personal best 5:41.94 in seventh.  

Kneale went on to claim third best open/male swimmer at the end of the meet, while Pearson finished seventh overall – brilliant performances from both Manx boys.    

Jacob Craine and Adam Shuttleworth both came home with 400m freestyle medals. Sixteen-year-old Craine claimed a brilliant silver medal in 4:51.84, while Shuttleworth took fifth spot as well as the gold medal in the S15 class.  

There were also noteworthy performances from 11-year-old Charlie Larrosa who took sixth in 5:57.13, as well as14-year-old Cameron Leslie who was a superb fourth in 5:22.83.    

Ten-year-old Una Pease was another to have a fantastic meet, ultimately finishing as 11th best girl overall, a superb result in her first UK competition. Pease opened up her meet in the 200m IM with a brilliant bronze medal, clocking 3:25.91.  

Olivia Williamson took an easy gold in the age 12s, touching in a superb 2:50.93 with an impressive four-second victory margin over the next swimmer.  

After her 23/24 season, which ended with a Welsh National medal, it was no surprise that Williamson went on to finish third best girl overall at the end of the meet.  

The medal rush continued in the open/male 50m backstroke, with Henry Mackenzie taking the age nine gold in a super-quick 43.84s, while Jacob Wright claimed age 10 bronze in a swift 44.50.  

Charlie Larrosa and Jacob Garczynski also came home with 50m backstroke bronze medals in the age 11 and 13 age groups respectively. 

Josh Hollamby was only just edged out for the gold in the 15-year-olds, clocking 32.41 in taking the silver medal, while Dylan Larrosa was unlucky to just miss out on bronze in the seniors (16-and-overs), with Adam Shuttleworth again taking S15 gold in 32.71.  

Zoe Neuwirt, 14, took a brilliant gold in the 50m butterfly, clocking a speedy 32.97 for the win. Olivia Williamson also had a great swim to take age 12 bronze in 36.12, with Jorja Hedly only just behind her in 36.86, both recording very respectable times.  

Darcey O’Rourke and Holly Wilson were well up the age 12 field in sixth and seventh respectively, while Megan Williamson had a good swim, finishing ninth in the age 11s in 43.26.   

In the 100m breaststroke Henry Mackenzie took another age nine gold medal in 1:49.36. Four superb silvers followed: from Jacob Wright (age 10), Oscar Garczynski (11), Ed Pearson (12) and Jacob Garczynski (13).  

There was also a brace of bronzes: Carter Kneale taking age 13 bronze in 1:20.30, while Dylan Larrosa claimed 16 and over bronze in 1:17.33.  

Olivia Williamson had a great final swim of the morning in the 100m freestyle, taking the gold medal in 1:07.59.  

Caitlin Kirby was unlucky to finish just outside the medals in the age 12 event, clocking 1:13.34, while Zoe Neuwirt took a good fourth place in the 14-year-olds in 1:08.42.   

Holly McEvoy had a great 100m freestyle swim to claim a brilliant age 15 silver medal in a speedy 1:07.24, while Kaya Reynolds was unlucky to narrowly miss out on a bronze with her 1:08.80 clocking just ahead of Sophie Christian in 1:09.33.  

Ruby Reynolds also had a good swim for sixth in the 16-and-overs in 1:09.02 to round off a solid set of performances from the Manx girls.  

The final medal of the morning came from Oscar Maddrell in the 13-year-old 200m butterfly, which is a super-tough event at any age. Maddrell clocked a very respectable 2:53.14 for the bronze medal, marking him as one to watch in this event.  

- Reports on the other three sessions of the meet will follow in future editions. 

VANESSA CHRISTIAN