A small group of Canterbury swimmers travelled to Portsmouth to compete in the Littlehampton Last Chance Open over the weekend of 25 th and 26 th April, most of them taking a final opportunity to try for regional qualifying times. There were some excellent swims, with every swimmer achieving either a placing, a PB or a regional time in at least two of their races, and in several cases more. Almost as important, in a hugely over-subscribed gala resulting in inadequate warm-ups and long, long races, the swimmers remained good-humoured, well-behaved and focused and their achievements were all the more well-deserved under these circumstances.

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For the older swimmers, the 400m freestyle proved particularly successful, with Dominika Szucsova taking 2nd place in the 15-year-old girls' race (confirming her regional base qualifying time), Katie French taking 6th place in the 14-year old girls' race after swimming a 6-second PB ( 5:06.77), and Oliver Brawn taking 6th place in the 14-year-old boys' race (again, swimming a 6-second PB, at 5:01.64). Dominika also took 3rd place in the 15-years 100m fly, Katie was 5th in the 14-years 100m fly and Oliver swam a PB of 2:21.38 in a strong 200m freestyle.

Bethany Seaman, swimming in the 13 year-old girls' age group, achieved 1st place in the 200m backstroke with a personal best of 2:38.36 that also gained her a base regional qualifying time; 2nd place in the 50m backstroke with a PB of 35.32; 3rd place in the 100m backstroke with a PB of 1:14.90 (confirming her regional base qualifying time); 5th place in the 100 breaststroke; and 5th in the 100 freestyle (again,confirming her base regional time). Also 13, Benedict Esdale was placed 5th in the 50m breaststroke with a PB of 39.33 and also achieved PBs in the 200 breaststroke (3:11.66), 100 freestyle (1:06.51) and 50 freestyle (31.00).

Twelve-year-old Simone Ward had an excellent gala, finishing 3rd in the 100m backstroke, and at 1:15.91gaining a regional base qualifying time; 4th in the 50m fly (with a PB of 36.25); 5 thin the 200m IM (at 2:49.19 swimming a 13-second PB and achieving a base regional qualifying time); and 6th in the 200m backstroke, taking 13 seconds off her time and notching up another base regional qualifying time of 2:45.83 . A PB in the 200m freestyle gained her a fourth base regional time and although she just missed out on the placings in the 100m freestyle, a PB of 1:07.09 meant she achieved an automatic qualifying regional time for that event. In her final race, Simone also swam a PB in the 50m backstroke (35.47)

Stephen Taylor swam very strongly in the 12-year-old boys' races. In the 100m freestyle he swam two seconds faster than his entry time, giving him a base regional qualifying time; he took 8 seconds off his entry time in each of the 100m backstroke (1:19.42), 200m backstroke (2:49.27) and 200m breaststroke (3:19.75), and 9 seconds off his 200m freestyle (2:30.65). He also achieved a PB in the 100 breaststroke. The most nerve-wracking time for Stephen came in the final session after the electronic timing failed in the boys 200 IM. It wasn't until the final moments of the gala that the judges were able to confirm his manual time of 2:50.98, which gave him a 19-second PB and a base regional qualifying time.

The youngest Canterbury swimmer, 11-year-old Ellie Weymouth, had a mixed gala, putting in some brave swims and excellent PBs before giving in to a painful stomach injury and retiring from the gala. Before calling it a day, Ellie managed to achieve 3 rd place in the 200m IM (a time of 2:53.03,giving her a 3-second PB and confirming her automatic regional qualifying time), a huge 35-second PB in the 400m freestyle giving her a base regional time, and a third PB in the 100m backstroke (1:23.20, also a base regional time).

As mentioned above, in spite of adverse conditions, the swimmers enjoyed themselves and performed well. The Victoria Centre in Portsmouth has now closed, and next year this gala will be run at the Mountbatten Centre, due to open as this report is written. With a 50m pool and far better facilities than the Victoria Centre could offer, it is hoped that at least some of the problems faced in the gala will be overcome and perhaps even more Canterbury swimmers will be able to take part.