Salford at the double as Reading Royals grab their first gold

After a jam-packed morning, session two brought more fun and thrilling performances with three clubs taking golds from four afternoon events.

The session began with Reading Royals’ Division 1 13-15 Years side taking the clubs first title of the day.

Adhya Vineet Prabhu, Anna Von Benecke, Emily Woodard, Erin Round, Eva Nightall, Libby Wright, Liliana Varga-Cox, Sophia Lightfoot, Veronica Babintseva Silva and Callum Wilding took the lead with their performance which scored 83.0817.

Readings coach said “I am enormously proud, and I really wanted the girls to get those five bonus points. I am very pleased.”

Their fantastic routine brought them nine points and back into contention for the Combo Cup crown.

Chelmsford City scored points in their first routine of the day. Their swimmers Chloe Reynolds, Evie Jolly, Holly Chapman, Freya Higgins, Lily Down, Lucy Currington, Lyla Bilby and Maia Pattiso scored 76.5533. The club came second place and were awarded seven Combo Cup points.

Rugby Swimming Club continued to score points by scoring 72.5300 and taking third place.

Rugby’s third medal of the day

The afternoon then got even better for Rugby’s Swimmers when Caitlin-Rose Smith, Charlotte Wilkins, Elsa Gaskin, Isobelle Watkins, Keva Ennis, Mellinda Bogdanova, Ruby Shepherd, Seren Humphry, Sophie Croft and Aaron Lee topped the Division 2 12 and under event.

With a score of 65.3983, the swimmers were able to achieve a third medal of the day for the club and receive maximum points for their swim.

Head coach, Hannah Secher said “The teams swam very well, and we have received great support all day. All the medals are well deserved.”

“We are having a lovely time at the Combo Cup. Some of the swimmers are nervous but are excited to swim and want the club to do well the rest of the afternoon.”

The podium places were close within this division. Aquavision North London came second with a score of 63.3000, closely followed by Portsmouth Victoria who scored 60.0608.

Super Salford make it three golds

Two superb Salford swims saw the North West club make it three golds from three at the GoCardless Swim England Artistic Swimming Combo Cup so far.

Following on from their success at the National Championships earlier this year, the club are looking to add a national title to their belt in Sheffield this weekend and got off to a strong start with a gold in the opening session.

They started with a Division 2 15 & Under event which was incredibly close contest where they narrowly came out on top.

They finished less than a point ahead of Potters Bar with City of Leeds only two points off the winner in third.

A score of 65.5000 was enough however to see Salford claim what was their second gold of the day and keep them in the hunt for the Combo Cup crown.

The win earned them eight points for their nutcracker themed routine to help propel them to the top of the overall standings with the club still having two swims to go in the final session.

Their team was made up of Abigail Pullen, Eleanor Burlinson, Eva Goodman, Isabella Whittle, Millie Maw, Sophie Huang, Ysabel Brook and Zofia Holyniewska.

The result meant that Potter’s Bar Artistic Swimming Club once again narrowly missed out on gold with a total of 64.7000.

Another impressive display saw their squad of Zenia Gulhane, Lilah Jones, Abigail Jones, Daisy Wakefield, Sophie Groves, Gabriella Nicastro, Valentina Arango Kasa, Amelia Betterton and Mia Hillman took away the silver medal.

Defending champions City of Leeds Synchronised Swimming Club took third spot despite a score of 63.5000.

They took the extra bonus point for an extra swimmer to give them a score of seven for the event with Bella Tennant, Emily Atkin, Abbie Dargan, Salvador Ingham, Florence Tallant, Alana Hurst, Isabel Strain, Beau Spence, Maisie Mapplebeck and Jemima Twohey representing the Yorkshire based club.

They rounded out the session with their third gold of the day in the Division 1 12 & Under event.

Alyssa Casey, Brogan Cheetham, Dorothy Walsh, Elizabeth Eaton-Merry, Georgia-Belle Davies, Isla Lambert, Jessica Sheppard, Leigh Newell, Matilda Allen, Tess Burlinson and Emily Annette combined to top the podium with a score of 47.9500.

There was less than a point between each of the top four sides with Bramcote Aquastars, Cheltenham and City of Bradford rounding out the top four.

Bramcote were a close second on 47.6000 with Cheltenham just 0.1000 behind and Bradford just a quarter of a point further back.

Emily Gan, Natalie Leibert, Isabella Folorunso, Bethan Styles, Lacey Tomasevic, Masha Krasnova, Elizabeth Paillin, Florence Walker, Giorgia Corsi, Maisie Austin-Roberts and Chloe Williamson made up the Bramcote squad.

Cheltenham bronze medal was won by with Rose Kerrigan-Hird, Birdie Milner, Megan Roberts, Felicity Ross, Ellie Pullan, Amelia Edgar, Alana Burton, Talia Naselli, Beatrice Smith and Clodagh Mcloughlin.

You can follow the Combo Cup standings and results here.

Images: Will Johnston Photography.