DROITWICH Dolphins Swimming Club started the New Year in impressive style when they competed against Stourbridge, Brockworth, Evesham, Worcester and Beaufort in an inter-club gala.

A real battle developed with the first three places only decided during the final relays, with Droitwich finishing second overall.

The nine-year-olds were off to a flying start with Amelia Liu taking first place and Ben Bower securing second place in their respective 25m backstroke races. Amelia later took first place in the 25m freestyle.

In the under 15s, James Bourne won the 100m freestyle while Alex Dunn, swimming up an age group, came second in the girls race. Nicola Slater confidently took first place in 100m backstroke and David Freckleton came second in the 100m breaststroke.

Hayley Williams, swimming in the under 12s, stormed home in the 50m backstroke to take first place. She also took first place in the 50m freestyle and second place in the butterfly. Simon Roberts, swimming in the same age group for boys, also achieved second place in both the butterfly and freestyle races.

The individual races were rounded off by Alice Richardson winning the 100m freestyle and Rachel Roberts taking second place in the under 13s 100m breaststroke.

Having tasted some impressive wins, the relay teams were prepared to give their all. The 4x25m freestyle races in the 11 year age group (Amelia Lui, Sam Fowles, Hayley Williams and Simon Roberts), 13 years (Alex Dunn, Joshua Dale, Alice Richardson and Charles Fisher), and the 15 year age group (Nicola Slater, James Bourne, Rachel Roberts and David Freckleton) were all winners. The final race of the evening, the 10 x 25m freestyle cannon, had the spectators out of their seats cheering on their teams, with Droitwich finishing second.

The home spectators were delighted and let their team know it was a promising start to the 2001 season.