Triple win for fluid Piranhas

SWIMMERS from Huntingdon Piranhas were triumphant for the third year running in the Copleys Cup.

They beat off teams from Mildenhall and Boston at this novice gala, which is organised by the Huntingdon club.

The competition is designed to give inexperienced swimmers a taste of competitive action.

The races were arranged using swimmers' previous competition times and team selection was critical. Anyone swimming faster than the set time in each race earned a half point for their team.

Piranhas team manager Nigel Prouten said: "The gala is an excellent way of introducing youngsters into good, competitive swimming competitions.

"As well as giving the swimmers a taste of competition, it also allows the coaches to assess their potential and see how well they can do with the pressure on."

The Piranhas beat the set times in 16 events.

Six youngsters - Isobel Rea, Ryan Culverhouse, Isla McNeill, Samantha Manton and Abbey Furmedge all made their debuts for the Huntingdon club in the competition. Each performed well, putting their nerves behind them to pull out strong swims.

Due to the late withdrawal of one of the visiting teams, the Piranhas actually entered two teams, a yellow and green squad, with the yellow squad emerging victorious. In total over the 32 individual events, swimmers set an impressive 44 new personal best times.

One of the highlights of the evening was the storming performances by the parents relay teams. In a very close finish the yellow squad of Julia Buckley, Jacqui Gibson, Sam Graves and Al McNeil prevailed.

Mr Prouten said: "I was really proud of them and they gave some very encouraging performances. This competition is the starting point for many talented sportsmen and women and some of our swimmers have gone on from here to compete and do well in regional galas.