On Saturday 23rd January, Ripley Rascals competed in the first round of the Nottinghamshire ASA Spring Competition at Arnold Leisure Centre. This was always going to be a tough gala, with the much bigger Nottinghamshire clubs fielding very strong squads, and the Rascals 9-year-old girls having to swim for no points; as they had to include an older swimmer. It was therefore not so surprising that Rascals only finished in fifth place. Despite this, there were some really good swims that included 12 Personal Best times (PB), 3 first placings and one new ‘All Time Best’ record.

Hannah Jones (13 Years) competing in the Open age group finished 2nd in the 100m Butterfly in a time of 1.10.86, which was both a PB and new ‘All Time Best’ record.

Jamie Ingram (12 Years) was the only individual winner on the night. Jamie finished first in the 50m Butterfly in a time of 33.70, which was also a PB.

The only other wins came from the Boys 9 Year old 4x25m Freestyle relay team which included; Patrick Coates, Alistair Hutchinson, Matthew Cross and Jason Lockwood, and the Girls 14 Years and Under 4x50 Freestyle relay team which included; Jessica Cross, Molly Renshaw, Hannah Jones and Louise Ratcliffe.

Personal Best times where achieved by; Harry Jones (10 Years) in the 50m Backstroke, Tom Oates (10 Years) in the 50m Breaststroke; Edward Borysiak (12 Years) 50m Backstroke; Adam Threlfell (14 Years) 100m Breaststroke; Ella Ingram (10 Years) 50m Backstroke; Ellie Pilgrim (10 Years) 50m Freestyle; Fearn Middleton (10 Years) 25m Butterfly; Laura Magill (11 Years) 50m Butterfly; Melissa Coulton (11 Years) 50m Freestyle; Jessica Cross (14 Years) 100m Back.