Further success achieved by Sirens ASC swimmers at Age Group Time Trials at Tal Qroqq on October 30 completed an excellent month for the club following fine performances at a British short course meet in Buckinghamshire.
In mid-October, 21 squad members travelled to High Wycombe in the UK to take part in the district’s Inaugural Short Course Premier Meet where Sirens swimmers pitted themselves against leading clubs from southeast England.
Two days of intensive competition resulted in repeated podium appearances for Sirens who collected six gold, 10 silver and two bronze medals as well as achieving a 95 per cent personal best hit rate.
Dominating his age group, 14-year-old Kyle Buhagiar captured gold medals in the 50m free, 50m fly, 100m and 200m free and 200m IM, scoring four out of five PBs.
Andrea Mallia powered home to win a stunning gold in the 200m breaststroke in a time of 2.37.03, followed shortly afterwards with a silver in the 100m breaststroke.
Catching the medal bug, Rudi Spiteri claimed four silver medals and four personal bests in the 50m and 100m freestyle, 50m fly and 100m IM while Nick Sammut took the bronze medal for an excellent 50m fly.
Not to be outdone, the girls were also on the action with Alexandra McGonigle clocking five personal bests plus five silver medals for her 50m and 100m freestyle, and 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke. Jessica Powell won bronze in the 50m free, touching the wall in 29.14.
Although younger swimmers were unable to compete for medals, personal bests were registered nonetheless.
Emily Grech Carr shaved seven seconds off her 200m freestyle time, finishing in 2.31.21, Julia Micallef swam her 100m free in 1.11.76, Sasha Gatt improved her 50m breaststroke by two seconds, clocking 43.34, and Haley Pawley Neame swiped five seconds off her 100m breaststroke, gaining a new personal best of 1.31.61.
“This was an important meet and the whole squad put in excellent swims,” Sirens ASC head coach Craig Gibbons said.
“It’s impressive that even our younger swimmers were not fazed by the strength and depth of competition and delivered brilliant performances, often chasing down age-group and national records.
“By the end of the meet, we were not an unknown club from a small island – British coaches and competitors alike were definitely paying attention and I’m extre-mely proud.”