THE Tornadoes of South Dorset travelled to RNAS Yeovilton and the home of Heron Swimming Club for round two of the Jurassic League.

After success in round one, the club took another strong team, slightly changed due to the unavailability of some swimmers, but were hoping to continue their fine form.

Bethany Firth started the afternoon strongly by winning the opening race and this was followed with eight further top-two finishes by the time race 12 had been completed.

With impressive swims from Josh Frampton, Ellie Harvey and Ciaran Richards, it meant the Tornadoes had sprinted into an 11-point lead at the first points marker.

The next dozen races saw victories for Josh Frampton, Rebecca Beal, Emily Robinson and, on his competitive return, Niall Laming won the open 50m breaststroke.

There were also superb wins for both 10-years-and-under medley relay teams.

The girls’ team of Phoebe Jones, Molly Frampton, Firth and Lizzy Gant won by two seconds, while the boys’ team of Lewis Limm, Luke O’Dowd, Max Richardson and Jacob Baldwin secured their win by a margin of four seconds.

At the second points marker of 24 races, Tornadoes had increa-sed their lead to 25.

This lead was increased to 39 points over the next 12 races, which included a club record for Craig Bishop in the 25m freestyle.

Individual wins in this section of the gala went to Sam Dunning, Ciaran Richards and Luke Bassett.

The next section of the gala proved a lot tougher with only two victories, one for Craig Bishop and one for the 14-and-under freestyle relay team of Kirsty Holmes, Eleanor Smith, Emily Robinson and Emma Perkins.

With race wins becoming ever harder, Firth and Laming managed to touch the wall first in their respective races in the final section.

The last race of the afternoon is the popular and always extremely noisy ‘cannon’ involving 10 swimmers, one boy and one girl from each age group in a freestyle relay.

In a close race with Heron, the team from Tornadoes took an early lead and managed to hold onto it throughout the whole race to win by just over two seconds.

At the end, team captains Richards and Beal, pictured right, were awarded the trophy.

On another successful gala, team manager Bill Babb said: “It was another very good all round performance from the team. The blend of the older, experienced swimmers and the fast improving youngsters made it a pleasure to be involved.”

Anyone wishing to join Tornadoes of South Dorset to either learn to swim or swim competitively, please contact the club secretary to arrange an assessment at tornadoessecretary@btinternet.com

FINAL STANDINGS: Tornadoes 292, Heron 256, Ilminster 230, Wincanton 211, Bridport 192

PERSONAL BESTS: Jacob Baldwin, Luke Bassett (3), Craig Bishop (2), Sam Dunning (2), Josh Frampton (2), Molly Frampton, Jessica Gale, Scott Greaney (2), Ellie Harvey, Kirsty Holmes (2), Phoebe Jones, Niall Laming, Phoebe Mills, Lee Penny, Ciaran Richards, Emily Robinson (2), Josh Rowe, Connor Ward.