A THIRD-PLACED finish in the Hunts Cup was a just reward for Tornadoes of South Dorset as they produced some stunning performances at the Rossmore Leisure Centre.

Tornadoes sent a team of 25 swimmers to compete in the B Grade gala where they faced stiff competition from the likes of Bournemouth Dolphins, Bridport Barracudas, Poole, and French team Octeville Natation.

The evening started with the boys and girls’ cannon relays and with Charlie Samouelle and Thomas Davidge missing through injury, young Richard Plummer was called upon to join the boys’ team and he put in a solid performance in a tough race that saw the team placed fifth.

The girls’ team fared better, claiming third in their event. The first set of individual races saw brother and sister, Connor and Farron Aitken, both take third place in their respective 100m freestyle events.

In the 13-and-under age group, Solo Dawe swam brilliantly winning both the 50m backstroke and butterfly events.

Team captain Tom Cain and Asia Westwood both secured third-placed finishes in the Open 100m freestyle while Natasha Cain won the 15-and-under 100m backstroke race with Chris Perham claiming second in the boys’ event to put Tornadoes in third spot overall.

Further individual first place swims came from Lucy Goode in the 11-and-under 50m backstroke, Connor Aitken in the 13-and-under 50m butterfly, Jorgi Luke in the 11-and-under 50m butterfly and Tom Cain in the Open 100m breaststroke.

It was definitely a night for the girls in the freestyle relays with impressive performances to secure first-placed finishes from the 11-and-under team of Jorgi Luke, Rebekah Dashwood, Starr Sams and Goode, and the 13-and-under team comprising Georgia Eiles-Clarke, Abigail Owens, Dawe and Ellie Harvey.

Not to be outdone the 15-and-under freestyle team also won their event, with two of the 13-and-under team, Georgia Eiles-Clarke and Ellie Harvey, featuring alongside Farron Aitken and Natasha Cain.

Going into the final set of relays Poole A had opened up a solid lead in first place but Tornadoes and Octeville Natation were in joint second.

With it all to swim for the 15-and-under boys’ medley relay swimmers, Jay Lelliott, Jordan Davie, Connor Aitken and Chris Perham secured second place while the 15-and-under girls’ medley quartet took first place just like they did in the freestyle.

The final event of the evening was the mixed cannon with one boy and one girl from each age group.

The team of Lucy Goode, James Mules, Ellie Harvey, Connor Aitken, Georgia Eiles-Clarke, Chris Perham, Asia Westwood and Tom Cain gave it their all in the pool, as did the rest of the team cheering from the poolside, to finish the race in second place.

Tornadoes ended the meeting in third overall, just four points adrift of Octeville Natation.

Team captain for the gala, Tom Cain, said: “We displayed good team commitment and the atmosphere amongst all our swimmers was excellent. It was also great to see the younger swimmers gaining gala experience.”

Team manager Trudy Goode added: “The team spirit and support for each other was fantastic”.

Coach Sue Aitken was also pleased with the level of support and the team performance.

She said: “All of the swimmers put in fantastic performances in what proved to be a very exciting and close fought competition.

“Being a B grade gala this provided an opportunity for swimmers to swim in events they would not usually participate in and also allowed a number of younger swimmers to compete for the first time.”

Tornadoes offer swimming opportunities for all levels of swimmer from non-swimmers through to masters and also run a successful diving club.

For more information please contact secretary Sharon Howe on 01305 814105 or email secretary.tornadoesdorset@virgin.net

HUNTS CUP FINAL RANKINGS

1 Poole A 243, 2 Octeville Natation, 3 Tornadoes of South Dorset 201, 4 Bournemouth Dolphins 185, 5 Bridport Barracudas 116, 6 Poole B.