It was another one of those quirky nights of competition where COPS swimmers were the best on the night ? but ended up coming last through points deductions.

Twenty swimmers from the city club went to the Huntingdon Piranhas Autumn Shield and set 20 new personal best (pb) times.

However, the individual races were each subject to cut-off times. Any swimmer going faster than the allotted time scored no points for the overall team result ? although their individual time is allowed to stand for record purposes.

COPS had seven of their finishes disallowed because their swimmers swam through the cut-off time and the final result was 1st Ely 103 points, 2nd Huntingdon 102, 3rd St Ives 87 and 4th COPS 85 points.

The unlucky seven were Ellie Cooper (10) - 50m butterfly; Ben McNaughton (14) - 50m breaststroke; Clare Mitchell (14) - 50m breaststroke; Matthew Newton (13) - 50m backstroke; Gemma Stokes (13) - 50m backstroke; Joe Tankard (14) - 50m breaststroke and Rebecca White (14) - 50m backstroke.

COPS did have six other first places, eight second places and 15 third places in the 39 events held on the night.

Rebecca White made it a double pb performance by winning the open 50m breaststroke in a legal time of 42.41 seconds while Ellie Cooper emulated her colleague by winning the 50m breaststroke for 10 year-olds in 56.05 seconds.

Other winners for COPS were Katherine Braybrook (9) 10 years 25m fly; Lewis Chatfield (12) - 50m free; Oliver Hollyoak (11) - 12 years 50m free and Kerry Hunt (13) ? open 50m free.

Also taking part for COPS were Lucy Hollyoak (10), Matt Ilsley (12), Robert Ilsley (9), Joseph Poli (14), Aidan Rippon (10), Georgia Speechley (11), Daria Stankowska (12), Liam Stokes (10), and Nathan Tweedie (13).

COPS head coach Ben Negus said: ?It is a strange experience to see our swimmers do so well and end up last in the rankings.

?We try to select swimmers whose current form matches the grade of the meet to avoid this type of situation arising. However, in the heat of competition, if a swimmer pulls off a stunning personal best performance that?s unfortunate for the team result but it is a good return for the individual that has put in the training to achieve that result.?


COPS have begun the search for their new champions.

All members are eligible to enter the events and the winner in each age group is the individual that accumulates the most points over the season.

This year?s opening event was the 400m freestyle and 37 swimmers took part with 27 setting new personal best times.

Fourteen?year-old Joanne Longland set a new club record with her time of four minutes 34.52 seconds.

The age group winners that opened their account with maximum points were Anthony White (17), Joanne Longland (15), Ellen Williams (14), Nicholas Ilsley (14), Zara Bailey (13), Matt Brigham (13), Jessica Standish-Leigh (12), Sam Holmes (12), Taylor Goodby (11), Tom Mitchell (11) and Hannah Sewell (10).



City swimmer Charlotte Harrison was selected to swim for the Eastern Counties Schools team at this year?s English Schools Swimming Association national championships at Crystal Palace.

Fourteen-year-old Harrison, who trains with COPS, was the only swimmer from Cambridgeshire to take part in the event for the Eastern Counties team.

Harrison competed in the 100m backstroke and achieved a 50m backstroke pb in the medley relay in a time of 32.95 seconds

Harrison said: ?I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being part of the team and travelling to a fantastic venue. Unfortunately my performance was hampered by an infection but I hope to be selected again in the future.?