The third and final instalment of the Utmost Wealth-sponsored swimming Winter League Match Series took place recently.

The event saw swimmers from the four regional clubs compete over the 200 individual medley, 100-metre butterfly, 50m breaststroke and 100m freestyle.

The male/open 200IM races were first off, with Thomas McEvoy taking the 10-and-under victory. Ramseian’s Oscar Maddrell took a convincing win in the 11-and-under race, from twins Aiden and Callum Leslie of Douglas.

Carter Kneale claimed the 12-year-old honours in a fiercely competitive age-group category from Ed Pearson, with British-ranked breaststroker Jacob Garczynski securing third.

Southern’s Jamie Farnan knocked two seconds off his personal best in taking the age 13 honours in an impressive 2.31.49, with Cameron Leslie in second, while Leslie’s Douglas clubmate Jack Marshall emerged victorious in the 14-year-old category.

The 15-and-overs witnessed a thrilling race, with Charlie Foster of Southern needing to swim a lifetime best to edge out Jack Burgess, while Josh Hollamby of Douglas also recorded a personal best time in third.

Douglas’ Bella Quaye dominated the 10-and-under girls 200IM, taking the win from clubmate Megan Williamson, with nine-year-old Elise Reynolds from Southern rewarded for her gutsy effort with third place.

Southern’s Holly Wilson was the 11-year-old victor, with Peel’s Bethany Chapman-Beale not too far behind. Peel’s Olivia Williamson clocked an impressive time of 2:50.20 in the 12-year-old category, securing a well-deserved victory ahead of a closely-contested battle between Southern duo Rhiannon Corrin and Jorja Hedley.

Zoe Neuwirt secured the 13-year-old honours, with an impressive victory margin over Evelyn King from Ramseian, while Northern clubmate Eva Scott earned valuable points in third.

Libby Curphey was the fastest female of the night in winning the 14-year-olds, with Aoife Hughes of Douglas claiming a solid second place, while Douglas’ Maddie Hemuss won the 15-and-over category from the Ramseian duo of Ruby Reynolds and Keira Brown.

The 100m fly saw Billy Robertson emerge victorious in the 10-and-unders, while Oscar Maddrell secured a second successive victory in the 11-year-olds, from Charlie Larrosa and Eli Birchenough, both of Douglas.

Carter Kneale and Ed Pearson took the one-two in the 12-year-olds, from Yogesh Bhadouria of Douglas. The 14-year-olds category witnessed a Douglas one-two with Jack Marshall claiming victory over Tom Clague.

In the 15-and-overs category, Commonwealth swimmer and Island Games superstar Joel Watterson secured victory with a superb performance and was only four one hundredths of a second off cracking the 55-second barrier.

Racing against an athlete of Watterson’s calibre, in the upper echelon of the British rankings, is fantastic experience which will stand second and third-placed youngsters Charlie Foster and Dylan Larrosa in good stead for their future swimming careers.

The female 100m fly saw the Williamson sisters shine, with Megan and Olivia securing victories in the 10-and-under and 12-year-old categories respectively.

Behind Olivia in the 12-year-olds was the in-form Elizabeth Taylor of Peel, with Southern’s Jorja Hedley in third while Evelyn King secured maximum points for Ramseian in the 13-year-olds.

Island Games swimmer Lauren Dennett returned from injury and picked up where she left off, powering her way to victory in the 14-year-olds from Peel clubmate Mia Parslow and the hard-working Aoife Hughes of Douglas.

The 15-and-overs went to the in-form Ellie Johnson, from Holly McEvoy of Douglas and Megan Cowley of Ramseian.

In the 10-and-under 50m breaststroke, Thomas McEvoy claimed this second victory of the night ahead of two talented nine-year-olds in McEvoy’s Douglas team-mate Jacob Wright and Southern’s Henry Mackenzie.

Aiden Leslie edged out twin Callum for the 11-year-old honours, while Callum in turn just edged out Oscar Garczynski.

Jacob Garczynski continued his impressive streak over 50m breaststroke with an outstanding 36.25 clocking to take the win in the 12-year-old category. Garczynski now occupies an impressive 14th place in the British short-course rankings for his age-group, to go with his similarly stellar 11th British place ranking over the long course.

Carter Kneale also cracked the sub-40 barrier, recording a big personal best to take second place, with fellow Douglas swimmer Ben Wright finishing third. Jamie Farnan also had a storming swim, winning the 13-year-old category in a lifetime best of 35.25 with Douglas duo Cameron Leslie and Sonny Li taking the other podium places.

In the 14-year-olds, there was a Douglas 1-2-3 with Jack Marshall taking the win from Tom Clague and Leo Baxter.

Three of the island’s leading breaststroke swimmers fought hard in the 15-and-overs, with Jacob Brookes just dipping under 33 seconds ahead of a close battle between Douglas’ Guernsey Island Games swimmer Jack Burgess and younger clubmate Josh Hollamby, Burgess just edging it in 33.87 ahead of Hollamby’s 33.95.

There was a clear victory margin for Tallulah Wilson in the 10-and-under girls’ 50m breaststroke, with Rebecca Parkes of Southern taking second ahead of Douglas’ Bella Quaye.

Holly Wilson took the 11-year-old girls’ category, with Southern clubmate Ellie Rowlands in second and Peel’s Bethany Chapman-Beale in third.

Olivia Williamson won the 12-year-old category in a personal best time of 43.01, followed by Ramseian’s Imogen Howard and Faith Teare from the Douglas club. Zoe Neuwirt edged ever closer to a sub-36 clocking, while Peel’s Beth Christian knocked nearly two seconds off her personal best time to claim second in 39.38, with Ramseian’s Evelyn King in third.

Island Games swimmer Libby Curphey took the 14-year-old honours, with Evie Hickey in second and Ramseian’s Isla Mealin showed her class in claiming third despite limited pool time in recent months.

Multiple Island Games gold medallist Laura Kinley rounded off the 50m breaststroke performances with a stylish 31.65 clocking, close to her best form – a promising sign ahead of the forthcoming UK spring meets.

Talented 15-year-old Chloe Batty secured second place with an impressive time of 34.68, while another breaststroke specialist, Ellie Johnson, claimed third. Southern team-mate Kaya Reynold also performed well, finishing fourth and significantly improving her personal best.

In the 100m freestyle, Austin Baglow of Douglas emerged victorious in the 10-and-under race, closely followed by Bobby Quaye of Ramseian and Jacob Wright. Oscar Maddrell secured his third victory of the night with a swift time of 1.13 in the 11-year-olds, while Charlie Larrosa narrowly edged out Callum Leslie for second place.

Ed Pearson claimed victory over Carter Kneale with a rapid time of 1.04.37 in the 11-year-olds, with Jacob Garczynski taking third place.

Jamie Farnan continued his impressive post-Christmas form to take the 13-year-old category from Cameron Leslie and Jai Shaw, while Jack Marshall clinched his third victory of the night with a time of 1:05.24 in the age 14 category, followed closely by Tom Clague and Freddie Taylor.

Joel Watterson rounded off the open individual events with a superb 49.88 clocking, ahead of Southern’s Charlie Foster and Tom Caine.

The 10-and-under girls saw Hailey Henrico just edge out Bella Quaye from Rebecca Parkes of Southern, while Peel’s Nia Littlejohns was fastest of a handful of impressive nine-year-olds in claiming fourth position.

Southsider Ellie Rowlands flew down the pool to take the age 10 honours from clubmate Holly Wilson and Peel’s Saoirse Gell. Olivia Williamson racked up another PB and age group win ahead of a close battle between Douglas’ Caitlin Kirby and Ramseian’s Imogen Howard.

The 13-year-olds witnessed Zoe Neuwirt’s customary win ahead of Beth Christian and Evelyn King. The 14-year-olds category saw super-fast times from Lauren Dennett and Libby Curphey, while Evie Hickey swam well to claim third place for Peel.

In the 15-and-overs, Laura Kinley took a stylish win in a scorching 58.26, followed by the impressive Chloe Batty and Holly McEvoy.

The night concluded with an exciting 8 x 25m mixed freestyle relay, with Douglas A emerging victorious in a closely-contested battle with Southern, with Douglas B team in third.

Congratulations go to Jamie Farnan, Zoe Neuwirt, Olivia Williamson, Jack Marshall, and Oscar Maddrell for winning three individual races on the night.

Finally, a huge thank you goes to all the officials for giving up their time and to Utmost Wealth for its invaluable support in making these events possible.

VANESSA CHRISTIAN