Almost all of COSASC’s Performance Squad, headed off on a team building weekend to take part in the Open Water Festival held at the Water Sports Centre, Salford Quays where they were joined by two Age Group Development Swimmers, J.J. Robins and Matthew Phillips and Masters Swimmer, Lindy Woodrow. The event incorporated several competitions including the ASA North East Region (NER) Championships and the Northumberland and Durham (N & D) County Championships.
For some, this was their first taste of open water swimming and with the water temperature a very chilly 16°C, variable weather with rain, wind and sun to contend with and without wetsuits, conditions were far from easy. However everyone completed their event and the team came back with an impressive amount of medals.
First off the mark was Lucy Ellis, 18, who swam a brilliant 5000m race to finish second in the open age group, first in the N & D Championships and first in the NER Championships with a time of 68.38 minutes.
Next to take to the water were the boys competing in the 3000m event.   In the 16 year age category, Jay Manners, crossed the line in ninth place in the open age group which gave him a well deserved first place in the N & D championships and second place in the NER Championships with a time of 42:00.21. Tom Whelan finished 11th in 43:15.88 to take second place in the N & D Championships while  Joseph Pomfret  finished with a time of 45:43.04, 17th overall and was third in the N & D Championships despite succumbing to the cold!  In the 15 year age group Adam Boxall was 16th overall in the open age group and took third place in the N & D Championships with a time of 45:34.09 and in 19th place was Matthew Phillips with a time of 49:04.49 which gave him fourth place in the N & D Championships.
Sunderland dominated the girls 3000m event with Amy Henshaw finishing first in the open age group with a time of 40:26.14and took both the N & D Championship and NER Championship titles in the 16 year age group. Following close behind was Anya Sordy, 16, who finished third overall, second in the N & D Championships and third in the NER Championships with a time of 40:38.50. In the 15 year age group, Elizabeth Clements finished 6th in 41:53.18 which gave her first place in the N & D Championships and second place in the NER Championships.
J.J. Robins, Matt Wylie and Lindy Woodrow competed in the 1500m event. J.J. finished 18th in the open age group and in the 14 year age group was second in the N & D County Championship and third in the NER Championship with a time of 25:39.95. Matt, 18,  finished 11th in the open age group in 21:48.80 while Lindy completed the distance in 34:00.37.
The remaining swimmers took part in the 500m ‘fun swim’ – a taster event designed as an introduction to open water swimming. In the girls event, Jodi Bunker, 16, was first in 6:51.93, Emma Cassell, 17,  finished second in 7:12.88,  Freya Rayner, 17 was third in 7:15.01, Rachel Taylor,15, was fourth in 7:19.48 and Alexandra Clements, 16 was 5th in 7:22.01. In the boys events Mason Jaques,17, finished first in 6:27.75, second was Joshua Campbell, 18, in 6:41.14, third was Andrew Markham, 17, in 6:46.48. Eighteen year olds Adam Taylor, Kieran Peart and Josef Craig finished 4th , 5th and 6th in 6:54.28, 6:57.88 and 7:16.17 respectively.