Leatherhead finished a close second in round two of the National Arena Swimming League on Saturday, just a point off top spot.

Leatherhead’s swimmers shone from the start with strong performances by 14-year old Chloe Bean (who represented Leatherhead in no less than seven events) and 19 year old Chris Ashton in the open 200m individual medley.

By the end of the first round (of six), Leatherhead were in second place, behind Windsor. Windsor then pulled ahead over the next four rounds until Leatherhead caught them up with a one point difference.

The nail biting final round saw Leatherhead come close to snatching victory but, in the end, they had to settle for a very creditable overall second place.

In a contest that’s more about positions than times, Leatherhead sustained 11 first, 15 second and seven third place finishes.

Individual winners were 10 year old Louis Foster (11/U 50m backstroke); 14 year old Chloe Bean (15/U 100m breast stroke); 15 year old Andrew Norman (15/U 100m backstroke); 17 year old Hannah Shore (open 100m fly and 100m freestyle), 16 year old David Andrews (open 100m breast stroke); 19 year old Chris Ashton (open 200m IM); 22 year old David Ashton (open 100m freestyle) and 30 year old Jamie Stewart (open 100m fly).

All the relay teams fought hard but it was the men’s open 4 x 50m medley relay team (Chris Ashton, David Andrews, Jamie Stewart and David Ashton); and the men’s open 6 x 50m freestyle squadron relay team (Liam Mellet, Jamie Stewart, Richard Stannard, Andrew Norman, Chris Ashton, David Ashton) that both managed to secure first place finishes and valuable points for the team. The men’s squadron upheld Leatherhead’s long-standing tradition of victory in this event, much to the delight of the supporting crowd.

The points tally at the end puts Leatherhead in a strong position going into the third and final round on 12th December.

Head coach David Vine said: "Leatherhead showed their true grit and determination. The swimmers put in excellent performances; everyone supported one another, and showed terrific team camaraderie. That’s what this is all about!"

Leatherhead won the top club award at the Dorking Open gala the previous weekend, netting 16 gold, 15 silver and eight bronze medals. On top of this, they also brought home 17 ‘speeding tickets’ for achieving times faster than the upper cut-off entry times (i.e. faster than the gold medal winning times!).

Top gold medalists at this level 3 meet were ‘team Doig’ with three gold medals a piece : 12 year old Cameron for the 100m fly (1:26.79), 100 freestyle 1:14.24 and 100m IM (1:28.67); and 14 year old Iona for the 100m breast stroke (1:29.94), 100m freestyle (1:06.68) and 100 IM (1:18.80). Cameron also achieved a bronze for the 100m backstroke and Iona got two silvers for the 100m fly and 100m backstroke.

Double gold medalists were 9 year old Rachel McArthur for the 50 fly (52.15s) and 100 IM (1:48.25), 11 year old Emma Brown for the 100 breaststroke (1:40.68) and 100 freestyle (1:16.72), and 14 year old Josh McDonough for the 100 fly (1:10.47) and 100 breaststroke (1:21.20).

The other gold medal winners were 9 year old Zac Parish for the 50 free (42.02s), 11 year old James Simms for the 50 fly (40.12s), and 13 year old Simon Watson for the 100 fly (1:16.92).

Speeding tickets were issued to James Simms (50 backstroke, 100 IM and 50 breaststroke), 12 year old Lucy Bean (100 freestyle and 100 IM), Emma Brown, 100 backstroke and 100 IM), 12 year old Chris Green (100 freestyle and 100 fly), 12 year old Ben King (100 freestyle, 100 IM), 14 year old David Brazil (100 backstroke and 100 freestyle), Rachel McArthur (50 backstroke), Zac Parish (100 IM), 10 year old Jamie Wilks (50 backstroke), 11 year old Rorie Williams (50 freestyle), and 12 year old Gabby Orlich (100 backstroke).

Silver medals: Shayan Fassih (50 backstroke and 50 freestyle), Ben King (100 breaststroke), Rachel McArthur (50 freestyle), Josh McDonough (100 backstroke), Paige Parsons (100 fly), Amelia Spurin (100 fly and 100 IM), Connor Terry (100 IM), Simon Watson (100 freestyle), Lewis Winfield (50 freestyle), Rheanna Cotton (50 backstroke), and Gabby Orlich (100 breaststroke).

Bronze medals: Andy Dickinson (100 backstroke and 100 freestyle), Ollie Hurdle (50 fly), Zac Parish (50 backstroke), Amelia Spurin (100 freestyle), Lewis Winfield (50 breaststroke) and Tom Baxter (100 backstroke).

Coach Stuart McCrae said: "It’s not only the medals that count, achieving a personal best is also something to be celebrated. And with 70% of swims achieved in a PB, Leatherhead’s swimmers have plenty to be proud of."