RUGBY hosted the second round of the Nuneaton Junior League (NJL) and finished a credible third place behind winners Leicester Sharks and runners-up Braunstone.
The home side, who fought off a relegation battle last year, look set to finish mid-table heading into the final round next month after a string of consistent performances that saw them finish second, third and fourth on numerous occasions.
Rugby had two winners on the night with Erin Lloyd winning the 50m freestyle event for 10 year-olds in a time of 33.82 and Jessica won the equivalent race for 12-year-olds in 31.40.
Erin came second in the 50m backstroke and Jessica also finished runner-up up in the 50m backstroke in their respective age groups, while there were second places for Luie Gilroy (50m backstroke), Libby O’Brien (25m butterfly), Alfie Hebb (25m buttterfly).
Liecester Sharks won the event at a canter with 269 points, which included 23 wins, while Braunstone were second in 183 and Rugby were ten points in third. Northgate (169), Redditch (148) and Wyre Forest (126) made up the other teams.
Rugby also sent a team to take part in the Leicester Diddy League (LDL) at the newly opened Hinckley Leisure Centre, but late withdrawals saw them claim a fifth place finish.
They were hampered on the night having failed to enter into eight of 49 events but the team fought on regardless and won 105 points, which was enough to finish above Melton B.
As one of only 2 ‘B’ teams in the gala, it was always going to be a tall order but led by the senior swimmers, Dan Carey, Toby Rigg, Tamsin Kyte and Sadie Pick, Rugby did not let their travelling fans down.
The new swimmers to the competition arena started off a little reserved, but soon got into the team spirit and supported each other.
Rugby failed to register a race win or a runner-up spot on the evening but Dan Carey, Alex Bowler-Smith, Elena Ridges, William Hughes all secured third spots.
Another posive for Rugby was that they did not pick up any disqualifications and in fact came out on top in the area.
