KENDAL swimmers added an exciting new experience to their careers as they completed in the Sunderland Summer Splash Meet in the Aquatics Centre.

The event attracted a large entry mostly from around the North East so Kendal’s squad set about their task with gusto and it was James Escolme who stepped up and gave a magnificent display at strokes and distances ranging from 50m to 200m. which also brought him five New Club Records with four gold medals and one Silver from eleven events.

He proved most successful at Breaststroke, opening with the 200 he got away to a solid start and quickly got into his rhythm, took it on and put himself in a great position for success. Over the first 50m any challenges were quickly responded to by Escolme

He then injected a further burst of pace which gave him a four second cushion to hold off Grantham’s George Berwick. From then on it was no contest as Escolme simply maintained the pace and cruised to a comfortable victory.

The100 Breaststroke brought out the best in Escolme as he had to call upon all his skill and talent when finding himself being matched stroke for stroke by Middleborough’s Thomas McDermott. Over the first length it was Escolme who again set the pace and forged ahead, but out of the turn both swimmers turned on the screws and hitting the pads together it was Escolme who took Gold. The 50m Breaststroke sprint saw Escolme at his imperial best smashing his way to another Gold producing too much skill for his opponents and timing his finish to perfection.

A further gold came from his all-round efforts in the 200m Individual Medley where again, he proved to have too much skill and ability for his challengers leaving him a clear winner.

A change of stroke to 100 Backstroke saw him challenged again by McDermott where he had to settle for Silver. Then along came Adam Stansfield, a speed merchant popularly recognised for his sprinting to produce a huge shock by entering the lung busting 200m Butterfly. Seeing him start with a definite plan he got into the mix and gave it all he’d got.

Into the final length he called on all his reserves to forge his way into 4th place. More personal was the fact that he finished with a time of 2:48.40 achieving his target which brought him a New Long Course Club Record. Supporters were given dazzling performances by the Club’s future stars. Once again Ava Dixon and Megan Turner continued to show outstanding talent as Breaststroke specialists. The 50m saw Ava storm into the lead and she dominated the race right to the finish. She hit the pads taking the Gold with a three second lead, whilst Megan worked hard and continued to challenge and snatched the bronze medal.

The 100 Breaststroke had them both battling it out again. Both girls turned together and made a charge through the pressure zone with Dixon emerging as winner and Turner winning Silver.

The squad’s other gold medal saw Kara Van Der Merwe produce a swim from the gods to win the 50 Breaststroke. Calling on her reserves she hit the pads to win in a blanket finish. She than added a silver for her 50m Butterfly and Maisey Wilson lifted Bronze for 50 Breaststroke and Evelyn Kinnear had similar success taking Bronze for her 50m Backstroke.