Nomads impress in popular in annual gala

Wildern Waves, Southampton Dolphins, Locks Heath Swim School, Gosport Dolphins were also in action in an excellent competition at Fareham Leisure Centre.

The host club made a flying start as they won the opening relay event and the first two individual events courtesy of Ellen Jewell and Tom Dickson.

As the evening progressed it was clearly between Nomads and Southampton Dolphins who had opened up an 11-point lead.

Charlie Holyer earned two wins for the hosts and one victory each for George Lambert and Joe Davies saw them cut the gap to five points.

More wins from Holyer, Cillian Ross, Emily Blake, Ryan Ireland, Tom Dickson, Hannah Cooper, Ben King and Joe Davies kept Nomads flying high but they had to settle for second place with 260 points.

Southampton finished the winners with 271 points.

Locks Heath were placed third, Wildern Waves fourth and Gosport Dolphins fifth.

Former Nomads swimmer Adrian Hillman presented the Jean Hillman Trophy to the winning team.

Fareham Nomads head coach Stewart Crowe said: ‘This event is always a fantastic opportunity for our younger swimmers to get a great experience of competitive swimming.

‘The atmosphere was amazing especially towards the end of the evening when the competition was very close.

‘The swimmers all put in a huge amount of effort and it is disappointing we did not win.

‘However I am sure our very young team will gain much from this experience.’

This event is held in association with Hillman, in memory of his mother Jean.

She sadly died while Adrian was at the start of his competitive swimming career.

Now in its 36th year, the Jean Hillman Memorial Trophy has become an established gala on the local swimming fixture.

Adrian joined Fareham Nomads as an under-10 and competed up to the under-17 age group.

He remains one of the most successful swimmers the club has ever produced, competing at county, regional and national level, including a junior international selection for Team GB.