Halton in great form once more as they stay at the top of the podium

HALTON Swimming Club were in action at the weekend in the second round of the annual City of Liverpool Swimming Club Echo Cup which was held at Everton Park Sports Centre.

The majority of the squad from the first round were in action again and produced another great performance.

With some of the boys having to swim in multiple events it looked a tall order to repeat the win that they had in the first round but they put in some fine performances to help the team finish in first place again.

Halton were leading all the way from start to finish but could not repeat the first place in the last race, the cannon, narrowly missing out to Ormskirk Otters in an extremely close finish.

Halton were up against some strong opposition yet again so it was a fantastic achievement to secure first place in the gala with Liverpool Penguins finishing in the runners-up spot, some 28 points behind.

There were brilliant performances from all swimmers who amassed numerous personal bests and a large points total which sets them up well for the final.

There were many fine individual performances but credit must go to the whole team for winning both rounds to go into the final ranked first and secure the favoured lane – four.

The team finished with 16 first places, 12 second places and 13 third places.

It will be a tough ask to win the Echo Cup Final with the likes of Southport Swimming Club (who have won it for the past 12 years) and Everton Swimming Association also there but with their great team spirit and with the return of some more swimmers to bolster the squad they will look to finish higher than their fourth place that they achieved last year.

The final, which takes place on November 13 at Everton Park, always produces a fantastic atmosphere and is one of the highlights of the swimming calendar for the younger swimmers.