Southwell Swimming Club

Nottinghamshire Youth County Championships: This was the 3rd year of the Youth Championships, aimed at 15 and 16 year old swimmers, but our first entry.

Nine of our older swimmers, Jordan Barnes, Amy Bond , Alex Bond, Millie Bowes-Hall, Thomas Greenwood, Paolo Incerti, Lucy Johnson, Kirsten Pinson, and Alice Theobold took part with some having not entered the County Championships before.

On Day 1 Jordan, in his 1st championship won his heat in the 50m Breast and did a new pb in his 50m Free on Day 2. Also on Day 1, Alice swam within a second of her pbs on all events and the Girls 15/16yrs Freestyle Relay Squad of Lucy, Amy, Kirsten and Millie took 2 secs off their entry time and all pb’d in the process. Millie was the highlight of the day however, achieving a 2nd place in her heat of the 50m Free earning a place in the final. She then went on to get a 2nd place in the final with her 2nd pb of the day in a Midland Qualifying time, a place on the podium for the Southwell team and a silver medal!

On Day 2, Alice swam the 200m Free, the Girls Medley Relay Squad beat Bramcote again, Kirsten 50m Back, Lucy 50m Breast, Millie 50m Fly and Amy 50m Free all improved their pbs with Amy producing a 3sec improvement. Alex pb’d in both the 50m and 100m Free and Paolo put in a good performance in the same events. Jordan and Thomas, another first timer in County Championships, produced significant improvements in their legs of the 4x100m Free Open relay race. Head coach, Sally Johnson said all our swimmers swam brilliantly, they supported each other throughout the two days, looked smart in their new hoodies(!) and were a credit to the club. Congratulations to all of you.

‘Swimmer of the Month’ and ASA Speed Awards: Congratulations to Anna Bolsher and George Burton for being nominated ‘Swimmer of the Month’ for January 2014 and the 23 Bronze,12 Silver and 23 Gold IM Award winners in our recent time trials.

MARILYN BROADHEAD