Written by Suzanne Smelt
City of Sunderland ASC New Year Meet 2023, 27-29 January, Sunderland Aquatic Centre
A number of BOK swimmers travelled up to the East Coast to race in this Level 1 meet; for some, this was the first 50m event of the long course season. All swimmers tried their best to put skills and strategies into practice over this distance, with some very respectable results against some big city clubs and university club swimmers.
Competitors:
Zach Beattie, Steph Booth, Emily Brook, Thomas Brooks, Astrid Carroll, Louis Cass, Nicholas Cass, Luke Clegg, Eben Cousin, Isabel Farmer, Annabel Howe, Daniel Jackson, Sam Jackson, Evie Lambert, Henry King, Sophie Mansfield, Molly Marsh, Lachlan Munro, Jack McClelland, Emily Oliver, Henry Priestley, Abigail Naylor, Poppy Nuttman, Jessica Smelt
At the start of the long course season, and in the midst of a heavy training schedule for some older swimmers, this meet was seen as a great chance to experience a long course pool under racing conditions. There were many strong swims, some well-deserved medals, and great times for some promising up-coming youngsters
It was in freestyle that most swimmers broke their entry times with some impressive times gained: Jack and Sam knocked off over 5 seconds in their 200 free races, and Dan, Nicholas, and Evie smashed their 400 free entry times, shaving off 8, 9, and 12 seconds respectively! Louis repeated this feat in the 800 free, swimming 11 seconds faster than his entry time. Lachlan and Eben stood out for consistently swimming faster than their entry times in their races, notably reducing their entry times for 200 and 400IM respectively by over 5 seconds. Sam swam an awesome 200 fly, bringing down his entry time by 7 seconds!
Thank-you to all the team-managers, and to Performance Squad coach Michael, for his diligent, detailed and encouraging advice to all swimmers, in both pre-pool talks and after race feed-back. Thank-you!
Medal Winners – Age Groups 10/11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 years
Bronze Poppy (13): 100 breast
Silver Poppy: 50 free Sam (15): 200 fly
Gold Eben (14): 50 and 100 fly
Combined Result – Multi-Classification by British Para-Swimming Points
Bronze Astrid (14): 100 free and100 back Evie (16): 200 free Steph (20): 50 and 400 free
Silver Astrid: 400 free Evie: 50 and 100 free, 50 fly and 50 back
Steph: 200 free and 100 back
Gold Astrid: 50 free Steph: 50 back
Top 10 places in 16 years and over Luke (18) 6th in 400 IM – Isabel(17) 7th in 50 free – Daniel(17) 5th in 100 breast, 4th in 200 breast and 5th in 200 and 400 IM – Jessica (16) 6th in 100, 200 and 400 free
