Written by Suzanne Smelt
Billed as a ‘fast paced Level 2 event’ this meet did not disappoint, attracting strong swimmers from highly regarded clubs to race in the newly built £42 million Moorways Sports Village, Derby. Qualifiers from BOK’s NP and SP squads swam to the very best of their abilities.
Qualifiers
Zach Beattie, Steph Booth, Astrid Carroll, Louis Cass, Luke Clegg, Eben Cousin, Isabel Farmer, Annabel Howe, Daniel Jackson, Sam Jackson, Evie Lambert, Rowena Kanan, Henry King, Ruby Knight, Sophie Mansfield, Molly Marsh, Lachlan Munroe, Jack McClelland, Charlotte Pate, Henry Priestley, Abigail Naylor, Bosco NG, Poppy Nuttman, Jessica Smelt and Andrew Teale.
Looking for faster times was probably a big ask, and maybe not the swimmers’ goals, so soon into the season, with good skills and focussed racing strategies being the main target for many, but these young athletes proved time and time again that hard work and training pays off, as we saw a steady stream of improved times.
There were many awesome individual achievements and a club medal haul to be proud of!
There was an outstanding 11 second improvement on Poppy’s 400 free entry time. Zach shaved off a massive 9 seconds in the 200IM. Evie blew her entry time in the MC 200 free out of the water by a huge 13 seconds. Daniel swam to victory in one of his strongest events, 200 breast, with a miraculous 7 second improvement and was the fastest out of all the competitors. Way to go Daniel! Louis knocked spots of his 400 IM entry time. Annabel swam the magical ‘sub 30’ in 50 free for the first time, as did Eben in his 50 free! Zach, Henry K and Jack followed suit, going ‘under 30’ in their 50 fly races for the first time. Jessica flew the flag for BOK in the ‘Skins’ event, valiantly taking part in this brutal ‘knockout’ race, which came directly after her 200 fly swim, and survived for 2 rounds!
Thank-you to all the team-managers, and to SP coach Nathan Clarke for his consistently positive, insightful and encouraging advice to all swimmers, in both pre-pool talks and after race feed-back. Thank-you!
Medal Winners
Bronze
Astrid: MC 100 free. Isabel: 50 free, 50 fly + 100 free. Daniel: 100 fly; Sam 100 + 400 IM. Evie: MC 200 free + MC200 IM. Molly: 200 breast. Poppy: 200 back + 400 free
Silver
Astrid: MC 100IM. Daniel: 50 breast +200 IM. Evie: MC 50 breast. Bosco: 100 back. Poppy: 200 IM + 200 breast. Henry P: 100 + 200 back. Jessica: 200 fly
Gold
Astrid: 100 back. Daniel: 100 + 200 breast, 100 + 400 IM
