Surrey County Championship 2023 - Weekend 2

Surrey County Championships – Weekend 2

After a two week break on 4/5 February our SCSC team were back in action at weekend 2 of the Surrey County Championships.

Session 5: Up first and raring to go were Lucas (11) and Henry (11) in the 100m Back, with finals in mind, they swam great races and both qualified with Henry swimming a massive PB. The next event is one most try to avoid but not Oliver (10). 200m Fly for any age is tough but for the youngest in a long course pool is challenging – give it a go!!!! With possible birthday celebrations to enjoy, Oliver didn’t hang around and stormed home down that final 50m to take the gold with a 10 second PB and become Surrey Champion – Happy birthday Oliver! Also swimming in the very competitive 13-year-old age group was Dennie. Dropping nearly 5 seconds Dennie placed 12^th.

The excitement wasn’t over in this session as it was finals time in the 100m Back for Lucas and Henry. Storming out in the first 50m Henry was up there with the leaders, fighting all the way to the finish touching third, with another PB to clinch that bronze medal and Lucas swimming a PB to finish 7^th.

Session 6: For this session the boys were joined by Samuela (11) Tharushi (15) 50m Breaststroke and Harrison (12) and Ethan (14) for the 50m Back. Unfortunately, Alex was ill and therefore couldn’t compete. Samuela kicked things off for the girls and set a blistering pace with a new PB and qualifying for her age group final.  Tharushi battled well and beat her entry ranking by 6 places to finish 19^th with a new PB. 50m Back heats next and Lucas and Henry both swam solid races to reach their final. Competing in a long course pool for the first time ever, Harrison put in a solid swim and placed 22^nd one place higher than his entry ranking. Ethan was the last of the SCSC swimmers to race in the 50m Back heats and again showed what talent we have in the club. With a half second PB he placed 10^th, which put him as second reserve and waiting to see if anyone would pull out of the final. Unfortunately not on this occasion.

Rounding off the Saturday evening with finals we had three swimmers racing. Samuela was up first and despite swimming another PB and finishing 5^th a technical infraction meant she was DQ’d. Knowing she can go that fast I’m sure will just mean that hunger for racing is there even more. The boys 50m Back final was the last event of the day and Lucas and Henry were in the water, under starters orders, ready to set off. Both using backstroke ledges, to ensure they get a good start, powered off and before you knew it, it was over. Henry finishing in a very tight finish for second place and securing that silver medal and Lucas finishing 5^th. Both again in new PB’s.

Session 7: On this last day of the championships ‘the boys were back in town’. Henry and Oliver started the session off well, Henry with a near 3 second PB and Oliver casually covering the distance to both secured final spots in 100m Fly.  The toll of the long weekend and long course racing were beginning to show and Dennie finished his 100m Fly in 17^th place. Up next for the 200IM was Lucas. Showing what a versatile swimmer he is, powered down the last 50m and closing in on the other swimmers finishing 5^th with a massive 12 second PB.

100m Fly final time for Oliver and Henry; what could they do being their final race for each of them of these championships - they didn’t disappoint. A very determined Oliver was closing in on the leader just after the 50m turn and once he overtook them him never looked back. ‘Flying’ down to the finish to touch 3 seconds in front of the second place swimmer to claim that Gold medal and become County Champion again, dropping 10 seconds from his heat swim. Not forgetting Henry who battling it out, finishing with another PB and 4^th.

Session 8: On to the last session of what has been a most exhilarating championships what could our final two swimmers achieve. Up first was Lilly in the 50m Fly. Smashing her PB by over two and a half seconds and jumping 10 places from her entry ranking finishing 12^th but it would be a quick turnaround for she would be back in the water again in about 30 minutes. Onto the ‘splash and dash’ event, the 50m Free and Lucas was back for his final event. Having swam in every session, a slightly tired Lucas set off and managed to qualify for the final, no mean feat I can tell you.

That 30 minutes certainly past fast and back in the water was Lilly lining up for the 200m Back. Again this was a nail biting race as 2^nd – 4^th place was decided with just half a second between them. Lilly had taken the challenge to the other swimmers and wasn’t going to give up without a fight, even though they were closing in. Bam! The touch pad was slapped and 2^nd  place secured by Lilly. A silver medal bagged and another huge PB.

Being the first swimmer to start our championships it’s probably only right that Lucas was our last swimmer too. The final of the 50m Free. Let’s see what energy he could muster for one last push. Fighting all the way from an outside lane Lucas finished 4^th.

To finish things off nicely Lucas also finished 2^nd best overall boy in his age group in the BAGCATS.

That’s it until 2024 for our County Championships! In summary we had 15 swimmers entered for 48 events.

We won 4 Gold medals, 4 Silver medals and 3 Bronze medals. We had 21 top 8 finishes with 82% of the swims recording a PB, many swimming PB’s in heats and again the finals. What more can a coach ask of them.

Our thanks must go to coaches Keir and Louise for supporting the swimmers and preparing them for these championships.