Swim England Summer Meet Success
Swim England Summer Nationals Report: 2024
Poole SC were well represented at the 2024 Swim England Summer National Championships in Sheffield this summer. The Championships ran over a six-day period from Monday 29th July to Saturday 3rd August with qualifying heats for finals being swum through morning and afternoon sessions. Final sessions took place across a range of age groups in the evening.
As a club we had some more fantastic results so read on to see how the team fared...
Our competing qualifiers this year included:
OPEN/MALE
Freddie B: 200m & 400m IM
Leo C: 100m Breaststroke; 200m & 400m IM, 100m & 200m Backstroke
Jack F: 200m Butterfly
Arron H: 800m & 1500m Freestyle, 400m IM
Ollie J: 200m IM; 50m Breaststroke
Luca S: 50m & 100m Butterfly
Zack S: 200m Backstroke
Leo W: 50m & 100m Freestyle
FEMALE
Claudia A: 400m IM
Lilly B: 200m IM, 200m Breaststroke
Macie C: 100m Backstroke
Freya C: 50m & 100m Backstroke
Jes H: 50m, 100m & 200m Backstroke
Daria K: 100m Backstroke
OVERVIEW & RESULTS
Following his success at the Aquatics GB Summer Championships the previous week, Freddie B (17 years) kicked off his schedule with the 400m IM on Tuesday morning. Freddie swam a well-paced heat swim to finish in 5th position overall. Amazingly, his time of 04:50.06 shattered his personal best time by over ten seconds. In his final in the evening Freddie improved still further to finish in 5th place where he took a further 4 seconds off his heat time with a very gutsy and determined swim. Freddie was back at the pool on Thursday morning for the 200 IM. Freddie bettered his personal best time once again to qualify in 3rd place overall for the final with a time of 2:14.55. His instructions for the final were to go out economically on his butterfly and backstroke, keeping his stroke long and gradually build into the breaststroke part of the race and then bring back the freestyle as best he could. He did this perfectly as he looked strong and efficient throughout and he built the swim and finished the race in a personal best time of 2:12.89. This time placed him in 4th place as he narrowly missed out on the bronze medal position. This was a superb and spirited swim from Freddie who showed great character and gave everything he had to both his IM finals. Great racing Freddie.
Making his debut in a Swim England National meet, 13-year-old all-rounder Leo C (12/13 years) had a particularly busy schedule having qualified for 5 events in total. On Tuesday morning Leo swam in 2 events. He started off with a well-paced 100m Breaststroke swim. His time of 1:15.09 destroyed his previous best time and ranked him in 3rd place for the final. Leo was back in the pool a little later in the day for the 400m IM where he secured a place in his second final of the day. In a nail-biting final Leo swam another personal bet time in the 100m Breaststroke to second place and earn himself a silver medal. Notably, his time of 1:13.72 set a new 13-year Club record. Leo rounded off a busy day to finish 5th in the 400m IM final. Returning to the pool on Thursday morning Leo demonstrated his all-round skills in the 200m IM with another personal best time of 2:27.69 which place him in 10th place. In the final later in the day he backed up his heat swim to finish in 10th place again. After a good rest overnight Leo was back at the pool on Friday to race in the 100m Backstroke. Leo shattered his personal best time in this event with a time of 1:08.68. Leo’s busy programme finished on Saturday morning with the 200m Backstroke which placed him 13th overall.
Our youngest qualifier this year was Jack F (12/13 years). Jack had done amazingly well to qualify this year being only 12 years of age. Jack impressed by taking everything in his stride though as he competed in the 200m Butterfly event on Friday morning. Finishing just outside his best ever time Jack finished in 32nd place and it was clear to see that he relished the experience. Hats off to you Jack!
Distance dynamo Arron H (17 years) had a demanding three days of racing as he started off his events on Monday afternoon with the 800m Freestyle finishing in a very respectable 11th place. The following morning, he raced the 400m IM where he finished in 24th place overall. With only a day’s rest in between, Arron raced in the 1500m Freestyle event on Thursday afternoon finishing in 15th place. Arron’s times were close to his personal best times, and he held his stroke well in all his swims and he is to be congratulated on qualifying for three demanding events.
Ollie J (18 & over) was another swimmer who returned to the pool having competed at the Aquatics GB Summer Championships the week before. Ollie’s first event was to 200m IM on Thursday morning. Swimming a well-judged race, Ollie’s time of 2:09.82 was good enough to gain a place in the final later in the evening as he qualified in 6th place which put him in lane 7. With his team mates out in force in the evening Ollie showed his relish for finals as he produced an incredible swim to finish 1st place in a time of 2:06.14 and take the gold medal. This was particularly noteworthy as it was Ollie’s birthday. Ollie’s time set new Dorset County Long Course record in this event too. After a good rest Ollie was back at the pool the next morning to compete in the 50m Breaststroke where he produced a solid swim which took him into his second final of the week. Ollie was on top form again in this final as he stepped up to finish in 4th place in a very close race. Two great swims Ollie and it was a pleasure to watch you swim your 200m IM final.
Luca S (17 years) qualified for two races this year with his first race being the 100m Butterfly. Luca’s aim for the event was to qualify for the final and improve on his entry time which stood at 1:00.39. In his heat, he raced with determination to do just that as he qualified for the final in 9th place in a time of 00:59.20. In his final he consolidated on his heat swim to finish in 9th place overall. Luca’s second swim of the week was the 50m Butterfly on Saturday morning. Once again Luca put in a great heat swim to qualify for the final in a new personal best time of 00:26.53. Luca was back at the pool for his final in the evening where he stepped up to swim his second personal best time of the day to finish in 8th place overall with a time of 00:26.49. After the race Luca said he was happy with his final, and it was pleasing to see him stepping up the rankings and make both butterfly finals.
Zack S (18 year & over) had to wait until Saturday morning to compete in the 200m Backstroke and he certainly made his mark as he swam a best ever time of 2:09.74 which placed him in 3rd position going into the final and a good chance of taking the bronze medal. In the final he was narrowly edged out with a very brave swim finishing in 5th place. Zack’s comment after the race was that he couldn’t have given any more as he improved his heat time even further. Great swim Zack – you did yourself proud.
Leo W (15 years) began his week with a 50m Freestyle swim on Tuesday morning. Having qualified well for this event we were hopeful that Leo would make the final later in the day and he did just that to finish with in 3rd position overall. In the final in the evening Leo was delighted to bring home a silver medal as he dipped under the 25 second mark for the first time ever finishing in a time of 00:24.73 seconds. Leo returned to the pool on Thursday morning to swim the 100m Freestyle which he had been looking forward to. Once again, Leo put in a great heat swim to place 3rd fastest for the final later in the day with a personal best time of 00:55.60 seconds. Having watched the video of his race, Leo worked with Coach Jan in the afternoon as we knew there were some changes we could make. The preparations for the final paid off as Leo won his second medal of the week finishing in a time of 00:54.93 seconds and winning the bronze medal in the process.
And so, to the girls….
Claudia A (18 & over) had to wait until the last day of the competition to get her schedule underway on Saturday morning in the 400m IM. Claudia paced the race well coming through strongly on the breaststroke leg of the race. Having trained hard with PSC following her return to England from university in the USA, Claudia did extremely well to push up the rankings and finish in a very creditable 18th place. Claudia’s time of 5:23.99 was on par with her season’s best time.
Making her debut in the Championships was 12-year-old Lilly B (12 & 13 years) who competed in two of her favourite events. Her first event was the 200m Breaststroke on Wednesday morning. Lilly swam extremely well to finish in 17th place with a personal best time. Not satisfied with one best time, Lilly followed up with another one in the 200m IM as she finished in 33rd place the following day. Great swimming Lilly, well done.
Also competing in her first Swim England National event and her only race of the week, Macie C (14/15 years) put in a super 100m Backstroke race on the final day of the meet recording a time of 1’10.52. Overall, Macie placed 25th and everyone agreed that she was a great addition to the team this year. Well done, Macie.
The team were delighted to see Daria K (12/13 years) making it through to Summer Nationals this year. Daria raced the 100m Backstroke on Saturday morning where she swam an amazing race and impressed us all by gaining a place in the final with a staggering 2 second personal best time. In the final Daria went under her previous best time once again as she finished in 10th place overall. This was a commendable start to National level swimming for Daria who was making her debut in a Summer National competition. Daria’s heat time of 1:09.01 set a new 13-year-old Club record. Congratulations Daria.
Jes H (16 years) competed in all three backstroke events which began on Thursday morning with the 50m event. Jes’s heat swim of 00:30.79 placed her in first place going into the final. Having qualified for the final, Jes did herself proud to maintain 1st place and take her first gold medal of the week. This was a nice surprise for Coach Jan who was celebrating her birthday along with Ollie J (athlete) and Michala and Jenny who were alongside supporting the team as parents. After all the excitement of Thursday, Jes enjoyed further success on Friday as she competed in the 200m event. Jes swam a reasonable heat swim, but she excelled herself in the final as she won her second gold medal of the week finishing strongly from an outside lane with commendable back end to the race. Having qualified in 6th place for the final Jes’s last 50 metres proved to be conclusive as she improved on her heat time by 3 seconds. Jes concluded her programme on the last day of the competition with the 100m Backstroke. Once again, Jes produced a fine heat swim which earned her a middle lane for the final. To conclude her programme Jes completed a hattrick of 1st places to round off a very successful meet and take home 3 gold medals.
St
16-year-old Freya C (16 years) began her programme with the 50m Backstroke event on Thursday morning. In a closely contested event Freya pushed hard to finish in 15th place and narrowly missed out on a place in the final. She followed up this swim with the 100m Backstroke event on Saturday morning where she raced well to finish in 22nd place with a quality performance.
So, that was it as our time in Sheffield came to an end. National events demand an immense level of effort and commitment in order to qualify and then to perform at a high level over the course of a six-day event. This year the days were particularly long with morning warmups starting at 07.35 am and finals ending around 20.30 pm in the evening. Overall, this was an incredibly successful event for us with so many good performances, exciting heats, finals, records, and best times set.
The results achieved overall were:
4 x gold medals; 2 x silver medals; 1 x bronze medal; 16 x finals; 28 x personal best times (including improvements from heats to finals).
As a team, we are already looking forward to returning in September, but we will be taking a couple of weeks off to recharge our batteries and enjoy the summer break. Well done to everyone who took part this year and HUGE thank you to the coaching team for all your hard work, it certainly paid off.
Finally, we want to say a BIG thank you to everyone who sent messages of encouragement from home. Thank you too to our parents and family members who made the trip up to Sheffield with us and to everyone who supported us or followed our races online or via the live stream.
Coach Jan, Coach Chris & Coach Jacob
(on behalf of the PSC coaching team)
