Bolton News Report this week....

Bolton News Report this week......

Exciting News!!

WE DID IT!!

We have this week received confirmation that our relay teams have successfully secured a place in Sheffield this summer at the National Age Group Swimming Championships!

After our fabulous performances at the NW Regional Champs earlier this month, we have qualified as 11th fastest team in the UK for both the 4x100m Medley Relay and 4x100m a Freestyle Relay, along with 21st place in the 4x200m Freestyle Relay.  Our Club, Pioneer 79 have never had a team qualify for this event before, so we are very excited to be taking our Club to new heights!! All the girls are extremely excited, there will be 5 of us at the competition;

Eleanor Collin, Meghann Leaver, Alice Harding (this will be their first performance at the Nationals) Natasha Rogan and Myself!!  

Having now qualified for 7 individual races and the possibility of swimming 3 relays, we now have to sit down and realistically decide which events I will be swimming......... 

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Weekend No. 2 of the North West Regional Championships

Day 3 of the NW Regionals was a very quiet day for me with only two events to fill the day, the girls 4x200m Freestyle Relay and the 100m Breaststroke.  Due to both myself and my friend Natasha having the last chance to gain a NQT in the relay, our Head Coach decided to split us up and put us as the lead leg in the 'A' and 'B' Teams.  The only time eligible to be used for a National time is the lead leg of a relay, this is due to the fact it is the only 'standing' start in any relay, the takeovers are all 'rolling'.  Anyway, the time required for my NQT was 2.11.36, the time I achieved in the relay was 2.12.13, again, missing my target.  Never mind, it just wasn't to be, however I am very pleased with the times I have achieved in this event this year as freestyle is by no means my strongest event!  Fingers crossed I will achieve this time next year.  As a team though, we did very well, finishing 4th overall in a time of 8.59.74, with a strong chance of qualifying for a National placing which will allow us to swim in Sheffield as a team.  This would be the first time that Pioneer 79 would have a relay team that has qualified to compete at the Nationals!  Only the fastest 40 teams in the country in each relay event will qualify.  We will have to wait and see, keep everything crossed!!

I also swam the heat of the 100m Breaststroke during this session, finishing the heat in a time of  1.14.26, I qualified fastest for the final, which took place during the next session.  The finals session started with another team event, this time it was the 4x100m Medley Relay.  Again, we were able to put out a very strong team, Eleanor swam the backstroke in a PB of 1.10.48, followed by me swimming breaststroke in a PB of 1.13.06, Natasha swam a great fly leg in a time of 1.08.05, 2 seconds down on her PB, however she was swimming the 200m Fly final straight after, then Meghann took up the anchor leg of freestyle in yet another PB time of 1.03.23! This meant our finishing time of 4.34.82 placed us into 2nd position, just behind Stockport Metro, and ahead of southport!

Next was my 100m Breaststroke final, having just swam a PB in the relay, I was determined to try and beat the time again, in order to have a 1.13 or faster on record..... I did it!! I took the gold medal and finished in 1.13.03, over 3 seconds ahead of my nearest rival, I was so pleased.

The final day arrived, slightly busier than yesterday, I had 1 relay and 2 individual events to swim.  The session kicked off with the 4x100m freestyle relay.  Having lead off yesterday in the 200m freestyle relay, it was decided that I'd swim 2nd in this relay due to my reaction time not quite being as quick as Natasha.  So Natasha set off to a strong start, swimming an incredible 1.00.97!  I took over, we had a good lead on the other teams, I had to at least keep the lead we had or improve it so Meghann could have a good start, I did! I swam a 2 second PB, which would have also been an NQT... 1.00.70, but as it wasn't a leading leg, it wouldn't count. Anyway, the lead had stretched to 15m by the 2nd takeover, Meghann swam another strong leg, just beating her time in the 4x100free relay, in 1.03.19, then Alice took to the water, by this time we had a phenomenal lead of almost 25m on our nearest rivalling team, Alice brought us home in a time of 1.02.18, our team had swam the relay in an incredible time of 4.07.04! 3rd overall!  Mike, our head coach was extremely pleased with our performances, the 'B' and 'C' teams also did really well, we were one of only two clubs in the NW to enter 3 teams into the relays, which shows how well as a club we are doing!

Back to my individual races, my first was the 200m Backstroke, qualifying 2nd for the final in a time of 2.24.76, 3 seconds behind Holly Hibbott from Southport.  Next was the 200m IM, I was pleased with my swim qualifying fastest for the final in a time of 2.24.70, just a second ahead of Holly Hibbott! I knew she would be a tough one to beat in the final!

The final session was upon us, I finished 2nd in the 200m Backstroke in a new PB of 2.23.81, almost 5 seconds behind Holly, who in the process of winning the gold medal also produced a new age group record for this event!  My final event was the final of the 200m IM, I knew that if I could get ahead of Holly by 3-4m at the end of the breaststroke leg, that I stood a good chance of beating her on the final 50m.... After the fly leg, I turned 0.7 seconds behind her, after the backstroke leg, I'd dropped to 2.05 seconds behind, the breaststroke, this was the leg I really needed to pull it back, I did, I turned 0.07 ahead of Holly, but I knew it would be a hard last length, I just couldn't hold her off! I finished in a new PB of 2.23.78, just 1.6 seconds behind Holly, who again, took the gold medal in a new age group record time of 2.22.18!  That girl is a machine!! Maybe one day I'll beat her?!!

North West Regional Age Group Championships 2014 / Day 2

Above- Swimmers on Day 2:

Meghann/Joe/Olivia/Eleanor/Alice/Me/Abi/Martha/Natasha/Ellie/Ewan

Ben/Dylan

After having a good start to the competition yesterday, I was hoping to do something similar today.  My first event was the 100m Butterfly, I have improved enormously on my butterfly recently and can actually say that I quite enjoy this event! Entering with a PB of 1.05.69, I was again very surprised to see that after my heat I had set myself yet another PB of 1.04.69, 1 second faster! This time also qualified me fastest for the final.  

My next event was the 200m Breaststroke, one of my favourite events! Entering as the fastest seed by quite some way, I felt comfortable enough to swim a relatively relaxed heat, finishing in a time of 2.41.39, this qualified me as fastest for the final.

Returning in the afternoon session for the finals, I was actually looking forward to swimming both finals.  I surprised myself again in the final of the 100m Butterfly, where I set myself another new PB, knocking a further 0.22 off my time in the heat, however, I was pipped at the post into second place by Holly Hibbott!

The 200m Breaststroke wasn't long after the final of the 100m Butterfly, however, I tried my best, finishing in 2.39.47.  Slightly slower again than my PB, but finishing some 6/7m ahead of my nearest rival, taking the gold medal!

Next week I am competing in another 3 individual events (200m Backstroke, 100m Breaststroke and 200m IM) along with 3 team events (4x200m Freestyle, 4x100m Medley and 4x100m Freestyle relays) so it should be another enjoyable weekend next week!

Below-Finalists on Day 2:

Alice/Natasha/Meghann and Me!  

Ewan also swam in the finals but he had unfortunately gone for a race when the photo was taken!

North West a Regional Age Group Championships 2014 - Day 1

DAY 1 - Saturday 31st May 2014

 

(Above, P79 finalists on day 1 - Natasha/Alice/Ellie/Meghann/Me and Matt)

Well, what a start to this year's North West Regional Age Group Swimming Championships?! My first morning was a very busy one, swimming in 3 events, then should I qualify for the finals, they would be swum in the afternoon's session.  My first event of the competition was the 400m Individual Medley, followed by the 200m Freestyle and finally the 100m Backstroke.

Originally, the plan was for me to swim the 200m Freestyle at the City Of Manchester Open Meet in May, in an attempt to achieve my NQT of 2.11.36, however, due to having experienced a niggle during training in my right shoulder the week leading up to the competition, it was decided by my Head Coach and myself to withdraw from the whole event in order to prevent any further injury from occurring.  Had I achieved the NQT at this competition, the plan was to then withdraw from the 200m Freestyle at the NW Regional Age Group Champs. This then left me with no option but to swim the three events on the first morning.

Aiming to make a final in the 400m IM in a very comfortable time of 5.20.00, I was shocked to look up at the scoreboard and see my time at the end of the race was 5.08.80! I couldn't believe that I had swam just 0.68secs slower than my PB, what amazed me more was the fact I had felt very comfortable during the race, with plenty left AG the end.  I had qualified 3rd fastest for the final!

My next event was the 200m Freestyle, although it's not one of my favourite strokes, I have been working hard on my technique and I was hoping to achieve the NQT in my heat which would then allow me to choose at the end of the session, which finals to swim in. Finishing in a slightly disappointing 2.14.88, 1.53secs slower than my PB and qualifying 6th fastest for the final, I knew I would need to swim this again for one last chance!

Next up was the 100m Backstroke, again, I surprised myself in the heat by swimming just 0.30 secs slower than my PB in a time of 1.07.44, qualifying 2nd fastest for the finalist the process, just 0.72 secs behind Holly Hibbott from Southport.  Decision time was upon us.......

After a long conversation with Mike, my head coach, it was decided that due to me already having my 400m IM NQT under my belt, that I would withdraw from this final, in order to concentrate on the 200m Freestyle and 100m Backstroke finals.

The gamble almost paid off - I finished 5th in the final of the 200m Freestyle in a new PB time of 2.11.85, knocking 1.5 secs off my previous time, but just missing the NQT by 0.49 seconds.... I was absolutely gutted!!

Anyway, not being in a position where I could dwell on what could've been, I had to do my swim down and prepare myself again for the next final, the 100m Backstroke.  Qualifying 2nd fastest, put me in lane 5 between Holly Hibbott and Charlotte Marshall from City of Salford, both great backstrokers! At the 50m point, I turned in 3rd place, however, after some great underwater work at the turn and the strength in my last 50m, I inched up into 2nd position, winning my first medal of the competition in a new PB of 1.07.02!  I was very pleased with my swims today, unfortunately my gamble didn't quite pay off, but I'll go away and work even harder on my freestyle and hope that next year I will be in a position to achieve the time I need.

Tomorrow I am swimming the 100m Butterfly and 200m Breaststroke...........