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?!!
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