Swindon Dolphin Novice Gala

Our U12 novice swimmers were invited to compete at a gala along with Bradford on Avon, Royal Wootton Bassett, Dolphins, Cirencester and Marlborough at The Link on Saturday 16th October 2015. Whilst the team included many of our junior squad members, for many others it was their first taste of team competition. Unfortunately, I haven’t got enough editing space or time to emphasise the fantastic effort showed by all of our swimmers, so I have only named the ones who had top 3 finishes. Here’s how they got on.

In races 1-10, we placed 1x1st, 2x2nd, and a 3rd. The 1st place was for Olivia who won a tough battle with Cirencester by just 4 tenths of a second in the girls 12/u 50m freestyle. The 2nd places came in both the boys and girls 10/u 50m butterfly. For the boys, Max put in a great swim, whilst Annabel fought for the top 3 all the way in her race, digging deep to take 2nd. A fantastic swim from Addison in the boys 8/u breaststroke earned him a 3rd place finish.

In the next 10 races the team managed 2x1st, a 2nd and 3x3rd places. In another closely fought race in the boys 9/u 25m butterfly, Max just stretched his arm out enough to win by a touch, whilst in the girls 12/u 50m breaststroke, Caitlin was neck and neck halfway, but pulled away to win by 2 metres. Alice took the 2nd in the girls 11/u 50m freestyle in yet another closely contested race. The 3rd places came in the boys 10/u 4×1 freestyle relay (Max, Tim, Harvey and Harry); Riley in the boys 8/u 50m backstroke, just beating Bradford on Avon; and Abigail G with a fab swim in the girls 8/u 50m backstroke.

There was 1x1st, 2x2nd and 1x3rd in races 21-30. Addison led from start to finish in the boys 8/u 25m butterfly, winning by 3 seconds. The first 2nd place was for the boys in the 9/u 4×1 medley (Joe, Addison, Max and Harry), who were battling to be in the top 3 at halfway, but were unlucky to be pipped for 1st by Cirencester. In the girls 12/u 50m, Sasha was also pipped by just 2 tenths into 2nd. Charlie bucked the trend of being pipped in the boys 12/u 50m backstroke as he held on for a 3rd place finish.

At halfway in the gala, Dolphins led with 128 points from Cirencester (124), Wootton Bassett (105), Swindon ASC (104), Marlborough (99) and Bradford on Avon (65).

Tyler and Sasha led the way in races 31-40 with dominating performances in the 12/u 50m butterfly. Aaron had to fight Cirencester over the last 15 metres to earn a 2nd in the boys 11/u 50m backstroke and in the boys 10/u 50m breaststroke, Max just missed out to Bradford on Avon and Wootton Bassett for 3rd.

Race 41 saw another battling effort from Addison holding on to 2nd in the boys 8/u 50m freestyle. In the following race for the girls Freya put in a really strong 2nd length to take 3rd. The boys 12/u 4×1 medley were 2nd throughout their race, but the girls followed up by smashing the field for 1st. Harvey took a 3rd and Annabel was 2nd all the way in the 10/u 50m backstroke and Max blew the rest away to take 1st in the boys 9/u 50m breaststroke.

Going into the last 10 races the team were still 4th, just 15 points behind Dolphins in 3rd.

The last 10 races brought 1x1st, a 2nd and 2x3rd places. The first 3rd was in the boys 10/u 4×1 medley (Harry, Max, Harvey and Tim) with just ½ metre separating the top 3. The boys 12/u 4×1 freestyle (Aaron, Charlie, Alisdair and Tyler) were a close 2nd ahead of Wootton Bassett at the 50m turn, but were pegged back into 3rd place. A strong start for the boys 8/u 4×1 medley (Riley, Addison, Harry and Daniel), was equalled by a strong finish giving them a well deserved 2nd place; and in the final race of the night, the awesome foursome of Sasha, Caitlin, Olivia and Alice, dominated all the way in the girls 12/u 4×1 freestyle.

At the end of a really enjoyable evening, Marlborough finished 6th on 107 points, Bradford on Avon 5th with 189, Swindon ASC 4th on 216, Wootton Bassett 3rd on 230, with Dolphins 2nd on 240 and the winners Cirencester on 252.

Well done to all our swimmers, especially those experiencing their first gala. A huge thanks as always to the coaches, officials and helpers and of course to the parents and family cheering the swimmers on.

As always, the club will keep you informed of upcoming events by email, but you can also follow us online at swindonasc.co.uk or visit our Facebook page.

Remember, there’s no lessons or squad sessions between 24th October and 31st October and if you haven’t done so, get your entries in for the club champs. November is a big month with the club champs, the start of Winter League and everyone’s favourite the Club Presentation and Disco night on 28th November. Look out for more details in the coming weeks!

Have a great half term and terrifyingly frightening Halloween from all the team at Swindon ASC!

Mike Bevan
Publicity
Swindon ASC