Saturday 27 April 2019 – Round 1 of the summer league was hosted by Marlborough penguins. The
summer league format is 50 sprint races which are a mix of individual races and relay races where
the teams swim for points against a number of local clubs making it a real team event.
The night opened with Tyler and Emily in the open individual medley where we came 2nd and 3rd
respectively followed by Ashton and Ava were both 2nd in very close 2 length butterfly races.
There was drama in the u16 4 length freestyle where a false start meant the race had to be rerun
and James came in 3rd overall.
The boys u12 medley relay team of Zac, Seb, Ashton and Filip were 2nd and the girls team of Eve,
Jessica, Kira and Freya P were 3rd with both teams taking valuable points for the team.
In the boys u14 2 length freestyle Harry had to settle for 2nd after pushing for 1st place all the way.
Ashton also took 2nd in a very close 2 length breaststroke race with the swimmer from Marlborough.
In the u16 4 length backstroke Aaron was superb, leading the race from start to finish whilst in the
girls race Thea got off to a poor start (due to not being able to hear the starter) but came through the field to take 2nd.
Ozzy won the 2 length freestyle by country mile in the u12; Max S was 2nd in the u14 fly and Eve was
2nd in the u12 backstroke.
Swindon were 3rd overall on the night, which was the expected result.
Holly Sullivan smashed the existing Down Syndrome Junior world record by nearly 3 seconds with a time of 1:32.80.
This will help Holly in selection for the GB Team for the upcoming European championships being held in Sardinia during September 2019. Holly displays her DSISO certificate for 100m Freestyle
Holly started to swim when she was 4 years old at learn to swim lessons at the Swindon Oasis. With the help of her instructors and her own determination she was able to make progress over several years until she reached stage 10. At this point Holly transferred to Swindon ASC a mainstream competitive swimming club where she now trains 3 times a week. Holly is also a member of Reading Cygnets a swimming club specifically for swimmers with learning difficulties who provide additional training, support and access to competitions across the UK.
Holly is an S14 swimmer, the Para class for athletes with intellectual impairments, and has qualified to swim at County and Regional level. However because S14 is a very broad category swimmers with Down Syndrome are unable to access the elite end of this category because of a number of physical impairments which run alongside the Intellectual Impairment. To support these athletes DSISO (Down Syndrome International Swimming Organisation) was established and provide competitive swimming for Down Syndrome Athletes at National and International level. As part of DSISO Holly has been selected to swim internationally in Paris, France; Pristina, Kosovo; Truro, Canada.
Go Holly!
With 145 years experience in swimming coaching at Swindon Amateur Swimming Club (ASC), you’re in safe and experienced hands!
Swindon ASC