After only 1 round of Winter League, we found ourselves swimming in the finals on 2nd March 2019. A cancellation of the Wiltshire Championships due to inclement weather meant that there was no second round.
So off to Trowbridge in the coach we went, to be joined by Swindon Dolphin, Tigersharks B, Durrington Otters, Corsham and Malmesbury Marlins. As this was the B final the result on the night would decide who came 7th, 8th, …12th.
Swindon went into the water with a marginal lead over Dolphin. It did not last long. Dolphins were on top form with some National swimmers in attendance. That’s not to say we did not put up a huge fight with swimmers from all age groups picking up points.
Swimmer of the evening was undoubtedly Alyssa Halliday who was absolutely flying!
At the end of the evening Dolphins were standout winners (7th), with Swindon in 2nd (8th) place.
Club Captain Will Mangan was joined by Olivia Moore to collect the certificate. Will and Olivia with Winter League Certificate
Saturday 15th September saw the us host the final round of the summer league which will determine who will lift the division 2 title. The event was held at Milton Road and so each length of the races were 33m and not 25m hopefully giving Swindon a home advantage.
First up was the squad photo – always a laugh trying to get kids to look towards a lens and smile.. (Never work with children or animals – W.C. Fields)
Summer League Finals Squad 2018
The first 10 races were all about our girls team with Emily taking 1st in the overs 4×1 medley; Molly was 1st in the u12 butterfly and Thea was 1st in the u16 3 length freestyle. Annabel was 2nd in the u14 1 length breaststroke, and Olivia was 3rd in the in the open 3 length backstroke.
After 10 races Swindon we had 26 points and were in joint 2nd place with Warminster.
With us lying in 2nd place there was everything to swim for and the girls u12 medley relay team of Alex, Freya, Molly and Maddie took maximum points and were followed immediately by the u16 boys medley team of Aaron, Leon, Tyler and James who did the same. Other notable performances came from Freya and Ashton who were both 2nd in the u12 breaststroke.
After 20 races we were in a 3 way tie for 1st place with Marlborough and Warminster, all on 52 points.
The was a tension in the air for the next set of races and our swimmers did well to deliver under pressure. The 1st place finishers were, the girls open medley relay team of Liberty, Grace, Emily and George; Oscar in the u12 freestyle; Tyler in the u16 fly and Thea in the u14 backstroke.
The scores at the doors after 30 races were Swindon in 1st place with 80 points. The game is afoot..
The next 10 races only saw two wins for Swindon which were Thea in the u14 backstroke and James, Aaron, Leon and Tyler in the u16 freestyle relay. However there were several other notable performances including Grace who was 2nd in the 3 length breaststroke; Calum, Seb, Ashton and Rhys who were 2nd in the u12 freestyle relay and Max who was 3rd in the u14 fly.
After 40 races we were in 2nd place and 2 points off the lead, with 104 points.
Into the final 10 races of this year’s summer league. George was 1st in the open freestyle; Alex was 1st in the u12 backstroke and in the final race of the night, the girls open freestyle relay, Grace, George, Liberty and Emily also took maximum points. A great finale to one of the most exiting nights of racing we have seen for a while – well done everyone.
At the end of 50 events the scores were.
1st Marlborough with 141 points
2nd Warminster with 135 points
3rd Swindon with 129 points
4th Corsham with 94 points
The overall scores for 2018 Division 2 Moonrakers Summer league
1st Warminster with 549 points
2nd Marlborough with 517 points
3rd Swindon with 499 points
4th Corsham with 413 points
Well done to everyone who took part, we did well to get promoted last year and have managed to keep our place in Division 2 (which I think is the highest Division we’ve ever been in, in 140 years!)
Thank you to all the helpers, officials and coaches who support these events.
Go Team!
Round 3 of this years summer league was held at Warminster. A pool where the spectators are literally in amongst the action even getting the occasional splash as the racing goes past.
Tyler (2nd) and Emily (1st) opened the night for us in the open 4 x 1L medley.
Callum (3rd) and Molly (2nd) up next in the U12 butterfly. Molly was in a very close run race with the swimmer from Warminster.
Tyler (1st) and Alice (3rd) in the U16 4L free. Tyler romped home with our second win of the night whilst Alice secured 3rd place in a close run race.
Kyle (3rd) for the boys and Alicia (2nd) for the girls in the U14 breaststroke.
Alyx (1st) and Thea (1st) in the 4 x1L Backstroke. Thea in a head to head for the whole race with the swimmer from Warminster.
The fab 4 of Seb, Ashton, Calum and Rhys up next in the U12 medley relay and the fantastic 4 for the girls were Alex, Freya, Molly, Abigail who finished 2nd and 1st respectively.
Max S (2nd) and Brooke (3rd) in the U14 freestyle. Both were very close races.
Ashton and Freya up next in race 19&20 of 50. Freya digging deep to hold off Warminster and take 1st place in the U12 50m breaststroke.
Aaron led from start to finish to take 1st place in the U16 4L backstroke. An excellent race as he was under pressure from the other competitors for the whole time. Similar story for Thea who won after taking the lead in the 4th length and holding on to take the win.
The U14 boys medley team of Harry C, Kyle, Max S & Rhys were 2nd whilst the girls’ team of Alex, Alicia, Thea, and Brooke took 1st.
Harry C (3rd) and Thea (1st) in the U14 backstroke.
After 30 races Swindon ASC are leading on the night with 94 points.
Max S (2nd) and Thea (3rd) picking up some more important points in the U14 2L fly.
Brother and sister duo Seb and Alex up next in the U12 backstroke. Seb, took 3rd and Alex 2nd.
Open girls finished the night with a fine win in the freestyle relay.
Round 2 of the summer league was away at Corsham. A very hot day and a very hot venue would lead to some very hot racing.
Max A and Liberty were first up in the open medley. Followed by Callum and Molly in the U12 50 fly. Both giving a great race with Molly coming second. Our highest finish on the night so far.
Kyle and Annabel were both third in the U 14 50 breast followed by Alyx B and Olivia, who was 2nd, in the open 100 back.
Both the girls and boys U16 medley relay teams took second place. With Max S 2nd in the U14 50 free and Thea was 1st with a convincing win.
Callum and Freya up next in U12 50 breast. 2 great performances with Freya taking 1st place for the team.
Tyler and Olivia both took 2nd in the U16 100m backstroke.
Boys U14 Medley relay team led off with Harry C, followed by Kyle, Max S and Oliver Rowlands to finish 4th. The girls Thea, Freya, Annabel and Maddie Williams taking 1st place.
Next up the Open Medley relay with the same pattern of results – 4th for the boys – Tyler, Alyx, Max and Will and 1st for the girls – Olivia, Grace, Liberty, and Emily.
Harry Wrighthouse and Maddie Williams were placed 4th and 2nd in the U12 50m freestyle.
Tyler was 1st, leading from start to finish in the U16 100m fly and Olivia was 3rd in a close fought race.
Harry Carpenter and Thea raced in the U14 50 back with Thea providing a convincing win.
Points after 30/50 are 71 Swindon, 73 Corsham, 77 Warminster and 78 Marlborough. A very close night of racing so far and with 20 races left there is plenty to compete for.
The U12 freestyle relay teams finished boys (Oscar, Oliver, Harry, Seb) 3rd and girls (Ava, Abigail, Maddie, Freya) 2nd after an excellent final leg by Freya.
Max S was 3rd and Annabel 2nd in the U14 50 fly. Seb and Freya were 1st and 3rd respectively in U12 50 back. Emily rolled back the years with a fine win in the open 100 freestyle.
Aaron and Annabel swam well in the 100 breast and it’s over to the relays for the final 4 races.
U14 boys 4th
U14 girls 4th
Open boys 3rd
Open girls 1st
Southern Junior League kicked off on Saturday 9th June. The league consists of 25 teams from throughout the South West Region. As there is no 25 lane pool available, the event is swum as separate galas with all the times recorded and the results worked out afterwards with the team recording the fastest time awarded 25 points and the slowest 1 point.
We were swimming at Swindon Link Centre against Swindon Dolphin A, Cirencester and Bassett JSK (from Southampton). Some great performances on the night with our best result coming from the 9-year-old boys who managed to finish 4th in the medley relay event, well done Zac Abrey, Seth Moore, Oscar Symons and Seb Scutt. Due to a false start, the boys 9 years 50m freestyle was swum twice, Oscar Symons did not seem affected by this and got the team 20 points recording 6th place overall. Another of our 9-year-old boys, Seb Scutt came 8th in the 50m backstroke. These boys had started the evening with a great result of 8th in the 4 x 25m freestyle.
Enough with the 9-year-old boys….
Our 9 years girls (Jessica Howie, Lily Miles, Niamh McNamara, Felicity Lovelock Blair) finished 16th in the freestyle relay. Jessica Howie was placed 7th overall in the 9-year-old girls 50m breaststroke.
Representing the club for 10-year-old boys were George Hart, Ashton Brooks, Finley Goodheart and Jack Jones. Ashton swam well in the 50m butterfly achieving 14th place.
Ava Kayani was 13th in the 10-year-old girls 50m freestyle. Our other 10 years girls were Ella Spencer, Flo Williams, Naila Hidouci, Beth Sullivan, Scarlett Allen and Cody Durrant.
11 years boys were Rhys Brooke, Oliver Rowlands and Samuel Morris, with Ashton Brooks swimming up in the relays. Great result of 15th in the 4 x 25m free.
11 years girls were Maddie Williams, Madi Bindon, Abigail Garland, Molly Checchia, Alex Scutt and Freya Howie which sounds like a lot of girls, but as we now only have one 12-year-old girl (Verity Pocock) many of them spent the evening swimming up an age group.
Not so the 12-year-old boys, there are four of them Harry Carpenter, Kyle Nicholson, Max Sullivan and Jacob McNamara. Best result from them was 10th in the 50m butterfly from Max.
With all the results tallied up, we are currently in 21st place, which is about where we expected to be. We entered the league to give our younger swimmers the opportunity to swim in a competitive environment and have some fun with their friends from swimming.
A big thank you to our hosts on the evening – Swindon Dolphins, the officials and all the helpers. Thank you to the parents for supporting the event and a big well done to all the swimmers.
And the most amazing thing happened before we even got in the pool. The team photo, the very first photo taken has everybody looking at the camera with their eyes open!
Looking at the camera with eyes open
Swindon ASC cater for all swimmers. We have a strong ‘learn to swim’ programme and compete at local, County and Regional events.
Swindon ASC
