Arena League Round 2 Report
18 Nov 2022
Author: Matt Boyd-Wallis
What a fantastic effort from everyone who has been involved in the Arena League so far, from Swimmers, Parents, Team Managers and the Coaches. This is a National Competition, which makes it tough in every way, from the racing, to selecting of swimmers, to supporting and getting behind every person in the pool. This was highlighted in one race yesterday, where a Commonwealth Relay swimmer (mid 20s), lined up with a 15 year old and yet they all raced and competed on the same level. The League puts restrictions and rules on what we can do and use, bigger clubs who have a greater pool of resources and swimmers and take full advantage of this, to the loss of other swimmers in their club and so it can be a double edged sword for all.
What makes this a great competition is when a small club comes along and really starts stirring the competitive pot, by being competitive in all age groups and refuse to roll over a become the kicking dog of the competition! For me this is about every single swim, for each swimmer doing their best and hitting PBs. Seeing individual’s facing their nerves, head on and overcoming them, doing their best for themselves and their team mates, swimming even when they aren't 100%. This sums up the Arena League and this club over the last two rounds! I would love to select everyone, however this is the only team event where we will select the strongest swimmers available to us, but this is truly a full team effort.
For the third round, I would like to have the strongest team available to Eastleigh Swimming Club. At present, I don’t know where we will be for the event, but it would be an amazing way to finish the league and 2022 off. To have everyone there, supporting each other cheering and continuing to show everyone how much Eastleigh and its swimmers are moving forward in a strong and incredibly positive way. I would love to end this competition with even more PBs, smiles and being the most competitive we can be, showing everyone our true potential. Well done and thank you to everyone so far and let's smash it out the pool for the third round.