Regional Championship Report - Weekend 1
26 Apr 2022
Author: Paul Dollery
The first weekend at South East Regionals brought some really good results:
- Swims: 23
- Finalists: 7
- PBs: 18
- Club Records: 5
- 1 silver medal
DAY ONE
Session one
Alana M in the first race achieved a 20 second PB in her 800m freestyle, then followed this up with a PB in her 200m IM not long after.
Megan T achieved a 4 second PB in her 200m IM and qualified for the final later that day.
Session two
Elliot, Damian, George and Adam all achieved 50m PB swim times in their 50m Backstroke with Damian qualifying for the final later that day.
Megan had a strong 50 freestyle going sub 30 seconds and followed this up with a 200m Fly race coming 12th.
Elliot achieved a huge 5 second PB in his 200m breaststroke and Alex G in the same event also achieved a PB and qualified for the final in 1st place from the heats.
Ella swam a gruelling 200m fly race achieving a well-earned long course PB for her effort.
George and Damian swam strong 100m freestyle races with Damian qualifying for another Final with his PB later that day.
Session three finals
Megan came 8th in her 200m IM final and was just outside her PB time achieved within the heats earlier that day.
Damian came 6th in his 50m Backstroke final with another strong swim and another PB from the heats.
Alex G, although qualifying for the 200m breaststroke in 1st place, swam another 3 second PB from the heats in the final, yet unfortunately he came 4th just outside the medals.
Alex has only recently turned 11 years old and was racing in the 12-year-old age group. His time achieved in the final is now ranked as the fastest 11-year-old on the British rankings.
The finals concluded for Eastleigh with Damian in another final in the 100m Freestyle where he achieved another PB from the heats and came 6th within the final.
DAY TWO
Session one
Alba and Layla competed in the 50m Breaststroke heats and had strong swims close to their entry times and gaining experience from their 1st Regionals.
George and Damian swam strong swims in the 50m Fly with Damian qualifying for the finals later in the day with a PB swim. Damian also swam the 200m freestyle soon after and achieved another qualification for the finals later in the day.
Megan raced the 100m Fly and although took the race out very strong as her race plan, turning first by a long way at 50m mark she suffered lactic acid build up on her second 50m but has gained valuable race experience from this, but still won her heat by a large margin.
Elliot and Alex both achieved good PBs in their 100m breaststroke races, with Alex again making a breaststroke final to be held later that day.
Session two finals
Damian had a very strong finish in his 50m Fly final holding stroke and came away with a great 2nd Place and a well-earned silver medal. Damian then had to quickly follow this swim up with another final in the 200m Freestyle final and achieved a good PB in 8th place.
The last final of the day saw Alex in another Breaststroke final and came a creditable 7th and gained great experience against older boys again.
Session three
Megan swam in her 400m Freestyle and took her swim out very strong as her race plan and again achieved good experience from her race plans with her finish time just outside her PB time.
Our swimmers competing at the first weekend of the Regionals have done the club and themselves proud. To have so many qualified swimmers and achieving finals at such a high level of competition is a great sign of the club's progression. To achieve at this level is so hard especially with our club being located in a Region that is so strong and covers seven Counties.