Rother League Round 3 Report
14 Sep 2022
Author: Gareth Latham
Last Saturday saw our final round of the Rother League, hosted at Woking. It was also our first team Gala since the Summer Break.
The Coach on Poolside was Tyler Ellis, ably assisted by Team Managers, Tanya Scott and Paul Rutherford.
The team spirit was excellent. Watching from the stands, it was a pleasure to see all the swimmers supporting each other and cheering on every race. We also had the very popular addition of some Eastleigh SC temporary tattoos worn by the kids in numerous places and there maybe some still at the bottom of Woking’s pool!
Our swimmers performed admirably. It was an unusual set up with an older style pool which has a drain gulley around the pool making backstroke starts a challenge. We also had to contend with no diving at the shallow end which meant an ‘in pool’ handover for the relays. With the swimmers not used to this type of handover, it did result in numerous relay DQs
across all the teams.
A few quick stats for the evening:
- We had four 1st places
- We had ten 2nd places
- We had thirteen 3rd places
Overall, we had a total of 27 top 3 finishes which was 50% of the races, this is a great result and a solid footing to build on. It was great to see so many of our younger swimmers with limited experience in these environments taking up the challenge and performing so well, as well as the more experienced helping and encouraging.
Some swam great lengths, others had some technical issues but continued their swim with tenacity and determination. Some of our swimmers swam out of their age groups and some even took on races they would not normally race
So a huge Well Done to all the swimmers;
Ffion E, Nathan L, Maisie L, Elliot W, Evan W, Emma P-O, Megan T, George M, Izzy H, Danny B, Adam S, Emily B, Alex S, Alana M, Ben N, Isla R, Izzy C, Ollie R, Amelie P, Sammy S, Jessica I, Elliot L, Ffion M, Bobby B, Alex G, Ella S, Frazer W, Alba N, Kiran D, Aiden B.
Overall, for the whole league, it was a great performance for us to build on and strengthen the team. We finished 4th on the night, only 2 points off 3rd, and 5th overall for the league.
So for all of you that attended any of the 3 Gala's well done, keep the team spirit going and we look forward to the next Team Event!
Well Done all and a big Thank You to Tyler, Tanya and Paul and, of course, all the parents that made the trek up the M3!