Event: Swindon Dolphin Learn to Swim Race Night
Venue: Link Centre, Swindon
Date: 21st January 2012
Last weekend at the Link Centre, swimmers from Swindon Dolphin’s Learn to Swim and Academy Programme took part in a Race Night event at the Link Centre.
Swimmers as young as 5 had the opportunity to race over 25m or 50m in all four strokes, and many encouragingly stepped up to take on the longer distance. The event took place with a full compliment of officials; a new experience for most of the competitors.
Academy swimmer Thomas Hannay (10) finished first in his age group in eight out of eight swims and also achieved his first ever county qualifying time in the 50m butterfly. Fellow Academy swimmers Amber Greenwood (12) enjoyed six wins from six whilst Alice Lockey (9), as well as winning all her entered events earned county qualifying times in the 50m breaststroke and 50m butterfly.
The most notable performance from the Learn to Swim competitors came from Maya Grounsell who swam a blistering 22.1s 25m backstroke which surely must give an indication of what is to come from the 8 year old when she becomes eligible to swim at county level in 2013. Ola Tylutka, also 8 years old, put in some impressive performances across all four stroke disciplines. There was an added bonus for Joshua Haines (9) who, in the final heat of the evening, earned his first ever county qualifying time in the 50m freestyle.
Joshua Haines ~ from "Learn to Swim" to County Qualifier
Following the meet, Dolphin Chief Coach Louise Clayton commented “It was great for me to see first hand so many talented swimmers coming through the programme. This reinforces how strong the future of the club is and certainly gives me something to look forward to.”
