The Trowbridge Level 4 Sprint Meet on Saturday 25th May saw 13 swimmers from Swindon Dolphin’s Blue and Green Squad compete in what was for most, their first experience of competing at an open meet. The aim of attending this meet was to give those new to competitive swimming, and those too young to compete in a Level 3 meet, the opportunity to gain some valuable racing experience.
The Dolphin contingent were very impressive, picking up huge new personal best times, medals and County Qualifying times. The technical skills that swimmers demonstrated were excellent, simply a display of their efforts in training. The team spirit and sportsmanship that swimmers presented towards one another throughout the afternoon was wonderful, making them a huge credit to their coaches, parents and the club.
Eight year old Fletcher Mutton exceeded all expectations, setting huge new personal best times in the 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke, 50m freestyle and 100m individual medley. For his efforts, Fletcher was rewarded with four gold medals in his age group.
Betina Puszkarska was in remarkable form, displaying some true grit and determination in her first competitive open meet. Betina took all but one of the gold medals in the girls 9 years age group category, achieving eight golds and one silver. In the process, she achieved two new county qualifying times in the 100m breaststroke and 200m freestyle, adding herself to the list of County Qualifiers. Anika Bhartiya (10) swam brilliantly, setting new personal best times in every event she swam. There is no doubt that this is due to her excellent attitude in training, and her striking natural technical ability, particularly in freestyle. Anika picked up one silver and two bronze medals, narrowly missing out on her first county qualifying time in the 100m breaststroke.
More outstanding swimming came from Gethin Jenks and Evan Kane in the Boys 9 years age group. Between themselves, the boys managed to win eight of nine events. Seven gold medals came from Gethin, with Evan picking up one gold and six silver medals. The sportsmanship that these boys displayed throughout the competition between each other were second to none and should be applauded. Gethin and Evan also became first-time County Qualifiers, achieving the qualifying standard in the 50m butterfly, 100m individual medley and 200m freestyle.
Romaney Wall (9), Amanda Smith (9), Etta Crowley (10) and Kaitlin Miller (11) have recently begun their competitive swimming journey as some of the newest members to Green Squad. All four girls displayed excellent swimming across their events, inevitably leading to new personal best times. This certainly puts them in good stead for future open meets. Medals came from Romaney Wall (one silver and two bronze medals) and Amanda Smith (two bronze medals).
Clara Fatica (9), Jessica Norridge (10), Harrison Hughes (10) and Riley Paulizsky-Bowie (12) were looking to put their hard work from training into practice at this meet, and they did not disappoint. Vastly improving on their personal best times, Harrison picked up three bronze medals and Clara picked up a further two bronze medals.
The experience that this young squad of swimmers have gained from competing at the Trowbridge Level 4 Sprint Meet should give them huge confidence going into the last two meets of their season, the Severnside Tritons Open Meet in June and the Swindon Dolphin End of Season Open Meet in July, where they should be aiming to compete in some different and more challenging events.
Abbie Crook, Green Squad Lead Coach “Feeling incredibly proud of all swimmers, not only Green Squad swimmers, but Blue Squad too. It was an amazing team atmosphere and a good insight into the future stars at Swindon Dolphin”
Anthony Clark, Blue Squad Lead Coach, echoed these sentiments. “It was fantastic to see swimmers from both squads working together and supporting each other. The success of Dolphin’s youngest competitive swimmers clearly demonstrates the strength of their training environment; based on skills coupled with aerobic development”.
