Four out of Four ! Otters get promoted at Leyland
25 Jun 2013
Tonight Tuesday 25th June was our fourth and final Swim League meet of
the season again at Leyland @ 7:15pm which is was LeylandÆs home gala.
(Age groups in this competition are 12 and under, 14 and under and
Opens.)
The adrenaline was running very high and there were lots of anxious
faces around the poolside as well from other teams.
The girls achieved a series of good positions. They achieved in their individual
swims six 1st places, three
2nd places, two 3rd places and one 4th. Well done girls.
The boys had a great night too with five 1st places, three 2ndplaces, two 3rd places and two 4th.Great performance.
We were more fortunate tonight
with Eleanor Cantwell joining Rachel Turton in the Open individual races so we only
had to use the 14 under girls to help in the relays. Ellie Russo stepped up and
took over on the 50 meter fly as Rachel had a painful shoulder. Again excellent
team work poolside and overwhelming support for each other.
For all the girls and boys who
helped out in the relays this can seem overpowering as they may come last in
the race, however they often achieve personal best times as they are swimming against
such a higher level of swimmer. This can be difficult for them as they are
often strong swimmers hence being asked to swim up in the first place: we know
it can be disheartening but this didnÆt deter anyone for giving it their all.
Overall the individual races had 11 individual wins!!!
Girls: Eleanor Cantwell (18) winning her 50 meter Breaststroke ,Anna Hulme
(13) winning her 50 meter Freestyle , Katelyn Quirk (11) winning her 50 meter
Breaststroke and 50 Fly, Bronagh OÆConnor (13) winning her 50 meter Fly, and
Rachel Turton (18) winning her 50 meter Freestyle .
= 6/12 first places.
Boys Luke Chorley (13) winning his 50 meter Backstroke, Eoin OÆConnor (11)
winning his 50 meter Freestyle, Kieran Hennessy (13) winning his 50 meter Breaststroke
and 50 meter Fly,and Liam Walker winning his 50 meter Freestyle .
= 5/12 first places.
Again steady work through the
other races achieving so many 2nd places was vital to gain the
maximum points we could.
There were also 7 personal best times achieved in the individual races!
This is a fantastic effort as the swimmers have swum so many galas close to one
another it is pleasing to still see improvement.
Our can do, fantastic approach to relays took control and we steadily
took lots of points from the other teams. However some vital lessons were
learnt tonight as the girls 14 & under won a relay race and achieved 8
points which were snatched away from us with a disqualification due to a swimmer
wearing more than one costume. This is strictly against the rules at any competition
as it is thought that the second costume, helps with buoyancy. Beware of this
rule ,all swimmers.
The team and the girls especially dug deep and pulled the points back
smashing the opposition.
We then had a run of comedy run of errors with poor Adam Hume losing his
goggles after diving in during the 12 under relay but putting his head down and
just swimming, achieving 2nd place, well done Adam! Swimmers making
the long 25 meter walk back to where we had been allocated and then having to
shoot back up to do another race. The constant chorus though of "is it my turn
to swim yet?ö as they were all keen to get stuck in.
SwimmerÆs also offering to cover for other swimmers who were hurt, or
had been allocate strokes not always their favorites. Unfortunately Nathan
Browne and Richard McKinney were unavailable tonight so some swimmers were
given a surprise poolside with a different set of swims tonight. As we have swum mostly the same swimmers
through the season it has allowed us and the swimmers to gain confidence in the
races. Dan Jones was asked at nearly midnight Monday night to help out and cover
a couple of races which he did and put in 100% effort. Thanks Dan.
As these relays at Swim League
are worth double points, every first place earns us 8 points, and second place
6 points. So this is where we really do ourselves proud.
Sean Gilbertson also swum again tonight and he done a fantastic job in
helping the boys in the Opens as he is 15.Well done Sean, again.
The final victory of the day was in the cannon which the swimmers put in
an overwhelming performance yet again and came first place. However this victory
was very short lived :as like our last meet when it happened to Garstang, we were
disqualified for an illegal change over.
This race should have been the icing on the cake! As the swimmers had
put in everything in to the night and the final race. Again this is due to the excitement
and the fact they knew how important the points wereàironically losing them
when we needed them most.
We knew we needed to come in at least in 2nd position to be considered
for promotion.
BUT they canÆt stop us winning! We WON!!!!!!! We came first despite being
disqualified in two team races and having 16 points taken off us. Four first
places out of four meets.
Congratulations! To every swimmer that has taken part in the four galas,
Blackpool back in March, Salt Ayre in April and in the last few days our two
meets at Leyland. Thanks to everyone poolside and to all the parents who have
supported the swimmers
Final Result =1st
Ormskirk 140 points, 2ndplace Carnforth 135 points, 3rdplace
Leyland B 125 and Blackpool B 84 points. ( timeÆs updated, members page to
follow in the next day or two)