Poole SC Fire Up at the Winter Regionals

South West Winter Championships 2022

Twenty-six swimmers descended on the now familiar venue of Millfield School in Somerset for the South West Winter Championships.

The South West Winter Championships consists of two sections:

1. A Junior section for swimmers aged 15 and under
2. A Senior section for swimmers aged 16 and over

In order to reach a final and gain a second swim in an event, swimmers must achieve a top 16 spot to qualify for the A Finals (top 8) or B Finals (next 8).

The competition line-up included a British Olympic Gold Medallist from Tokyo as well as multiple Junior and Senior International level swimmers. As a relatively young team, qualifying for the competition and/or reaching the finals was a considerable achievement.  

The competition targets for the meet were focused on improving race techniques and tactics and the swimmers did just that. With the mantra of “work on the processes, and the times will come,” the team gained an impressive 67 “lifetime best” swims out of a total of 105 races. This statistic was very pleasing to see and the coaching team was impressed with the results overall.

Catherine E. led the medal charge at the Senior level earning silver medals in A Finals in the 50m Butterfly and the 100m Butterfly events whilst showing some of the fastest underwater kicks in the competition.

Two of our Junior aged swimmers excelled by earning a place in the A Finals. Halle H took the Senior Bronze (and Junior Gold) in the 50m Backstroke being the first swimmer in club history to break 29 seconds in this event. In so doing, Halle lowered the Age Group, Junior, and Senior Club records by a considerable margin. Halle also earned 6^th place in the Senior 50m Butterfly A final (1^st placed Junior).  Freddie B earned himself a qualifying time for the Swim England Winter Nationals with a well-paced 200m Breaststroke that earned him 6^th place in the A Final (2^nd placed Junior). Freddie’s time lowered the Club Age Group record, and took 4 seconds off the Junior record he set earlier in the year.  He also earned 3^rd position in the Junior 100m Breaststroke.

Charlie M earned 1^st place in the 200m Backstroke B Final along with 7^th place in the 100m Backstroke B Final. Teammate, Zack S gained 4^th place in the 200m Backstroke and 8^th in the 100m Backstroke B Finals. Tilly M earned 4^th place in the 200m Butterfly B Final. Ollie J earned 3^rd place in the 50m Breaststroke B Final with a lifetime best time and 6^th in the 200m IM B Final.

In the Junior ranks, Jes H, took Bronze in the Junior 100m Butterfly as well as Bronze in the Junior 50m Butterfly. 

Jes swam a personal best time in the 50m Backstroke and set a new Club record in her Age Group. Teammate, Freddie H, earned a brilliant personal best with a well-paced swim in the 100m Backstroke to earn the Junior Bronze.  Hugo Y took the Junior Bronze in the 50m Butterfly.

Freya C posted a substantial personal best time in the 200m Backstroke to lower her Age Group Club record. Leo W broke the 50m Freestyle Age Group Club record and added it to the 100m Freestyle record he gained in October.

We would like to say well done to the swimmers listed below who competed in the South West Championships this year.

Congratulations to you all - you did Poole SC proud.

In closing, we also want to say a huge thank you to all the Poole Swimming Club parents who acted as volunteers, team managers and officials during the weekend.

We really do appreciate your support.