Events

The third and final round of the 2023 National Arena Swimming League saw the BSSC team having to dig deep and fight hard on every race, but a strong second place finish on the night resulted in them coming second overall in the league and gaining promotion to the Premier Division! 

Round 3 was contested at the home of league leaders Enfield Swim Squad, and the BSSC team (aged 10-28) were racing against clubs from the top half of the league (Enfield, Leander, Saxon Crown, Lindslade, Team Luton and Potters Bar swimming clubs) across multiple individual events and relays.  Many teams were still mathematically in the running for promotion, so every event was a battle between the swimmers to gain vital points for their club and out touching a rival club could make all the difference.  The BSSC team put on a great performance on the night, securing top 3 finishes in an outstanding 19 of the 34 individual events and 10 of the 17 relays resulting in a superb second place with 228 gala points, 35 points behind winners Enfield, 11 points ahead of third place Saxon Crown and 21 points ahead of fourth place Leander.   

There were fewer podium topping moments, but so many outstanding swims from the team and by the end of the night the team were hoarse from cheering so loudly, though they still managed to find enough voice to sing in the coach all the way home!  Thanks to all who supported the team on the night, in particular Coach Joe Collins, Team Managers Danielle Reilly, Kat Gore & Sarah Cass and officials Claire Fields & Paul Davenport. 

The swimmers getting to the top of the podium were:

• 13/Under: Molly Greatbatch 100m Breaststroke & 100m Backstroke
• 15/Under: Ella Greatbatch 100m Breaststroke
• 16/Over: Lucy Wheeler 100m Freestyle, Niamh James 100m Backstroke

The swimmers who gave their all and achieved personal best times in their races were:

• 9-11 Yrs: Adeline Chan 50m Freestyle (33.57) and 50m Breaststroke (47.95)
• 13/Under: Eddy Cheng 100m Breaststroke (1:34.12), Lois Fields 100m Butterfly (1:21.04), Molly Greatbatch 100m Breaststroke (1:19.42), Samuel Bird 100m Backstroke (1:20.42)

The three victorious relay teams were:

• Open/Male 15/u Yrs 4x50m Freestyle: Brandon Macdonald-Williams, Beau Reilly, Robert Gor, Dylan Davenport
• Female Open 4x50m Freestyle: Felice Chan, Niamh James, Lucy Wheeler, Laura Burgess
• Female Open 4x50m Medley: Niamh James, Lauren Gore, Lucy Wheeler, Laura Burgess

Full Round 3 Squad:

9-11 Yrs: Guy Spearman-Baines, Harrison Dodwell, Kenny Millsom, Noah Conroy, Adeline Chan, Elspeth Lowe, Isabella Crotty, Olivia Hawker, Yana Patel

13/Under: Eddy Cheng, Elliot Hall, Samuel Bird, Zackary Haslett Fossey, Millie Cass, Lois Fields, Meha Patel, Molly Greatbatch

15/Under: Beau Reilly, Brandon Macdonald-Williams, Dylan Davenport, Robert Gor, Bobbie Macdonald-Williams, Ella Greatbatch, Erin Matthews, Felice Chan, Freya Hadnutt

16/Over: Callum Davis, Daniel Chada, Jacob Hayes, Jake Lloyd, Laura Burgess, Lauren Gore, Lucy Wheeler, Niamh James

Kicking off the 2023/24 short course championship season is the Swim England East Region SC Championships, aka Winter Regionals.  Twenty-one BSSC swimmers headed to Luton to compete against the best swimmers that the six Eastern counties of England could offer.  A single set of qualifying times per gender category, meant only the super speedy youngsters like 14 year old Dylan Davenport feature on the start lists and they would be battling against experienced competitors in their twenties.  Reaching a final meant you were in the top eight swimmers in the East Region for that event, irrespective of age.

Up first were the distance specialists competing in the 800m and 1500m freestyle events and Brandon Macdonald-Williams kicked the competition for BSSC off in superb style, coming 10^th in the 1500m and breaking a long standing 14-15 year old short course club record by 6 seconds (new time: 17:18.00).  The previous record of 17:24.22 had been set by Thomas Green in 2005. 

Six BSSC swimmers reached finals in their events and twelve swimmers finished in the top twenty in the East Region in their event, an outstanding achievement.  Although Dylan Davenport was 39^th overall in the 50m Freestyle, he was the 2^nd fastest 14 year old in the field, whilst Jakey Hayes was the 3^rd 16 and under swimmer in both the 100m Backstroke (13^th overall) and 200m Backstroke (9^th overall).  Both Dylan and Jakey continued their recent great form by swimming personal best times and qualifying for the Swim England National Winter Championships for the first time.  Dylan will compete in the 50m Freestyle and Jakey in the 100m and 200m Backstroke and they are joining Ella Greatbatch (50m/100m/200m Breaststroke), Laura Burgess (50m Freestyle), Lauren Gore (50m Breaststroke) and Niamh James (50m Backstroke, 200m IM). 

Top 20 finishes (Individual and Relay):

• Laura Burgess 4^th 50m Freestyle (26.55 heat, 26.64 final), 4^th 100m Freestyle (58.27 heat, 58.74 final)
• Callum Davis 4^th 100m Butterfly (57.68 heat, 57.27 final), 12^th 50m Butterfly (26.23)
• Emma Fields 6^th 100m Butterfly (1:05.81 heat, 1:05.19 final), 13^th 50m Butterfly (29.35)
• Niamh James 7^th 200m Backstroke (2:19.99 heat, 2:21.44 final), 8^th 200m IM (2:24.52 heat, 2:25.15 final), 15^th 50m Backstroke (30.59), 8^th 100m Backstroke (1:05.16)
• Ella Greatbatch 7^th 100m Breaststroke (1:13.38 heat, 1:13.50 final), 8th 200m Breaststroke (2:40.09), 13^th 50m Breaststroke (33.72)
• Jake Lloyd 8^th 100m Butterfly (58.78 heat, 59.78 final), 16^th 100m Freestyle (53.77), 18^th 200m Butterfly (2:19.09)
• Jakey Hayes 9^th 200m Backstroke (2:10.73),13^th 100m Backstroke (1:00.53)
• Dan Chada 11^th 50m Freestyle (24.36)
• Lauren Gore 16^th 50m Breaststroke (33.96), 18^th 200m Breaststroke (2:44.84)
• Brandon Macdonald-Williams 19^th 400m Freestyle (4:23.41)
• Meisha Trend-Evans 20^th 800m Freestyle (9:44.53)
• Grace Mason 20^th 200m Butterfly (2:40.90)
• Female 200m Freestyle Relay: 5^th BSSC
• Female 200m Medley Relay: 6^th BSSC
• Mixed 200m Freestyle Relay: 6^th BSSC A and 9^th BSSC B
• Mixed 200m Medley Relay: 6^th BSSC A, 9^th BSSC B
• Open/Male 200m Medley Relay: 6^th BSSC A, 14^th BSSC B
• Open/Male 20m Freestyle Relay: 7^th BSSC

Full list of qualifiers: Dylan Davenport (14 years); Beau Reilly, Brandon Macdonald-Wiliams, Ella Greatbatch (15 years); Alice Longman, George Taylor, Imogen Tang, Jacob Hayes, Robert Gor (16 years); David Badcock, Emma Fields, Grace Mason, Laura Burgess, Lauren Gore, Meisha Trend-Evans, Miriam Moukdad (17 years); Callum Davis, Dan Chada, Jake Lloyd, Lucy Wheeler, Niamh James (18 over).