The BSSC Arena League team continued their bid for promotion with an emphatic first place finish in Division 1 round 2! Having come second to Enfield in round 1, this win moves them up the league table to second place overall.
Round 2 was contested at the Aqua Vale Leisure Centre in Aylesbury and the BSSC team were racing against Aylesbury, Braintree & Bocking, Hillingdon B, Leander, Stevenage and Team Luton swimming clubs across thirty four individual events and seventeen relays in four separate age categories. The BSSC team put on a great performance on the night scoring 263 gala points, 44 points ahead of their nearest rival Leander and 59 points ahead of third place Team Luton.
BSSC swimmers secured top 3 finishes in an outstanding 23 of the 34 individual events (10 victories!) and 14 of the 17 relays (7 victories!). Yet again the female swimmers in the Open age category dominated the field winning all of their individual events, whilst the Open age category relay teams won all four relay events. By the end of the night the team were hoarse from cheering so loudly, but the best race was saved till last. The final event of the night is always a squadron relay, where each team of eight is made up of a female and open/male swimmer from each of the four age categories. Swimmers can race in any order, and BSSC having decided to put the youngest four swimmers first, were in joint last place after the first few legs. Length by length they reeled in the competition, ending in a stunning final two legs to finish first.
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: Callum Davis 100m Breaststroke,Emma Fields 100m Butterfly,Jake Lloyd 100m Butterfly, Lucy Wheeler 100m Freestyle, Lauren Gore 100m Breaststroke,Niamh James 200m IM & 100m Backstroke
The seven victorious relay teams were:
- Open/Male 13/u Yrs 4x50m Freestyle: Samuel Bird, Benjamin Palmer, Eddy Cheng, Elliot Hall
- Open/Male 15/u Yrs 4x50m Freestyle: Robert Gor, Beau Reilly, Brandon Macdonald-Williams, Dylan Davenport
- Female Open 4x50m Freestyle: Lucy Wheeler, Felice Chan, Emma Fields, Niamh James
- Female Open 4x50m Medley: Niamh James, Lauren Gore, Emma Fields, Lucy Wheeler
- Open/Male Open 4x50m Freestyle: Jakey Hayes, Dan Chada, Jake Lloyd, Callum Davis
- Open/Male Open 4x50m Medley: Jakey Hayes, Callum Davis, Jake Lloyd, Dan Chada
- Squadron Freestyle Relay: Noah Conroy, Yana Patel, Millie Cass, Felice Chan, Elliot Hall, Lucy Wheeler, Dylan Davenport, Dan Chada
The top half of the league meet again in Round 3 in December to decide who will be promoted to the Premier Division for 2024. Having lost to Enfield in Round 1, BSSC must beat them by a large margin in Round 3 to win the league, or stay ahead of their close rivals Leander to finish second and still gain promotion.
Thanks to all who supported the team on the night, in particular Headcoach Benoit Grattepanche, Coach Joe Collins, Team Managers Kat Gore & Sarah Cass and officials Paul Davenport & Amar Gor.
9-11 Yrs:
- George Balaam, Guy Spearman-Baines, Harrison Dodwell,Noah Conroy
- Elspeth Lowe, Isabella Crotty, Olivia Hawker, Yana Patel
13/Under:
- Benjamin Palmer, Eddy Cheng, Elliot Hall, Samuel Bird
- Millie Cass, Lois Fields,Meha Patel, Molly Greatbatch
15/Under:
- Beau Reilly, Brandon Macdonald-Williams, Dylan Davenport, Robert Gor
- Ella Greatbatch, Erin Matthews, Felice Chan, Freya Hadnutt
16/Over:
- Callum Davis, Daniel Chada, Jacob Hayes, Jake Lloyd
- Emma Fields, Lauren Gore, Lucy Wheeler, Niamh James
