At 2021 Swim England National Winter Championships
Sheffield, 3-5th December
Laura Burgess achieved her first two National qualifying times this term and competed in the National Winter Championships (Short Course) at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield over the weekend of 3-5 December. There were so many entries to the Championships that the gala organisers had to split the 50m pool into two 25m pools and use one for Male events and the other for Female events.
Laura stepped up very well to the challenge of competing at this high-level meet for the first time and nerves certainly didn’t get the better of her.
In the 100m Freestyle heats on Friday afternoon, she swam 58.61, just 0.01 seconds outside her personal best. In the last 6 months all 7 times at this event she has recorded sub-60 seconds. Laura finished 106th out of 165 swimmers and 38th in the 16yrs and under.
In the 50m Freestyle heats on Saturday morning, she won her heat in a personal best time of 26.89, setting her third PB in this event in less than 6 weeks. Laura finished 57th out of 152 swimmers and 20th in the 16yrs and under!
We had a great weekend at Nationals, the venue was packed with elite swimmers and Laura did not let the occasion faze her. She swam two great races and represented herself and DASC so well. To come away with 57th place Nationally and 20th in the Juniors is incredible. Well done.
Comment from DASC Head Coach Lucy Procter
Report compiled by Jane Teague