Well done to all who competed in the Long Distance gala Tuesday 17th November. Some excellent swims and great times achieved.
Congratulations to the following achievements:
Alex B, 15&over 800m Free went under the Standard Time by almost 5 seconds to set the first club gala record in the event.
Harry W, in 13/14 years took 35 secs off Jono’s 2018 record and almost ducked under the 17 min mark in a great PB. Harry’s record is now 12 seconds faster than the 15&over record, but he’ll have to wait until next year before he is old enough for a crack at it.
For many newcomers to the club you may not be aware that DASC runs an award scheme to encourage young or inexperienced swimmers by providing them with targets to aim at and achieve. Our scheme sets target times for all four strokes and Individual Medley at three different levels – bronze, silver and gold. If your swimmer achieves any of the times in a gala (either a club gala or an external gala), then they can buy a sprint award badge. Many swimmers choose to have the badges sewn on to the back of their T-bag T-shirts as can be seen above.
On the weekend of 8-9th June Josie attended the Junior National Para Meet at the The Alan Higgs Centre, Coventry. The competition is a well-established part of the nation’s swimming pathway for young disabled people. Many world and Paralympic medallists have discovered their talent at this event over the years. Organised by Activity Alliance in partnership with Swim England, the event aims to increase participation and talent development opportunities for young disabled swimmers.
Josie had some great swims over the two days of competition coming away with 4 big PB’s out of 6 races. Well done Josie and keep up the hard work for the next major competition.
Link to full results from the weekend of racing. Josie swam in 50FC, 100FC, 400FC, 100BK, 100BR, 200IM.
7 swimmers competed in a total of 38 events with 17 finals swims.
Harry Whitfield swam his favoured events, 800m and 1500m Freestyle, gaining two personal best times and a Regional Bronze medal in 1500m Freestyle! He also made 8 finals across the two weekends in Freestyle, Butterfly and IM events. Harry’s times for 400m, 800m and 1500m Freestyle have secured him an invitation to the British Summer Championships in July, amazing achievement.
William Oliver made 7 finals across the two weekends with a highest finish of 4th place in 100m Breaststroke.
April Mansfield and Sebastien Mason both made the final in 50m Butterfly.
From left to right; April, Emmy, Oscar, Seb, Harry. Missing from photo – William
Well, it is certainly good to have the pool back open and even better to have been able kick start the DASC Club Galas for 2024. It has been a while but what a fantastic first Club Gala.
Congratulations to all swimmers who took part and wow there were PBs broken, records smashed and trophies awarded.
Results and Records
4 records broken (all by boys)
William Oliver shaved 0.07 sec off Nathan Warwick’s record from 2015 in 11&12 years 50m Free
Harry Whitfield broke Ryan Pepper’s 2017 record by 0.5 sec in 13&14 years 50m Free
Lewis Kestle lowered the 15&over record for 15&over 100m Back of Will Beukenholdt in 2019 by 0.14 sec
Harry Whitfield broke Will Smith’s records set back in 2013; this time in 200m Fly for 13&14 years.
For those younger swimmers check to see if you have a sprint award. See below for eligible times. Badges may be purchased from the club. Mrs Johnson (A1 parent) will be able to assist with any requests.
Of course the Gala could not of proceeded without the collective help of an army of volunteers. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes to enable such an evening to take place so a huge thank you to Ian Proud, Dave Gill, Laura Mack and the cohort of Committee members, volunteer Officials and volunteer parents. Your help was invaluable. Plus; great to see the DASC President Jane Teague; who was able to make attendance and speak at the opening. Hope you enjoyed the evening Jane! Roll on the next Club gala scheduled for 25th June.
Scarlett’s impressive success at the World’s Down Syndrome Championships has been picked up by the local newspaper The Northern Echo today. What a great read! Well done Scarlett, your hard work has paid off!
The 11th Down Syndrome World Swimming & Artistic Championships took place in Turkey (19th-26th March). Overall 25 countries participated, with Great Britain winning overall, followed by Portugal then Mexico. If you wish to see full results please head over to the DSISO website.
