By Mr Castro (Head of Swimming)

On Friday 6th October, we took three teams of swimmers to race in the ESSA East Secondary School Team Relay Championships qualifiers. The teams were Juniors (Years 7 and 8), Inters (Years 9 and 10) and Seniors (Years 11 to Upper Sixth), and each team races the 4 x 50m freestyle relay and the 4 x 50m medley relay. After the nationwide qualifying rounds have taken place, the top 24 teams from across the country are invited to the National finals, which this year will be held in the brand-new Commonwealth Games pool in Birmingham in November.

All of the teams raced really well on the night and achieved some strong results. The Junior team of Megan Barnicoat, Enya Belcher, Eva Jackson and Alena Smith came 12th in their medley relay and 5th in their freestyle relay. The Inter team of Holly Katasi, Eloise Sanders, Jeanie Morris, Charlotte Proctor and Isla Renfrew came 17th in their freestyle relay in a very tight race, and 15th in their medley relay. The Senior team of Lucy Young, Eleni Zorn, Eloise Cole and Bella Ward were in brilliant form and won both of their races, breaking the East and South East Secondary School Team Championships record for the medley relay, which was set in 2018, in the process.

We are now eagerly awaiting the publication of the lists of qualifiers and reserves for the National finals, and training hard for them in the meantime!

In other exciting swimming news, Eloise Cole (Year 11) has been selected for the Swim England National Youth Development Programme 2023-2024. This is the fourth step on the Swim England Talent Pathway, with the ultimate goal of continuing their development towards the top level of British Swimming’s World Class Programmes. Eloise will have the opportunity to take part in camps over the year, as well as regular educational sessions and competitions.