What with everything happening I’ve not had a chance to get these two write ups on the pages. With apologies, here is the news:
Bangor Diddy Gala
On the 13th April Holywell Swim Club took a team of 35 of their youngest rising stars to race at the Diddy Gala in Bangor. The team did not disappoint and put on a stellar performance culminating in the club taking Top Team of the Gala. The medal haul was dazzling with a total of 45 medals for placings 1st to 6th, of which there were 6 golds, 9 silvers and 4 bronze.
One young starlet, Holly Bennett, 9, left everyone star-struck in the 50m butterfly race which she swam in a brilliant time of 42.74 secs taking the gold, she won silver in 50m freestyle and bronze in the 50m backstroke. When it came to her 100m individual medley she knocked off a whopping 21 secs from her previous time and finished her day by taking the 9 year old Top Girl Trophy.
Another Top Trophy was gained by 9 year old Reuben Hughes who bagged 4 golds and 1 silver, medalling in all events entered. Reuben showed consistency in his performances, improving on all of his personal best times taking off a total of 21 secs over the 5 events.
Other bright performances came from
Kirsha Nicholson, 10, who won silver in the 50m freestyle in her age group and took off an enormous 42 secs, from her previous times over the 5 events, to give her some excellent new PBs.
Declan Wilkes, 10, gave a shining performance and made it a 1-2-3 for his medal haul. He won gold for the 50m freestyle, silver for the 50m breaststroke and two bronzes for the 50m butterfly and 100m IM.
Medal winners also included:
Leah Cartwright, 12, silver in the 50m butterfly
Jennifer MacDonald, 13, 3 silvers for 100m IM, 50m back, 50m butterfly and a bronze for 50m freestyle.
Ellie Williams, 9, made it a 1-2 win in the 50m freestyle grabbing the gold with team-mate Holly taking the silver. Ellie also took the bronze for the 100m IM improving her PB by 14 secs.
Katie-May Williams, 11, won silver in the 50m fly.
Head Coach Terry Boardman was apparently speechless……..
British Gas Welsh Nationals
Holywell Swimming Club succeeded in having 12 swimmers qualify for the 2013 Welsh Nationals and 6 of the 12 travelled the 320 mile round trip from Holywell to compete at the national event held in the Welsh National Pool, Swansea.
The Clubs swimmers were keen to pitch themselves against the giants of Welsh swimming and they did not come up short. They put in strong performances posting a colossal 28 long course personal best (PB) times between them and secured 15 finals placings.
Everything came together at the crucial time for the Holywell swimmers allowing them to swim at the peak of performance and reap the benefits of their hard work and dedication. Ffion Austin (11) showed her true potential by making 5 finals and winning Silver in the 800m freestyle and a Bronze in the 200 individual medley, racking up no less than 8 PBs.
Libby Williams (11) swimming in her first Nationals, was not over-awed by the event and showed her metal in giving a personal best in the 100m fly and set herself a new long course PB time.
Chris Boardman (16), having moved up into a tough open age group, stormed into 5 finals and narrowly missed out on a medal having come 4th twice in the 200 Backstroke and 200 individual IM, 5th twice and a 7th, setting 6 very solid PBs.
Hannah Jones’ hard training showed its’ worth ensuring she set 5 excellent PB times. She made her 100m butterfly race an exciting one to watch, swimming a very smart race staying with the field until the last 25m then pulled away to steal the heat.
Andrew Boardman was robust in his performance securing 2 finals; came 7th in the 1500m and set himself 7 respectable long course PBs.
Ben Jones (16) made first reserve for the final of the 50m Freestyle and a superb PB in the 100m butterfly. Making a total of 2 PBs
Head coach Terry Boardman said:-
“A coach can’t ask more of their swimmers than to swim at their best, and with 28 PBs, we can certainly call this a huge success. They did the club and themselves proud; they swam with the giants. I would like to say a big thank you to all the parents who attended this event, their tireless support allows the swimmers to compete at these higher levels and achieve their goals.”
