23 Apr 2024

John Hughes Meet

March kicked off with the first big open meet of the season, the City of Coventry John Hughes meet at Alan Higgs. 72 swimmers entered and for a lot of swimmers it was their first gala since December.

• 1st: Jacob S (200 breast. 200IM, 200 Back), Arabella P (100 breast) Cora W (100 breast), Daniel T (50 fly)
• 2nd: Annabel S(100 beast), Emilia P (400IM), Grace M (50 Free), Dalton L(50 Back, 50 Fly), Cora W(50 Back)
• 3rd: Oliver S (200 back), Pearl S(100 breast), Grace M (200 free), Cora W (50 free), Alex S(100 Back), Teddy L(50 Back), Sophie S(200 breast), Dalton L (50 Free)

We had a lot of new competitors competing for the first time and there were some  big improvements including a number of Personal Bests swam. Annabel S swam the Midlands qualifying time for 2 events.

Rugby Open

The next gala on the calendar was the Rugby Open, which takes place at the 8-lane Queens Jubilee Pool in Rugby. Sharks came away with loads of medals and there were some big personal bests, notably Harry C knocking 15 seconds off in 100m Breast and swimming a Midlands qualifying time.

• 1st: Jacob S(200 breast, 100 Back), Harry C(50 Breast, 100 Breast), Pearl S, Alex S (100 Back), Grace M(50 Fly)
• 2nd: Daniel T(50 back, 200 IM), Jacob S(50 Breast, 200 Back, 100 Breast, 200 Back), Sophie S(50 Breast), Pearl (50 Breast), Alex S (50 Fly), Grace M(50 Free)
• 3rd: Chris D(50 Back),Pearl S (400 Free), Eve E(50 Breast), Jacob S (100 free), Katy H (100/200 Free)

Nuneaton Junior League

April saw the start of team gala season, with Sharks trying to retain their place in Division 1 for a 4th consecutive year. We had some very tough draws last year and finished 2 points clear of the drop zone(13th/18). This year the league structure had changed slightly so there are 22 teams in Division 1 with some very big clubs being promoted from Division 2. The league is highly competitive and there are some of the best swimmers in their age groups in the country competing in all age groups. 

This year the team captains/ vice captains are Isla/Bella and Chris/Sam.



Sharks finished in 4th only narrowly missing a 3rd spot to Solihull A.
1. Redditch 214
2. Evesham 208
3. Solihull 171
4. Stratford Sharks 167
5. Wombourne 142
6. Bromsgrove 100
The notable highlights of the event were wins for Eve (girls 11 50 breast), girls 11 medley team, Ellison B(Boys 11, 50 Free), Freya M(girls 9 25m free) and Grace M(Girls 10 50 Free)
This was a lot of the 9 year olds first taste of competitive swimming and the team performed really well: after round 1 Sharks sit comfortably mid-table.

Midlands Summer Championships

These take place end of April/ May and are a competition for the best swimmers in the Midlands. This year Sharks have 9 representatives going: Evangeline H, Dalton L, Jacob S, Bella B, Izzy G, Arabella P, Annabel S, Harry C and Isla Truscott. Just qualifying for this is a big achievement as the qualifying times this year were very tough.

Midland Masters and Nationals

Midland Masters was held at Alan Higgs on Easter weekend, Rob J and Ali S were competing for Sharks in a number of events. Ali finished with 3 golds, 2 silvers and a bronze, Hannah J also came along to officiate and gain her timekeeper qualification.

Cross Channel Relay Swim

Theo S, Ben R and Molly B have all signed up to swim the channel in a 4 person team for charity Young Minds Matter along with swimmers from City of Coventry.

Link for anyone who wants to sponsor them: Just Giving Page

Coaching News

Congratulations to coach Jake for gaining his level 2 coaching qualification and also to Leah, one of the club record holders, who has come back to join the coaching team as an Assistant Coach. 

Volunteers

The club currently has 43 registered volunteers and 24 qualified officials. Thanks to them the club is able to meet commitments at competitions for officiating and team managing and also for covering coaching. Anyone is welcome to get more involved in club matters and having a big number reduces the workload for everyone.

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