NW Arena Premier League B Champions 2021!
On Saturday 11th December Winsford Swim Team travelled to Blackpool to race in the NW Arena Premier League B Final. We went into the final ranked first, so the goal was simple, it was to win and win as big as possible.
On the night we were up against some very strong, well drilled teams from Wrexham, Trafford Metro, Blackpool, Crosby, Hoylake and Prescot, all of which were looking to swim fast and try and win the competition. Winsford had a very strong start beginning with Amy Kenworthy and Ethan Wright in the 200 IM, followed by our first 4 relay events. It was clear to see from the get go that the final was going to be fiercely fought, but Winsford did what Winsford does and came out all guns blazing, coming in the top 2 positions in 5 out of the first 6 events, the start we so desperately wanted.
As the competition settled down it was clear that our swimmers were on form with PB after PB, and race after race of outstanding pacing, tactics and drive to get to the wall first. After 12 events we were in first place by 10 points and from there on in we pushed and pushed and pushed, extending our lead through the 42 events. It was a very competitive evening, with many races being close run, but that extra bit of fitness, skill, technique and sheer will to win helped us to touch out numerous teams in the red zone into the pad.
On the night the atmosphere was electric, with our wonderful supporters all dressed in orange, cheering on all our swimmers. The team spirit as always was second to none, with every swimmer supporting each other, and that for me was the highlight. Seeing our swimmers completely in each others corner throughout the evening was wonderful to witness! I honestly believe the team spirit we developed tonight made magic happen.
Tonight we had super consistency with race after race of top 3 finishes. It is this consistency which really does make the difference and add to that our strength in depth in the relays we were going to be difficult to beat. A good statistic was we achieved a top 2 placing on 7 out of 8 relays, and the other relay where we didn’t finish in the top 2 we were 3rd, so outstanding relay races from our swimmers. Not only that but out of 34 individual events Winsford Swim Team achieved 26 top 3 placings, phenomenal consistency race after race.
As always a special mention to all our swimmers who came first:
Annabelle Chan: 50 Backstroke and 50 Butterfly.
Lewis Turner: 100 Backstroke.
Henry Ball: 100 Backstroke.
Sophie George: 100 Butterfly.
Adam Wright: 100 Butterfly.
Ethan Jones: 100 Backstroke.
Jack Wheeler: 100 Butterfly.
Lois Inch: 100 Breastroke.
Kate Schillinger: 50 Freestyle.
Harry Jones: 50 Freestyle.
Mixed 11 Under Medley Relay: Jack George, Kate Schillinger, Annabelle Chan, Harry Jones.
Mixed 15 Under Free Relay: Eleanor Ma, Amy Kenworthy, Adam Wright, Lewis Turner.
But a huge well done to the whole team:
Jess Goldsmith, Annabelle Chan, Kate Schillinger, Jack George, Harry Jones.
Ruby Thomas, Izzy Fletcher, Amelia Fitzgerald, Adam Brown, Jack Wheeler, Henry Ball, Alfie Bloor, Harry Bloor.
Carys Roberts, Amy Kenworthy, Sophie George, Eleanor Ma, Lois Inch, Adam Wright, Lewis Turner.
Sophie Grindley, Ethan Jones, Tom Kud, Henry Oliver, Will Murray, Ethan Wright, Jonny Mullett.
And a massive thank you to:
Officials: Karen Kud, Nicky Ma, Wendy Wyatt.
Announcer: Lee Turner.
Coaches: Molly James, Izzy Burton unfortunately due to isolating couldn’t be with us, but she would have been 100% if she could.
Team Managers: Claire Brown, Sue Wright, Julie Grindley, Claire Turner.
Poolside supporters: Izzy Whittle, Ciaran Turner, Edward Ma.
All our balcony supporters, phenomenal as always!
And finally to ALL our swimmers both in Blackpool and those who didn’t get selected for the team, every single swimmer counts 1 million percent.
I would also like to say thank you and well done to all our competitors tonight, yes we were going at it with everything we got, and we wanted to beat each other up in the pool, but it was so nice to see such good sportsmanship before, during and after the event.
Points on the night were:
1st: Winsford 233
2nd: Trafford Metro 203
3rd: Blackpool 173
4th: Wrexham 171
5th: Crosby 159
6th: Prescot 137
7th: Hoylake 96
Winsford Swim Team NW Arena Premier League B Champions 2021 well done to everyone, an outstanding team effort in Blackpool, outstanding. Winsford have raced in the Premier League now for a decade now, consistently being ranked in the top 8 in the North West of England. This in itself shows that we continuously perform to a very high standard and continue to produce talented, hard working and motivated swimmers.
A fantastic evening of racing, but the year is not finished. We now look forward to the Satellites Open Meet next weekend and then train hard over Christmas and New Year in preparation for the Cheshire County Championships which take place in just 6 weeks, wow!
So to finish the report I have only got 5 more words to say, See you at the pool!
Merry Christmas
Dan.
