Winsford Swimming Club

Wow!  What an event.  Even though we know all of our swimmers are a talented bunch (how else could we field two Arena League teams in Division 1 and above?)  When we see them day in and day out at practice their talent can become a normality. The backdrop.  Practice as usual.  Hey ho, here we go, 5 dolphin kicks off every wall please.  Then, at an event like this, in a venue as breath-taking as the London Olympic pool, with 500+ athletes present every day, I got to see them compete with some of the best in the world and I was stunned.

If our swimmers were perturbed by the pressure of the event with the flashing lights, the production set up, the cameras, and the Aquatics GB Selection Committee watching and analysing every facet of every swim, they certainly didn’t show it. They went out there, raced, and they damn well held their own.  Not going to lie, just thinking about it as I write this report makes me a little emotional.  I’m so proud of them.

Right, let's get down to brass tacks.  We fielded 3 swimmers across 8 events from Day 2 to Day 6. Amy Kenworthy (400IM, 800FR, 1500FR), Kate Schillinger (50BK, 100BK), Loic Bazin (50BK, 50FR, 50FL).

Day 2.  Kate 100BK, Amy 400IM and 1500FR.

Kate had only just got back from an extremely impressive 10 days in Serbia at the World School Championships, had a taper practice on the Monday evening, came down to London and simultaneously came down with a virus.  Hardly the ideal taper into an event like this.  Fate dealt her a complex hand as the computer seeded her as the non-para swimmer with the joint slowest entry time into heat 2 where, on paper, there was only one athlete within 3 seconds of her so she’d likely be racing on her own. She didn’t hold back, blasting down the pool with a stroke rate that even had Amy “turbo arms” Kenworthy agog and set a new PB by 1.2 seconds in 1:04.78.  This leapfrogged her up the field to finish 36th out of 94 athletes.  It’s worth noting that her split of 30.74 at 50m was the 15th fastest in the event and she was within less than 0.75 of a place in the junior (18 and under) final.

Unfortunately for Amy the 1500FR was moved back to after the 400IM, and with the 1500FR being Amy’s priority we reluctantly had to scratch her from the 400IM.  With some practice 50s under her belt to get a feel for tempo Amy started out at a pace that equated to 17min 15sec and held onto that for 900m before tiring slightly and coming home in 17:26.12, a new lifetime PB by over 4 seconds, placing 20th out of 53 athletes.  With the 800FR still ahead it was encouraging to see she was faster than her PB for this distance by over 2 seconds when she turned at 800m.

Day 3. Kate 50BK and a 50FR secret swimmer

Kate had high PB expectations coming into this event, and PB she did, dropping 0.14 to finish in 30.25 and placing 36th out of 87 athletes.  Results didn’t meet with her high expectations of an even better PB as she struggled with the effects of the virus and its induced lack of sleep, just missing the junior final by less than 0.2s.  Kate should be consoled by the fact that this is her first time at this event. It was effectively a practice run for the future. A frankly ridiculous 17 athletes were separated by just 0.25s at that point in the field.  The coaches (as we strive to do with every swimmer in every race) were able to identify items that will enable her to drop even more time, virus or no virus.  Aquatics GB is on notice that she will be back. And she will be even faster.

Our secret swimmer was none other than Carys Roberts, forced to stop wearing orange by the Peaky Blinders and currently swimming for the University of Birmingham, Carys dropped 0.22 from her already speedy 50FR time despite being an outside lane and clocked 26.97 finishing 56th out of 96 swimmers.

Day 4. Loic 50BK.

When I asked our flying Frenchman how he got to London I was mildly disappointed he took the Eurostar rather than swimming across La Manche, but then he is a sprinter not a distance swimmer, and I found it in my heart to forgive him.  Loic came into this event for his first time in the midst of an intense period of training ahead of an upcoming international meet.  So with no taper it was going to be interesting to see how his times looked.  With a preference for the 50FR and 50FL the 50BK was the bonus event for Loic that had the advantage of coming first so he could get a feel for the event.  After a surprisingly (to me anyway) short warm up, Loic clocked 27.92, adding 0.63 to his entry time and finishing 66th.  To say he was unhappy would be an understatement, but he was there and he represented.  Areas to improve were clear and with no taper behind him I have no doubt he will be faster next time.

Day 5. Loic 50FR.

After yesterday's swim Loic took no chances with his preparation, putting away his feather boa and forgoing a planned evening at the ABBA Experience to rest up, recover and focus.  An impressive warm up routine culminated in a blazingly fast swim of 23.47, within 0.05 of his entry time despite the lack of taper and placing 40th out of 93 athletes.  We identified where he could drop more time and best his PB in the future.  What really stood out and impressed me was the resilience and dedication he showed in bouncing back from the previous day's disappointment.  What an athlete!

Day 6. Loic 50FL, Amy 800FR

Time for the Flying Frenchman to Fly, and Fly he did in 25.35 vs his PB of 25.22 and both he and his Coach in France were super pleased with this time, placing 51st out of over 90 qualifiers.  Impressively he changed his usual approach based on feedback from the 50FR and didn't take a breath during the race.  Unfortunately a mistake at the start (too deep on the dive) meant he was down on the rest of the field at 15m but recovered well down the pool to finish 4th in his heat.  With the change in breath control (and a good start) Loic thinks he can now go under 25 seconds which would place him in the top 30 and we look forward to hearing how he does in this and the 50FR.  Loic also said he's keen to compete for Winsford in the Arena League later this year.  Bring it on!

Last to race in the Championships was Amy in the 800FR. Fresh from warming up alongside James Guy, Amy “turbo arms” Kenworthy went out hard turning at 200 at her 200 PB pace, set a new 400 PB of 4:31.35 by over 2 seconds at the mid point, and then held on despite tiring towards the end to set a new PB of 9:10.36, beating her old mark by 4.5 seconds.  With the fastest heat still to be swum this evening in the finals she knows she placed at least a brilliant 24th out of 52 qualifiers. There's more to come from Amy in this event too with improving her turns a priority as a starting point.

Final thoughts

As I write this, circumnavigating the country by rail due to the usual Easter network closures, and reflecting on my time in London, I can honestly say:

What.  An.  Utter.  Privilege. It's been for me to witness the spectacle of the event, see our swimmers perform to such a high level with such maturity, and enjoy their company poolside.

Big thanks to the Coaching Team, the Committee, and of course the Parents, for preparing our swimmers and entrusting me to be (as they would say in the USA) the “Coach On Deck” for this meet.  It’s been special and I’ll keep the memories of this event with me, as I’m sure our athletes will too.

Lastly WELL DONE to our swimmers. YOU WERE AWESOME!

Let's see how many qualifiers we can field next time.   See you in the pool!

Coach Andy.