Cheshire & NW Open Water Championships 2023 - REPORT

On Saturday 1st July Winsford Swim Team had 18 swimmers travel up the M6, M56 and M60 to Sale Water Park to race in the annual Cheshire and North West Open Water Championships. Not only was the racing for the NW swimmers but also the North East swimmers were in attendance, so we had clubs coming from as far as Newcastle and Sunderland. For the NE clubs they would have probably had to travel on the A1, M1, M621, M62 and M60!

The weather conditions were a little chilly, with a very stiff wind in the air making the racing conditions tricky especially swimming into the head wind from buoy 1 to buoy 3, but as Harry Jones mentioned “the wind is our friend”, so this did not put off our swimmers one bit. But it did make racing more challenging, but a challenge we are all up for with extra relish.

The racing begun with the 3k for our 14-15 year olds plus our Masters, with the 2k for the 12-13 year olds next and then finishing the days racing with the 5k for the 16, 17/18 and 19 over age group.

The day started off very well with Winsford picking up 10 medals in the 3k, with all our masters (Molly, Andy, Paul) gaining medals for both Cheshire and NW. Add to this we had a clean sweep in the 15 years boys (Max GOLD, Conor SILVER, Toby BRONZE) for Cheshire which was fantastic. Not only this but Conor Jackson had such a wonderful time in the lake he decided to not swim his 6 laps, but instead to swim 7 laps which gave him an extra 500m of racing, great work Conor! Our girls; Scarlett, Amelia and Evie also had excellent swims in the 3k battling very hard.

Next to go were our very youngest swimmers and for most it was their first taste of competitive open water swimming. All our swimmers had a fantastic race, with some very close encounters. Tom and Harry had a good fight with both boys picking up medals in the NW which will qualify them for the National Championships. Alice, Jess, Jasmine and Molly also had great swims, all gaining medals, of which Alice and Jess picking up that all important regional medal and their ticket to the National Championships in Thryberg Rotherham. Unfortunately Daisy didn’t finish the race, but to to have the guts to give open water a go at such a young age should be commended, and I am positive she will be back bigger and better than ever next year.

Last but certainly not least, two of our more experienced swimmers, Ross Hanley and Will Line were racing in the 5k which was the longest event of the day. Both Ross and Will had super swims, being only 4 seconds away from each other. Both lads did great which no doubt was helped by the constant cheering from Rebecca Line on the lake side. Ross and Will have also gained qualification to the National Championships by picking up Gold and Silver in the region. Ross also picked up a lovely kick in the chest on the first buoy by a fellow competitor, which he enjoyed thoroughly.

It was a great day in Sale at the Cheshire and NW Regional Open Water Championships, the strong winds made it even better. I would say that Winsford had one of the largest, if not the largest team competing today. This again shows our swimmers are brave to try something new and to race over the longer distances both in the pool and in any water planet earth has to offer. This year we gained 16 Cheshire medals and 9 NW regional medals. This means we will have 6 swimmers competing in the Age Group National Open Water Champs (Alice, Jess, Tom, Harry 2k, Will and Ross 5k), plus Molly and Andy competing in the Masters Nationals 3k which take place a day later. Well Done to all competitors!

Open Water is such great fun and in my opinion should be tried by all swimmers. Next year the target for Winsford Swim Team is to have 25 or more swimmers competing, I am positive this is possible.

Results:

Tom Rickels (12) GOLD Cheshire, GOLD North West (NQ)

Harry Jones (13) GOLD Cheshire, BRONZE North West (NQ)

Alice Gooding (12) SILVER Cheshire, SILVER North West (NQ)

Daisy Skimming (12) DNF

Jessica Goldsmith (13) GOLD Cheshire, BRONZE North West (NQ)

Jasmine Lloyd (13) SILVER Cheshire, 4th North West

Molly Lloyd (13) BRONZE Cheshire, 7th North West

Max Kimber (15) GOLD Cheshire, 4th North West

Conor Jackson (15) SILVER Cheshire, 6th North West

Toby Jones (15) BRONZE Cheshire, 7th North West

Scarlet McMahon (14) SILVER Cheshire, 7th North West