Len Thomas Memorial Meet 2022- Report
On Sunday 10th July Winsford Swim team travelled over to Llandudno to race in the Len Thomas Memorial Meet. After our last outing in Llandudno it was wonderful to see again so many take up the opportunity to go racing over the border in Wales in our last open meet of season 2021-2022.
The meet was open to all club competitive swimmers from all squads, so the talent on show from our club was varied from swimmers just starting out their competitive careers to those who are very experienced. We also had Tilly Copeland making her Winsford debut of which she did fantastically well. In total we had 33 travelling to sunny and very hot North Wales and all swimmers were in determined mood to race fast over the shorter distance events, with all 50’s, 100’s and the 200 IM in the programme.
The results over the day were fantastic with so many new life time best swims achieved. We also achieved 40 GOLD, 23 SILVER and 23 BRONZE medals, which is again amazing. We love to count medals but we love it even more when a team manager counts for me, so thank you to Ali Brennan for spending most of the day on Meet Mobile.
The day was extremely productive and lots of fun, it was great fun watching our swimmers race with lots of cheering and support for each other. There were so many highlights and a number of “WOW” swims, which is really exciting going forwards. I can honestly say every single swimmer can take something away from the meet in Llandudno, which sets us up nicely going into the new season in September. So well done to all swimmers who travelled to Llandudno.
Many thanks to Ali Brennan and Matt Pearce for doing a top job of managing the team. I have said it before but I will certainly say it again, Team Managers are worth their wait in Gold as they keep us the coaches calm (which is crucial) but they also support our swimmers which is so important for fast swimming. A relaxed swimmer is a fast swimmer, a stressed swimmer is a slow swimmer. I am biased but we do have the best team managers in the world so thank you to all who have helped out over the season. Also thank you to Matt for bringing in the water, making sure all swimmers are hydrated.
I would also like to thank James Ma for fetching me my dinner, top job! But also thanks to Nickie Ma who always tries her best to steal something from the officials room for us coaches, keep up the good work! Also many thanks to both Amalie and Alice Gooding who bought me a stick of rock from Llandudno, as I type away I am crunching away so thank you, very kind.
Well Done again to all swimmers who competed in the last open meet of the season, Llandudno with the weather was so nice, there really is something special about looking out to sea and seeing a vast ocean during our 10 minute break between sessions. I am sure we will again visit the Llandudno meets next season because everyone enjoys them thoroughly. The only downside today was the crazy traffic to get home, oh well we all got home eventually.
What a wonderful season it has been, but is not quite over as we finish off the last few weeks with the National Championships (British, English and Open Water). I am positive all our national swimmers will be giving 100% in Sheffield, we all can’t wait to go racing. All Winsford members will be watching and supporting all our swimmers at Ponds Forge and the Thryberg Country Park, Good Luck everyone and enjoy every single minute of it!
See you at the pool.
Dan.
