Winsford Swimming Club

MASSIVE Congratulations to all our competitors in the SENW and SENE Open Water Regional Championships today at Sale Water Park, we achieved 3 Regional Medals, 11 County Medals and 2 New National Qualifiers!! Warning, this is a long report, so so proud it deserves special detail & each swimmer deserves monumental credit!! So here goes… 

Our day began arriving to find a nice lovely flat lake, no waves in sight!! A miracle in comparison to those of us who had to endure last year. It was a non wetsuit race with the water temperature at a tropical 19.6 degrees. We kicked off the afternoon with the 3KM Competitors of Ciaran, Harry, Sophie, Scarlett, Jess and myself in the Masters 3KM Race. We set off in our respective waves. Ciaran came in first in an incredible time of 37 minutes and 10 seconds meaning he was holding an average of 1.14 per 100m! Good enough for 4th place in the regional and a place in Nationals this July at Rother Valley- we can’t wait to see this! We had a goal.. and we achieved it, top swimming Ciaran! Next was Harry Jones coming in 5th in the regional, 2nd in Cheshire and just being pipped to a national placing spot by less than 15 seconds, in a time of 40.14!! Still a phenomenal performance. Next was Jess G winning a bronze for Cheshire in a new pb time of 42.41, followed closely by Scarlett in 43.45 winning silver in her age group for Cheshire & another PB time. Next was Sophie Brennan. Sophie has never raced open water before & did an amazing first job completing her 3km race in a time of 49.04, 4th in Cheshire and just missing out on that medal! I know there’s more to come from that one! Finally the masters race which was myself. I held 2nd position for the whole race sitting closely to the pack leader and then took the lead on the final buoy with a big sprint finish on the inside to take the overall masters win in a very close and super fun race in a time of 40.25- separated by my competitor by just 2 seconds! Also a lifetime PB for myself. 

Next we had the youngest race. Our 2KM Swim with Hattie, Alfie, Talia, Daisy and Ava, first time for all apart from Daisy who had the absolute most amazing determination, that this year she was going to finish, and this year was going to be her race, after last year’s unfortunate awful race conditions. Hattie came in first with the best race of the day to watch winning by only 0.5! It was a neck and neck the whole race round who was going to win, it looked as if nothing was going to separate these two over 2KM! But again with another win from the inside line she hit that gantry first and took the win in 27.54! Unfortunately Hattie is too young for nationals this year- but would have got a qualifying space even against 13 year olds as her time was that fast!! Just unbelievable. For someone who only began the sport 4 weeks ago… she looked like a pro!! Next to come in was Talia, another newbie, and smashed it winning a silver county medal!! Well done. Followed next by Ava who’s taken to open water like a duck to water, incredible determination the whole way round finishing in 33.27 placing her 4th in Cheshire and 5th in NW, so close to those medals, next year! Keep going you’re amazing!! Then Daisy appeared just 2 seconds behind in 33.29, finishing the race and even winning a bronze county medal, you truly are the come back kid!! So proud. Finally Alfie comes in for home in a time of 35.10, his first time & a brave swim. He showed amazing courage and got himself two medals, a bronze for NW and a Gold for Cheshire, also would have qualified for nationals, but due to age is not eligible this year. I can’t wait to see what you’re capable of next year Alfie. 

Finally it’s the 5KM, Just Toby and Max for this one, both of them competing in this distance for the very first time- it’s a long way, air temperature has dropped as the day is getting on but they were out fighting. Toby finishes first feeling very cold and looking a little pale after his swim in an amazing time of 1 Hr 16 minutes and 5 seconds holding a pacey 1.31 for 5000m!! Little did Toby realise this swim secured him a national spot as well as a Cheshire Gold, to Join Ciaran in Rother Valley next month! After your GCSEs this last two months Toby you should be so proud of this, as I know we are. I look forward to seeing you swim again next month. Max comes in at a fantastic 1 Hr 19 Mins & 49 seconds winning a county silver. Not many are brave enough to swim the 5k and you should both be so proud of your achievements. 

Thank you to Reece Craghill and Andy Jones for volunteering their day to officiate the championships, these events wouldn’t run without people like you!

Medal Hall of Fame. 

North West Regional Medalists - 3 Regional Medals

12 Years Female 2KM- GOLD Hattie Lawson
25-29 Masters Female- GOLD Molly James
12 Years Male 2KM- BRONZE Alfie Butterworth 

Cheshire County Medalists - 11 County Medals 

12 Years Female 2KM- GOLD Hattie Lawson
12 Years Male 2KM- GOLD Alfie Butterworth 
15 Years Boys 3KM- GOLD Ciaran Turner
16 Years Boys 5KM- GOLD Toby Jones
25-29 Masters Female- GOLD Molly James
13 Years Female 2KM- SILVER Talia Coxon
14 Years Male 3KM- SILVER Harry Jones
15 Years Female 3KM SILVER- Scarlett McMahon
16 Years Male 5KM SILVER- Max Kimber 
13 Years Female 2KM- BRONZE Daisy Skimming
14 Years Female 3KM- BRONZE Jessica Goldsmith

Overall age race winners across - North West & North East

12 Year Old Girls- Hattie Lawson
Masters Overall Race Winner- Molly James

National Qualifiers - 2 new NATIONAL QUALIFIERS 

Ciaran Turner- 5KM
Toby Jones - 7.5KM

We look forward to seeing you all tonight for Club Champs and see you at the pool.

Molly & Coaching Team