Taunton Deane, Millfield & Street Spring Splash Report

With a lot of the Academy Swim Team Squad taking a rest after a busy period of competing ahead of the South West Regional Championships, a mostly young squad with a few of the more senior swimmers travelled to a quieter than usual Millfield Pool for the Taunton Deane, Street & Millfield Spring Splash. The pool was about half full with most teams attending without their Regional qualified swimmers. This gave the meet a very relaxed atmosphere and with less swimmers attending than usual the sessions went by quickly with very little waiting around. Despite this being the 7th different meet in as many weeks for the Swim Team it was really impressive to see the number of swimmers still setting new best times, as well as taking on some events for the first time and some events that they had not attempted for a while.

Saturday Morning - Session 1

The Boys 100M Free kicked things off with some great performances. Joe Hay (10) finished in 4th, an outstanding 19 seconds under his PB, before Arthur Astill (12) started a run of PB’s and Silver Medals with 2nd place, followed by Jay Duggan (15) dropping his best time in 9th and Lewis Duggan (17) also pulling out a PB in this event for the first time this year as he finished in 3rd. With less older swimmers than usual the last age category was 15 and over (as well as age being as of the end of this year) so Jay, along with Lily-Rose Baker (14), Luke Withers (15), Lauren Hern (16) and Emily Knight (16) were having to compete against all of the Open age swimmers as well as their own age groups, which provided some very strong competition for them.

In the next set of heats Albany Powell (9) picked up a Bronze medal and new best time in the Girls 100M Breaststroke. In the same event Emily Glanville (9) also dropped an impressive 14 seconds off her PB to finish in 6th before Charlotte Chard (11) then dropped an even more impressive 15 seconds off her PB with an excellent swim. Lorelai Jimmieson (11) and Evie Channon (12) also continued their great progress in the event with significant new best times, as did Emily Druce (12). Lauren Hern (16) set a new best time as she just missed the medals in 4th place, with Lily-Rose Baker (14) next in 5th, also with a new PB. Emily Knight (16) was just behind them in 7th place.

The Girls 200M Fly was next where Lauren Glanville (12) continued to take on one of the toughest events with some success, finishing in 3rd place just outside of her best time. The Boys 200M Medley followed with some more great swimming. Arthur Astill (12) picked up a PB and Silver medal, as did Lewis Duggan (17), with Jay Duggan (15) in 4th place taking on the event for the first time and delivering a promising performance.

The Girls 50M Back started with a good effort by Emily Glanville (9) who finished in 8th place, followed by Albany Powell (9) who took the Silver medal with a fast new PB. Shouts of ‘Come on Burnham’ followed for Heat 7 where five AST swimmers lined up in the same heat. Emily Druce (12) won the race within the race with a brilliant sprint to win the heat and post a significant new PB, finishing just outside the medals in 4th place overall. She was closely followed by Lauren Glanville (12) in 5th and Evie Rowley-Wall (12) in 6th, whilst in the 15 and over age group Lauren Hern (16) was 6th, Emily Knight (16) 7th, Lily-Rose Baker (14) 8th and Amelie Rowley-Wall (16) 9th.

The Boys 50M Fly rounded off a good session for the squad where Joe Hay (10) picked up the Bronze medal and a big new PB with a great effort, followed by Arthur Astill (12) winning a 3rd Silver in a row and then Lewis Duggan (17) also gaining a 3rd medal in a row as he finished in 2nd place.

Saturday Afternoon - Session 2

The afternoon session kicked off with the Girls 100M Fly with Albany Powell (9) once more dropping her PB to finish in 3rd place. Emily Knight (16) also set a new best time as she finished in 6th, whilst Lauren Hern took on the event for the first time and finished in a very creditable 5th place. The Duggan brothers Jay (15) and Lewis (17) then continued their fine form as they both hit new best times for 100M Back with Lewis finishing in 2nd place and Jay in 6th.

The Girls 200M Breaststroke proved challenging but it was great to see Emily Druce (12) and Lily-Rose Baker (14) taking on the event for the first time, Lily-Rose with a strong first race in the event as she finished in 4th, just behind Lauren Hern (16) who finished in 3rd. Lorelai Jimmieson (11) was unfortunate to be DQ’d after a good swim but will learn from the experience, whilst Bella Gold (12) joined the afternoon’s action with a great effort as she finished in 6th place. Charlotte Chard (11) also battled hard in her heat to set a new PB.

Arthur Astill (12) kept up his good form with another medal in the 200M Free, this time finishing in 3rd place. Albany Powell (9) also maintained her great form with a Bronze in the Girls 100M Medley before Audrey Newton (11) swam well as she took on the event for the first time. It was fine Medley PB’s all around for the Under 13’s as Evie Rowley-Wall (12) finished in 5th, Emily Druce (12) 7th and Bella Gold (12) 12th. Lauren Hern (16) and Emily Knight (16) were just outside their best times whilst Lily-Rose Baker (14) continued her good days work with another PB.

The Boys 50M Breaststroke saw Emmott Newton (9) take to the pool competitively for the first time and he got off to a very promising start with an excellent swim that saw him take home the Gold medal. Toby Baker (12) nearly followed suit with a great sprint but had to settle for the Silver medal to go with a fast new PB.

The Girls 50M Free finished off Day 1 where Albany Powell (9) got things off to a fast start as she picked up the Bronze medal. There were then great PB’s all round for Under 12’s Charlotte Chard, Evie Channon and Audrey Newton. Emily Druce (12) continued to show her increasing speed with another big PB to finish in 5th place whilst Bella Gold (12) and Lily-Rose Baker (14) also found one last burst of energy to drop their best times for the event.

Sunday Morning - Session 3

Day 2 started with plenty of PB’s and great performances in the Girls 100M Free. Emily Glanville (9) finished in 6th place with Albany Powell (9) once more picking up a Bronze medal. Rosie Woodrow (11) dropped 3 seconds as she finished in 5th, before Charlotte Chard (11), Lorelai Jimmieson (11), Evie Channon (12), Audrey Newton (11), Poppy Collins (12) all took several seconds out of their best times. In the next age group up there was some further great racing as Lauren Glanville (12) and Emily Druce (12) took 4 and 6 seconds off their PB’s as they finished 4th and 5th respectively.

The Boys 100M Breaststroke saw Emmott Newton (9) and Toby Baker (12) nearly repeat their 50M performances. Toby was in excellent form again as he took over 4 seconds off his best time to bag the Silver medal. Emmott again produced a great swim and time for someone just beginning to compete, but was DQ’d after not getting his start quite right. It was great to see him smiling afterwards and taking the experience onboard for future races.

The Girls 200M Backstroke followed with some great swims by Albany Powell (9), Charlotte Chard (11) and Evie Rowley-Wall (12) as they finished in 2nd, 5th and 4th respectively. Evie was just a few tenths outside of her best time whilst Albany and Charlotte landed new PB’s.

A lot of research by the Swim Team’s IT department was then triggered by Lewis Duggan (17) discussing potentially breaking the club record time for the Boys 200M Fly that was up next. After much research on swimmingresults.org and consultation with the Club’s Oracle Jan Dykes, you can now see all the current club records here. Having not swum the 200M Fly for over 2 and a half years Lewis was targeting breaking Callum Richards’ record of 2:35.01 that had stood since July 2015. He duly delivered an outstanding long distance Fly swim showcasing his usual excellent start and turns, smashing his own PB by 37 seconds to set a new club record time of 2:20.77. He also took home the Gold medal to go with it.

The challenging 200M Medley was next up for the Girls which brought some mixed results. Despite another great time there was an unfortunate DQ for Albany Powell (9) on one of her turns, whilst Lorelai Jimmieson (11) and Evie Rowley-Wall (12) were fractions of a second outside their best times as they finished 6th and 4th respectively. Charlotte Chard (11) took on the event for the first time and produced a great performance as she finished in 7th, before Lily-Rose Baker (14) delivered a very promising swim with a big 9 second PB and a creditable 5th place finish in the Open age group.

After picking up a DQ in Saturday’s 100M Backstroke it was then great to see Joe Hay (10) put that behind him as he put together an excellent 50M Backstroke sprint to finish 3rd in a new best time. Toby Baker (12) then continued his fine weekend with a big PB that saw him land the Gold medal. In the Open age group Lewis Duggan (17) was now on a roll setting himself another new PB as he finished 2nd, with brother Jay Duggan (15) not far behind in 4th, also with another new PB. It was then great to see Luke Withers (15) back in the pool competing and swimming well after having to take more time off swimming in recent months, as he finished in 7th just outside of his best time.

A packed morning session was then finished off with the Girls 50M Fly where Albany Powell (9) was once more in good form, just missing the medals in 4th place. Emily Glanville (9) and Rosie Woodrow put in determined performances as they just missed out on new PB’s, whilst Poppy Collins (12) also showed great tenacity as she took on the event for the first time. Audrey Newton (11) battled well in her heat to set a new PB before Lauren Glanville (12) and Emily Druce (12) once more sprinted hard and made big dents in their PB’s as they finished 5th and 7th respectively.

Sunday Afternoon - Session 4

Unbeknownst to Lewis Duggan (17) at the start of session 4 (before we uncovered all the club records after the meet!) was that he was once more in club record breaking form as he won the Boys 100M Fly, breaking his own PB and club record that he set a year ago at the Yeovil Spring Fling. This was a great achievement for him in his favourite event after struggling to hit his best form in it over recent months.

The Girls 100M Back followed where Albany Powell (9) was once more collecting a medal after a great swim saw her finish in 3rd place. Charlotte Chard (12) continued to battle with a sore elbow and was just outside her best time for the event, as were Emily Glanville (9) and Evie Rowley-Wall, who both swam it well. Lauren Glanville (12) produced a very smooth performance and a big 5 second PB to pick up a great Bronze medal.

Toby Baker (12) continued to show his promise in the 200M Breaststroke, although he was unfortunately just a bit too quick off the blocks. However, he could take consolation from an otherwise excellent swim. The Girls 200M Free was next and saw some more strong swimming from Albany Powell (9) who once more collected the Bronze medal and a new PB to go with it. Charlotte Chard (11) pulled out one last effort for the day with an excellent 7 second PB as she finished in 6th, whilst it was good to see Evie Channon (12) taking on the event for just the second time and Poppy Collins (12) compete in it for the first time as they both produced encouraging performances. A tiring Evie Rowley-Wall (12) who had competed in pretty much all the Girls events that day finished just outside the medals in 4th as Lauren Glanville (12) shaved a tenth off her best time to pick up the Silver medal.

In the Boys 100M Medley Arthur Astill (12) and Toby Baker (12) continued to add to their Silver medal collections from the weekend with a pair of great new PB’s as they both finished second (Toby is in the Under 13 age group). Joe Hay (10) once more showed great application to complete the event for the first time and Jay Duggan (15) produced another good swim to drop his best time as he finished in 5th.

In the last Girls event Rosie Woodrow (11) grabbed a PB in the 50M Breast, as did Evie Channon (12) and Audrey Newton (11). The Boys 50M Free then finished off the meet where Emmott Newton (9) took home his second Gold medal from the meet with another promising performance, followed by Joe Hay (10) hitting a new best time as he finished in 5th. Arthur Astill (12) was also still going strong with another very fast performance, setting a big new PB as he once more took home the Silver medal. Toby Baker (12) finished off a very productive weekend for him with another PB as he finished in 4th, whilst Jay Duggan (15) likewise finished on a high with another fast new PB. Luke Withers (15) produced another good swim before Lewis Duggan’s (17) excellent weekend ended with another new PB.

Coach Oliver Astill enjoyed his first weekend coaching solo at a meet saying “Well done to all of our amazing swimmers, it was great to be supporting you all over the weekend and I’m looking forward to doing it again at meets in the future. Go team!”

Following a busy period of meets the majority of the Academy Swim Team will now be taking a break from competing except for the 9 swimmers who have made it to the South West Regional Championships. This will allow everyone to get in a sustained block of training ahead of the two Level 3 Long Course meets coming up in the middle of June and July before the Club’s Summer Championships on the 20th July. Head Coach Sara Dykes has been very impressed by the Team’s achievements over the last couple of months and thanked the club’s coaches for their efforts supporting the squad as she updated the amazing Short Course PB stats from this year as below: -

• 414 one time PB’s or new times
• 184 if those have been bettered twice
• 63 of those have been bettered for a third time
• 1 of those has been bettered for a fourth time
• And 1 has been bettered for an amazing fifth time