16 Dec 2015

Well what a stormer of a night that was. A massive well done to all of the swimmers, who took Hinckley up to division 1 in the Arena league final last night with a brilliant 3^rdplace. It was a brilliant night for the swimmers and the club, and what we can say is that every swimmer performed to their maximum.

Over the whole campaign you have been brilliant and improved so much. Orion who beat us in the first round did not even make it into the final and Boldmere who beat us in round two could not match us this time. On the night we had 13 wins which was the most of all the clubs and NO DQ’s which considering we were in lane 1 was a great achievement and meant EVERY SWIM & EVERY POINT counted

Final Score

Sutton in Ashfield 210

Northgate 183

Hinckley 174

Boldmere B 172

Radford 167

Arnold 142

I would like to thank our officials and helpers, Simon, Keeley, Sue, Angie, David, Alison, and Ian. Also a big thank you to all of our supporters as well.

 I would also like to thank Coach Paul who loves the Arena league and puts in so much time to make this club successful.

 I have done a little write up as I honestly think all the swimmers deserve some praise and we should celebrate our success. 

So here is a little summary of the night/ series. 

 

The 11 & U Girls: Macy Hannah Cailin & Susie.

All four swam in 3 rounds ensuring a good point’s total. Macy the back stroker, who would have thought of that a year ago, is going from strength to strength and becoming a major point’s getter! Hannah showed great fighting spirit with a last gap touch in the fly to get an extra point. Always cheerful Susie who could not get in any of the Diddy squad’s last year swam in the relays and produced some great times and will still be in the 11’s next year. The Graceful Cailin with a fantastic breast stroke win in round 1 also went under 33 for the 50 Free for the final

The 11 & U Boys: Dan O, Dan K, Miles & Abe

Ever present and very fast, Dan O won the back with ease and a good performance in the fly and a massive points total in the series. Dan K "Mr. Nice” produced a stunning free with another victory. Take it easy over the next couple of weeks and see you in the New Year. Miles, another relative newcomer to swimming did relays but never moaned and performed when matters breaking the 33 for a 50 Free in the final. Abe the Pocket rocket showed he can do all the strokes with a great breast stroke and fly in the Medley

The 13 & U Girls: Cary’s, Grace & Molly

These girls performed magnificently and it should be pointed out that they are all 12 and will still be in the same age group next year. Cary’s, the machine who swam more metres than any other swimmer produced 3 great displays with the pick of the bunch being the fly where she nearly got the win. Molly another who has come from nowhere produced a PB on the night and will be stronger next year. Grace one of the loudest cheerleaders never lets us down and again produced a 100 Free PB.

The 13 & U Boys: Stevo, Jack, Joel, James

These boys have come of age and have dominated over the series including a 1:58 4 x 50 relay. Stevo "Mr. Boy Racer” had fun on Saturday and produced some stunning races including standing in for the 15’s and open relays and finishing off with a sub 28 Free. Jack has fitted into the team well and produced a perfect 100 fly making it look very easy. I am not sure it was but he never looked like he was going to get beat. Joel who has to be one of the most improved swimmers over the last 18 months, not only has he grown a lot he is producing fantastic times, again getting the touch. James dwarfed by his rivals produced another top back stroke and Free split and will also be in the same age group next year

The 15 & U Girls: Paige. Emily & Jess

 What can we say about Paige Rayner, one of the biggest battlers the club has. She did a back double header on little training and as always fought till the end. Jess P did a couple of belting relays and backed that up with a quick 100 free. Late addition Emily came into the team at the last minute. After a DQ in round one she did a perfect job of the 100 fly this time 

Open girls: Sian & Alison

 To me the open girls showed fantastic spirit and what teamwork is all about. What Sian and Alison did for the team was brilliant last night. The only thing Sian did not want was the sympathy clap. Sian you gained two very important points for the club last night, and bearing in mind we beat Boldmere by 2 points, well done. Alison came to the rescue with some great swims and very little training after a first term at university and gained an extra point with a fighting finish in the breast.

 

15& u & open boys Joel W, Jamie, Josh, Rhys & Ryan

What can we say about this group of swimmers. We are very lucky to have such fast dedicated bunch who remember their roots so well. We had to do a bit of tinkering to cope with absences and some swimmers did not do their usual strokes. Joel who has won national medals at fly was needed for backstroke on the night and stormed the 15&u and then followed that with another top performance in the open back as well. Jamie, the perfect example to younger swimmers who never lets us down in a gala. Jamie kept his stroke perfectly to get the win in the breast and then stormed it in the relays as well. Quick off the blocks Josh had a storming night first of all winning the fly and backing that up by winning the 100 free as well. The effort that Rhys put in to his 100 breast was immense. He fought all the way to get a fantastic 3rd place with a cracking time. It was also great to see Rhys cheering on the younger swimmers throughout the night. Mr Ryan Gordon had a fantastic night starting with the IM where put in a fantastic performance to get us off to a good start and then winning the 100 fly with ease. And then ensuring we got another load of points in the open free. The boys then finished with a pulsating 2nd place in the cannon which was the cherry on the cake.

 Will P, Chloe, Georgia P, Anna D, Imogen, Callum Stretton & Tom Ryan

It was a real team effort and let's also thank the following swimmers for their contribution in the series as well. Will Parsons who got us a 2nd in round 2 and possibly the unluckiest swimmer not to be in the A team. Breast-stroker extraordinaire Chloe Mann who got us a hatful of points in round 1 & 2, Georgia P who fought for the club in round 1 with very little training, as did Anna D and Imogen who fought for the cause and gained points in rounds 1 & 2. Callum, who did round one, we missed you last night and we want you back swimming for Hinckley ASAP! And then onto Tom Ryan, Tom your team did you proud last night as you did us proud with your wins in Round 1 and we will see you swimming for the Hornets again soon.

 So on behalf of the club, well done swimmers you were all brilliant on the night and over the series and you will all go down as the team who got Hinckley promoted to division 1 of the Arena league.

 Well done

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