Wasps Get Stung at Newport but Gain Valuable Experience
I drove to Newport last Saturday full of positive and eager anticipation. I had convinced myself and Alfie (my 8 year old son) that the Wasps would win – the only question being the margin of that victory.
Thinking about a headline to release to the local press, I asked Alfie what he thought the News of the World would write following a 6-0 Chelsea thrashing of a lower premiership club. I thought I could apply the same headlines to the humiliating defeat we were going to inflict on those other teams at the relay gala. Alfie came up with “Wasps sting Newport into submission” or “Newport Surrender to the Mighty Wasps”.
However neither was to be.
The truth is that we came last. The final result was as follows : 1st Newport 103 pts, 2nd Wellington 74 pts, 3rd Court 69 pts, 4th (Last!!!) Whitchurch 68 pts.
However the good news is that we notched up a fantastic 53 personal bests in the process and came first in 5 of the 34 relay events. These being the girls 10/u 4x1 breastroke; the girls 11/u 4x1 breastroke; the girls 12/u breastroke; the girls 12/u 4x1 freestyle; and the boys 12/u 4x1 breastroke. Many of our swimmers were competing in their first ever gala and undoubtedly notched up valuable experience.
All great teams learn from their defeats and come back even stronger. Even Chelsea took a 3-0 battering against Middlesbrough on the same day.
Special thanks should go to all those who volunteered to help poolside at the gala – the club couldn’t have managed without them.
Bring on the next junior gala! We need to get back to winning ways quickly.
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