National Arena Swimming League Round 2

The Wasps team were in action last Saturday at the brand new Winsford Lifestyle Centre for the second round of the National Arena Swimming League. Hopes of getting through to the final were high after a strong performance in the first round.

We couldn’t have asked for a better start as Amelia once again took us into the lead by winning the 11/under Breastroke. Abi Fawcett then maintained the standard by winning the 15/u 100m Backstroke - things were looking good. However, it soon became all too clear that we were facing stiff opposition and were running a little low on luck. In spite of some great swimming we were all too often finishing 4th and in the very close finishes, of which there were many, we were just that fraction of a second off the lead. Not the results we had become used to in our last few galas.

Anyway, we battled on and there were more first places – Amelia in the 13/under Breastroke and Charlotte Archdeacon in the Open 100m Breastroke and Backstroke. There were also some great pbs – Tom Kitching in the 50m Fly and 50m Back, Beth Jamieson in the 50m Free, Amelia in the 50m Fly, Callum Trent in the 100m Free and it was great to see Catherine Parsonage back in the team looking very strong as she swam to a pb in the 50m free.

And then there was the Open Medley Relay … normally one of our strengths, but without Joe we knew it would be tough. Charlotte Archdeacon got us off to a great start coming in 2nd after the backstroke leg and then Thomas Bishop swam brilliantly to hand over to Charlotte Evans in first place. Jamie took over first on the final leg but had to battle hard to stay there against very stiff competition. The joy of winning was short-lived as the announcer declared the team were disqualified for an illegal handover. More controversial than Simon Cowell leaving Jedward to the public vote – and despite our protests it was confirmed by the referee and we said good bye to 5 points. A decision that will no doubt be discussed at length and for years to come on 5 Live and in the pubs around the North West.

As the gala progressed it became clear that Royton and Garston were battling for the top two places and we were battling against Northwich for third place. After 30 events Northwich were 117 against our 113 but, in the end we finished on the same number of points as them but were ahead on a count back (number of firsts). A very close finish and perhaps a little disappointing after such a good run of galas but hopefully we will make it to the final and can then really do ourselves justice.

We should not take away the fact that there were some great swims. Cameron Moore deserves a big thank you and well done for travelling a huge distance and swimming brilliantly. Thanks also to Keith Jamieson who made a fantastic announcer and stayed calm in the face of adversity. So well done to everyone and fingers crossed that we make it to the final which is on 12th December.