Lancashire County Championships 2016

47 Pioneer 79 Swimmers competed at the Lancashire County Swimming Championships in Manchester..  For swimmers to be eligible to compete at this competition, they must have achieved qualifying times over the previous 12 months for each event entered.  Swimmers must be 10 by the 31st December of that year to be in able to compete at these championships under the new ASA Rules.  The Lancashire County Championships have been held in March for many years; however, again, with the ASA changing its Rules and Competition Structure, the County Championships now have to take place within a 5 week window running in January and February. The results this year for Pioneer 79 Swimming Club is undoubtedly the most successful to date, with the club finishing 6th position overall in the ‘Top Club’ rankings - 124 points clear of Wigan and just 32 points behind Preston who finished in 5th position with the big city clubs taking the top 4 places.  

Mike Wilson, Head Coach at Pioneer 79 said “I am extremely pleased with the performances that our swimmers produced at this competition. It has been a difficult transformation for them to compete long course after the Christmas Break, having been competing short course events prior to that since September.  This year’s County Championships have shown some promising results with such, can only strengthen the identity of Pioneer 79 Swimming Club within Lancashire and the North West.  For a minority, this was the first time they had swam in, let alone competed in a long course (50m) pool, they adapted well, and with further opportunities of competing and training in a 50m pool, their confidence can only grow.  I would like to congratulate every swimmer competing and wish them the very best of luck for the next 7 months.”

After 2 busy weekends of tough competition our Pioneer 79 Swimmers between them achieved:

• 161 ‘Top 10’ Placings

• 75 ‘Finalists’

• 9 ‘Age Group’ Gold Medals

• 14 ‘Age Group’ Silver Medals

• 16 ‘Age Group’ Bronze Medals

• 2 ‘Junior Championship’ Gold Medals

• 2 ‘Junior Championship’ Silver Medals

• 3 ‘Junior Championship’ Bronze Medals

• 4 ‘Senior Championship’ Gold Medals

• 4 ‘Senior Championship’ Silver Medals

• 5 ‘Senior Championship’ Bronze Medals

• 4 ‘British Championship Qualifying Times’ (Olympic Trials)

• Unbelievable amount of new Personal Best Times......

• A total of 30 swimmers achieving a staggering 193 Regional Qualifying Times between them! 

Medallists:

Jess Simpson – 1 Bronze

Eleanor Collin – 1 Gold, 1 Silver, 3 Bronze, 1 JC Silver

Ben Turland – 1 Silver, 2 Bronze

Tom Gilroy – 1 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 SC Gold, 1 SC Silver

Ben Martin – 2 Gold, 1 Silver, 2 JC Gold, 1 JC Bronze, 1 SC Bronze

Izzy Cockerham – 2 Silver, 1 Bronze

Meghann Leaver – 1 Silver, 1 Bronze, 1 SC Silver, 1 SC Bronze

Beth Hartwell – 1 Bronze

Harry Robinson – 1 Silver, 2 Bronze

Elodie Smallwood – 2 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 JC Silver, 2 JC Bronze

Mikaela Shackleton – 1 Bronze

Ellie Perris – 1 Bronze

Ben Makin – 1 Silver

Niamh Robinson – 3 Gold, 3 Silver, 3 Bronze, 3 SC Gold, 2 SC Silver, 3 SC Bronze

Finalists:

Mia Smith, Lily Gregg, Baylie Seery-Kelly, Leah Williams, Martha Smith, Izzy Cockerham, Niamh Robinson, Ellie Perris, Beth Hartwell, Simone Ellson, Harry Robinson, Ewan McKavett, Ben Martin, Ben Turland, Tom Gilroy, Eleanor Collin, Mariette Braithwaite, Sam Curran, Ben Makin, Joe Murray, Isabel Martin, Jess Simpson, Elodie Smallwood, Olivia Nicholls, MeghannLeaver.

RQT’s:

Ethan Naisbitt, Harry Robinson, Ben Makin, Matt Sharpe, Ben Turland, Ewan McKavett, Ben Martin, Baylie Seery-Kelly, Beth Hartwell, Isabel Martin, Ruby Cain, Maddie Rogan, Jasmin Lahey, Mikaela Shackleton, Simone Ellson, Meghann Leaver, Alice Harding, Elodie Smallwood, Ellie Ward, Olivia Nicholls, Charlotte Dunn, Leah Williams, Izzy Cockerham, Eleanor Collin, Niamh Robinson, Sam Curran, Joe Murray, Mariette Braithwaite, Ellie Perris, Emily Nuttall.

British Championships Qualifying Times:

Niamh Robinson

British Para-Swimming International Qualifying Times:

Ethan Naisbitt

The coaching staff and the Pioneer 79 Swimming Club’s Committee would like to congratulate all our swimmers on their fine performances at this event and wish them all the very best in the forthcoming competitions.