Pioneer 79 Swimmers are successful in Sheffield!

Sheffield’s Ponds Forge was the host pool for the 10th Derventio Excel April Level 1 Meet where 39 Pioneer 79 Swimming Club members aged between 10 and 19 competed over two days.  This competition is well attended year upon year, and attracts some of the best clubs and swimmers in the country.  This year was the largest group of swimmers Pioneer 79 have entered for this competition and between them they did exceptionally well, returning with a bucketful of medalsand personal best times.  The event was a Level 1 competition and within the British Summer National Competition Qualification Window, this allows swimmers to produce times which would hopefully place them within the top 24 in their age-group within their chosen events.  Should swimmers still be placed within the top 24 places at the end of the qualifying window, they will receive an invitation to compete at the British Summer Nationals in July, the next 20 fastest swimmers in each event will receive an invitation to attend their respective ‘home nation’ Summer Nationals, these usually take place either the week before or after the British Summer National Championships.

12 year old Ethan Naisbitt competed in the Multi Disability Class however he thoroughly enjoyed competing alongside the ‘able bodied’ swimmers.  By doing so, he achieved some phenominal results, taking gold medals and setting new personal best times in every event he swam, an incredible achievement.  Ethan’s largest pb of the weekend was in the 100m Backstroke where he knocked an unbelievable 6 seconds off his previous best time that he set at the Lancashire County Championships just 2 months earlier!  His mum, Ann was delighted to see the beaming smile on Ethan’s face after each event, “it was a pleasure to see him so happy, Ethan has worked extremely hard in training to get to where he is now, we never in our wildest dreams anticipated him to swim to this standard when he started with the club just 2 years ago.  The commitment by all swimmers and coaches at Pioneer 79 and the input Ethan himself has received on technique has been incredible.  Ethan’s dream of competing at the Paralympics one day may not be off the cards yet!”

Day 1 Medallists:

Elodie Smallwood – 15/16yrs 200m Individual Medley – Gold 

Ethan Naisbitt – 13yrs 50m Freestyle – MD Gold 

Ethan Naisbitt – 13yrs 50m Backstroke – MD Gold 

Tom Gilroy – 17+yrs 50m Backstroke – Gold

Mia Smith – 10/11yrs 50m Breaststroke – Silver 

Lily Gregg – 10/11yrs 100m Backstroke – Silver 

Katie Hale – 10/11yrs 400m Freestyle – Silver 

Katie Hale – 10/11yrs 100m Freestyle – Silver 

Katie Hale – 10/11yrs 200m Individual Medley – Bronze

Katie Hale – 10/11yrs 50m Breaststroke – Bronze 

Joe Murray – 17+yrs 100m Breaststroke – Bronze 

Elodie Smallwood – 15/16yrs 400m Freestyle – Bronze

Harry Robinson – 12yrs 200m Backstroke – Bronze 

Harry Robinson – 12yrs 50m Backstroke – Bronze

Day 2 Medallists:

Tom Gilroy – 17+yrs 100m Backstroke – Gold

Ethan Naisbitt – 13yrs 100m Backstroke – MD Gold 

Ethan Naisbitt – 13yrs 100m Freestyle – MD Gold 

Elodie Smallwood – 15/16yrs 200m Butterfly – Silver

Eleanor Collin – 15/16yrs 100m Breaststroke – Silver

Elodie Smallwood – 15/16yrs 400m Individual Medley – Silver 

Harry Robinson – 12yrs 200m Individual Medley – Bronze

Harry Robinson – 12yrs 100m Backstroke – Bronze 

Elodie Smallwood – 15/16yrs 200m Freestyle – Bronze

Other swimmers who competed at this competition included:

Beth Hartwell, Baylie Seery-Kelly, Mikaela Shackleton, Simone Ellson, Ellie Perris, Leah Williams, Meghann Leaver, Alice Harding, Ben Makin, Tom Baynes, Ben Turland, Charlotte Collin, Ellie Ward, Mariette Braithwaite, AbiMurray, Ella Williams, Isabel Cockerham, Olivia Nicholls, Ben Makin, Kara Pedley, Rachel Waters, Katherine Waters, Kenzi Ormerod, Ruby Cain, Mia Nobbs, Sam Curran, Isabel Martin and Josh Baynes.

Each and every swimmer that competed in Sheffield did themselves and the club proud.  An endless list of new personal best times were set and for many, this was the first time they had competed at this venue.  We, as a club are extremely pleased and excited to see the results from our swimmers, we have an incredible group of talented swimmers who thoroughly enjoy their sport and this shows with their continuous results and improvements at each competition.