Pioneer Swimmers Invade Harrogate!

It’s been an extremely busy time for Pioneer 79 Swimming Club and competitions.  A large contingent of over 40 Pioneer 79 swimmers travelled just over the border to compete in the Harrogate Spa Gala recently.  This event is very popular and is usually full within minutes of accepting entries.  It was great to see so many young swimmers from the Accrington based Club competing and the poolside packed with a sea of red, black and white kit.  The event, although a Level 3 standard, was split into two levels of competition, ‘A’ Grade and ‘B’ Grade, this encouraged the swimmers who may not usually win medals to return home with some recognition of their hard work and give them a huge sense of achievement.  As well as the unusual layout of Grading the meet, swimmers also competed together in mixed heats of both boys and girls which was also completely different for both the swimmers and parents alike!

The Hydro Pool, Harrogate was jammed packed throughout the full weekend and the blistering heat on poolside and in the galleries was immense, however, after 2 full days of hard competing, the results achieved by our Pioneer 79 swimmers was incredible.  Between them, in the ‘A’ Grade Meet they returned with 32 gold, 30 silver and 34 bronze medals whilst in the ‘B’ Grade Meet another 18 Gold, 13 Silver and 17 Bronze medals were won!  

The swimmers were also aiming to achieve Regional Qualifying Times throughout the event, and our Pioneer 79 swimmers achieved 34 between them.  The most incredible of them all was achieved by 10 year old Katie Hale, who in the 400m Individual Medley, achieved her first ever RQT to enable her to compete in the 11/12 year age category later this month, in doing so, she also walked away with the only ‘Speeding Ticket’ of the competition for our Pioneer swimmers, which means that she was actually ‘Too Fast’ for a medal!! This is a fabulous achievement and we would like to congratulate Katie and wish her the very best of luck at the Age Group Regional Championships.

Our ‘A’ Grade Meet medallists at this competition were:

Simone Ellson(3G,1S), Jacob Gibson(1B), Charlotte Collin(2G,4S), Izabel Forrest(3G,3S,2B), Charlotte Dunn(2G,4S,3B), Grace Holland(1S), Lily Gregg(1B), BalyieSeery-Kelly(2G,1S), Sam Curran (2G,3S,2B), Leah Williams(3G,3S,2B), Matt Sharpe(3G,2S), Olivia Nicholls(2S,2B), Caitlin Armstrong(1B), Beth Hartwell(4G,4S,1B), Mia Smith(1S,3B), Ellie Ward(2G,1B), Ben Gibbs(3G), Kara Pedley(1B), Alishia Heath(1B), Ruby Cain(1S), Tom Baynes(1B), Martha Smith(1G,2B), Isabel Martin(1S,1B), Mia Newton(1S), Jasmin Lahey(1G).

Our ‘B’ Grade Meet medallists at this competition were:

Emily Sharpe(1G,1S), Grace Holland(1S), Anya Pedley(1S), Amy Barlow(2S,2B), Caitlin Woodend(1B), Isabel Martin(1G), Ryan Armstrong(1B), Jake Cooper(1G,1B), Josh Baynes(1B), Rachel Waters(2G,1B), Emily Nuttall(2G,1S,1B), Tom Baynes(1G), Sam Curran(1G), Erin Leaver(1S,1B), Sam Fenton(3S), Amelia Moss(2G), Katherine Waters(2G,1S,1B), Kenzi Ormerod(2G,2B), Ella Williams(1S), Mia Nobbs(1G), Kara Pedley(1B), Daisy Moss(2B)

Coach, Ste Davison commented upon return, ‘I would like to congratulate every one of our swimmers on yet again, another massively successful weekend of racing, including many personal best times, Regional Qualifying Times, we truly are a team full of team spirit, words cannot express how proud of you all I am, the parents’ support over both days was incredible, well done to everyone on yet another successful competition’.