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Pictured are the majority of Pioneer 79's National Swimmers for 2016
2016 ASA Open Water Festival
The first of the 3 National
events this summer was the Amateur Swimming Association’s Open Water Festival, held at
Rother Valley Country Park in Rotherham, Pioneer 79 had 4 swimmers competing. This event was previously known as the ‘ASA
Open Water National Championships’.
For swimmers
to qualify, they must compete in their respective Regional Open Water
Championships – of which, the North West was held in June. From these results, the top 3 placed swimmers
in each age group were then invited by the ASA to compete in Sheffield at the
Open Water Festival.
Beth Hartwell qualified for the 12 year girls
1.5k event, where she finished 20th in a time of 22 mins 07 seconds.
Ben Makin qualified for the 14 year boys 1.5k
event finishing 4th in 18 mins 36 seconds, just 5 seconds behind the
bronze medallist.
In the 16 year
category, Olivia Nicholls completed the 3k event finishing 18th in a
time of 43 mins 51 seconds.
Meghann
Leaver competed in the 17 year age group 5k event, but due to an u
nfortunate incident at the start of the race, she was forced to retire for safety reasons.
nfortunate incident at the start of the race, she was forced to retire for safety reasons.
For each of these swimmers it was their first
experience at this level of competition in an open water event, they each did
themselves and their club proud.
Pictured: (Left to Right) Beth Hartwell, Meghann Leaver, Olivia Nicholls and Ben Makin
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2016 British Summer Championships
4 further swimmers were invited
to compete at the British Summer Championships, held at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, Sheffield - Elodie Smallwood (200m Fly/400m
IM), Ben Martin (50m Free/100m Free), Tom Gilroy (50m Back) and Niamh Robinson
(50m Back, 50m & 100m Fly, 50m, 100m & 200m Breast, 200m & 400m
IM). For swimmers to be invited to
compete at the British Summer Championships, they must achieve a top 24 place
in the Great Britain Rankings for each event in their age group within a 2
month qualifying window. At the end of
the qualifying window, swimmers are invited to attend in each event they qualify
for, this means they will be one of the top 24 swimmers in the country. Ben Martin, Ben Turland, Ewan McKavett and
Ben Makin were also invited to compete in the boys 14-16yrs 4x100m Freestyle
Relay.
Elodie Smallwood swam in the 15
year age group, her first event was the 400m Individual Medley where she
finished 13th overall, just missing out on the final in a pb of
5.10.94. Her second event, the 200m
Butterfly was on Day 3 of the competition. In her heat, she swam another pb of 2.23.24,
where she finished 10th, qualifying for the final later that
day. In the final, she improved both her
time and placing, finishing 9th in another pb of 2.22.52.
Niamh Robinson competed in the
17/18 year age group, swimming as a 17 year old, the split age group was always
going to be a challenge for her. Niamh’s
first event was the 400m Individual Medley, finishing 17th overall. On Day 2, in the 50m Breaststroke her time of
33.73 placed her 14th. Day 3,
in the 200m Breaststroke, she finished 11th, making her first
reserve for the final in a time of 2.38.30.
In the 200m Individual Medley, her time of 2.20.27 earned her a long
awaited place in the final where she went on to improve her time and place from
7th to 6th in a time of 2.19.00. On Day 6, Niamh finished a disappointing 12th
overall in the 100m Breaststroke and finally in the 100m Butterfly she finished
17th. This season has been a
difficult one for Niamh, juggling her GCSE examinations and training so it was
always going to be a year where success could go either way for her. Although disappointed with her results, she
is looking forward to working hard over the next 12 months where she will be
able to concentrate on achieving her new goals and raising her level of
fitness.
Ben Martin competed in the 16
year age group, his first event was the 100m Freestyle, after a superb swim in
his heat, he finished 5th fastest and secured a place in the final
with a new pb of 53.06. In the final, he
finished in a marginally slower time of 53.10, finishing 6th. In the 50m Freestyle, Ben’s time of 24.19
placed him 4th overall, in the final he maintained his position, just
missing out on a medal, but finished in a slightly faster time of 24.12.
On Day 5, Ben was joined by Ben
Turland, Ben Makin and Ewan McKavett to compete in the 14-16 years 4x100m
Freestyle Team event. The team had
qualified to compte in this event due to their fabulous results where they
finished 3rd at the 2016 North West Regional Championships in Manchester in a
time of 3.48.23. Times from all teams
competing in this event throughout the country at their respective Regional
Championships, are collated and placed in time order. The fastest 30 teams in the country are then
invited to compete. The first swimmer
for Pioneer 79 was 16 year old Ben Martin finishing his leg in a time of 54.18,
15 year old Ben Turland swam the second leg in a time of 55.19, next in was 14
year old Ben Makin who finished in 58.48 and Ewan McKavett’s time of 56.86
brought the team into a fantastic 17th position overall in a time of
3.44.71.
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2016 ASA Summer National Championships
The ASA Summer National
Championships is run over 5 days of competition and is also held at Sheffield’s
Ponds Forge pool, Pioneer 79 had a huge presence this year, with an astonishing
11 swimmers’ invited to compete. This
event is for swimmers who are eligible to compete for ‘England’, and selection
is done by choosing the next fastest 20 ‘English’ swimmers in the Rankings
after the top 24 overall fastest swimmers in the UK were invited to compete at
the British Summer Championships.
Running alongside this event, the Welsh, Scottish and Irish National
Championships, all held under the same conditions.
Ethan Naisbitt, Pioneer’s 13 year
old Disability Swimmer has had a phenominal season, he was the first Pioneer 79
swimmer to compete on Day 1, competing in the 100m Freestyle. Ethan swims in the Multi-Classification
event, in the MC events, positions are determined by swimmers achieving points
for their swim, the World Record in each event in each disability class is
worth 1000 points, so as a swimmer finishes, their time is given a number of
points which is respective to the world record in their disability class. Ethan competes in the S9 category and finished
in a new personal best time of 1.18.97 (39th overall). His next event was the 50m Freestyle, is pb
time of 36.46 earned him 36th position in the Multi Class
competition. His final event at this competition
was the 400m Freestyle, his swim earned him is 3rd pb time and he
finished 25th overall. Ethan
competes in an ‘open age’ competition, so he swims against people within his
classification who may be of any age.
Joe Murray (17 years) competed in
both the 50m and 100m Breaststroke. His
first event was the 100m where, in his heat, he set himself a new personal best
time of 1.08.09. This time qualified him
as 7th fastest for the final where he bettered his time further to
1.07.57, finishing 7th. In
the 50m Breaststroke, Joe’s time of 30.79 was once again a huge personal best
time, his time placed him 3rd fastest for the final. The final was very exciting, however,
although improving his time once again, unfortunately Joe dropped a couple of
positions, finishing 6th overall.
Ellie Ward, aged 15 years, qualified
for her first ever National Championships this year Just 18 months ago, upon returning from a
swim camp, Ellie had decided to quit swimming, however, after a couple of
months’ total rest and break from the pool, she returned and has improved
dramatically over the past 12 months.
Once a backstroke swimmer, she has turned into a strong breaststroke swimmer,
qualifying for both the 50m and 100m Breaststroke. Her first event was the 100m event, in the
heat she swam a new pb of 1.17.76, qualifing for the final in 8th
position! Although going on to improve her
time further to 1.17.63 in the final, she unfortunately dropped a place to 9th
overall.
On day 4, Ellie competed in the
50m Breaststroke, having achieved a fabulous result in her 100m, she was
extremely determined to continue her success.
Ellie’s heat time of 35.19 was over a 1 second faster than her previous
pb time and once again, she successfully qualified for the final, this time in
4th position! Returning that
evening for the final, Ellie’s fabulous reaction off the blocks followed by
excellent underwater work gave her a strong start, there was almost a blanket
finish, where Ellie touched in yet another fantastic pb of 34.79, taking the
bronze medal! Ellie’s time was not only
a personal best, but she literally missed out on taking the silver by just 0.1
second!
Eleanor Collin (16 years)
competed in the 50m, 100m and 200m Breaststroke and 100m Backstroke. Her first event was the 100m Breaststroke, where
she qualified 3rd fastest for the final setting, a new pb of
1.16.27, Eleanor went on to produce yet another pb in the final of 1.15.68, unfortunately,
dropping into 5th position.
In the 200m Breaststroke, Eleanor had an exceptional heat swim,
finishing as fastest qualifier for the final in a new pb time of 2.43.84. In the final, Eleanor was determined to give
herself every possible opportunity to take the gold medal, however, although
once again hitting a new pb time of 2.43.29, she was touched out by the
smallest possible margin of just 1/100th of a second putting her into
the silver medal position. 50m
Breaststroke was Eleanor’s next event, in the heat, she qualified 8th
fastest for the final in a time of 35.74, unable to improve her time but
maintaining her 8th position in a time of 35.81. Eleanor’s final event was the 100m
Backstroke, her time of 1.08.19 was yet another pb, qualifying 8th
for the final, but although yet again improving on her time in the final to 1.08.14,
she dropped into 9th position.
Tom Gilroy competed in the 18+
years age group. Although qualifying for
the 50m Backstroke in the British Summer Championships, he was unable to
compete due to having been also selected to compete at the European University
Games in Croatia, being held at the same time!
Tom however, swam in the 100m Backstroke at the ASA Summer Nationals,
his time of 59.35 was slightly off pace for him, however, he qualified 6th
fastest for the final. In the final, Tom
swam a time of 58.52 which was equal to his previous pb time, maintaining his
position in the process.
15 year old Elodie Smallwood, was
invited to swim 5 events at this Competition.
Her first event was the 200m Freestyle, she finished as 1st
reserve for the final in 11th position, marginally off her pb in
2.11.38. On day 2, Elodie swam the 100m
Butterfly, her heat time of 1.06.03 was a new pb and also qualified her 4th
fastest for the final. Her final was an outstanding
swim, smashing the pb she set in the heat finishing in a time of 1.04.74,
winning the bronze medal. Next was the
400m Freestyle, in her heat, Elodie finished 10th overall,
successfully securing a place in the final, her time of 4.37.06 was slightly
off her pb, however, Elodie, renowned for her determination, came back later
that evening and produced the swim of her life, finishing in a time of 4.32.11
setting herself a new pb, taking another bronze medal in the process, pipping
the 4th placed swimmer by just 1/100th of a second! In the 200m Individual Medley, Elodie’s time
of 2.29.01 placed her as first reserve for the final, finishing 11th. Her final event of the week was the 800m
Freestyle. This event was run as a heat
declared winner, which means that due to its length, it is swam just once, with
no finals. Elodie’s time of 9.26.95 was
yet another phenominal new pb which earned her a credible 5th
position in her age group.
Another 1st time
National Swimmer was 16 year old Ellie Perris.
Ellie qualified for the 400m Individual Medley, an event that some may
say, is not an event for the feint hearted!!
Ellie had a very strong swim and finished as 1st reserve for
the final (11th overall) in an incredible new pb time of 5.21.36. A fabulous result for her first time at a
competition of this level.
Meghann Leaver, having already
swam in the Open Water Festival, turned to the pool, she competed in 2 events,
the 400m IM and the 800m Freestyle.
Meghann’s first event was the 400m Individual Medley, having set herself
a new personal best time in the heat of 5.06.74, she qualified 6th
fastest for the final. In the final, she
finished 8th in a slightly slower time of 5.08.81. Meghann’s 800m freestyle was on the final day
of competition. With absolutely nothing
to lose, she put on an amazing swim, finishing in a huge new pb time of
9.18.11, just missing out on the medals, finishing 4th.
15 year old Ben Turland was again
invited to compete in his second National Championships, this year, in 2
events, the 100m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke.
Ben had a breath taking swim in the heat of the 100m Freestyle,
finishing in a new personal best time of 56.55, qualifying 10th
fastest for the final. In the final, he
went on to yet again better his time to 55.94 and improved a place, finishing 9th.
In the 50m Backstroke, although
achieving a new pb of 29.75, he was unable to qualify for the final, finishing
15th.
Ben Martin (16) was invited to
compete in the 50m Breaststroke and 50m Butterfly. In the 50m Breaststroke, he qualified 10th
for the final in a new pb time of 30.79, he went on to yet again improve his
time in the final to 30.74, climbing 4 places, finishing 6th. To finish off what has been the most
successful National Championships for Pioneer 79 Swimming Club, Ben’s final
event was the 50m Butterfly. His time of
26.33 in the heat was a new pb, qualifying fastest for the final. Not phased in any way, the final was
incredible, Ben’s time of 26.02 was not only another new pb time, but he
finished over half a body length ahead of his nearest rival taking home a well
earned gold medal.
Pioneer 79 swimmer, Natasha Rogan
(15) who was competing for Millfield School due to a move she made for studying
a couple of seasons ago, competed in 4 events in Sheffield. Natasha finished 11th overall in
the 50m Backstroke in a time of 32.21 and qualified for finals in the 100m
Backstroke and 200m Individual Medley.
Having had a season of injury, she was disappointed with her results,
however, with the new season soon upon us, we hope she is able to pick up the
pieces and return to top form over the next 12 months.
At the end of the Competition,
out of the Top 60 Clubs, Pioneer finished 33rd overall (90 points)
and in the women’s club, we finished 22nd overall with 61 points, a
huge achievement against some of the country’s top city squads and clubs.
Pioneer 79 Swimming Club is going
from strength to strength, the catchment area is now the biggest its ever been,
spreading from Rochdale, Bury, Bolton, Chorley, Preston, Clitheroe, Yorkshire
and beyond, swimmers and their parents are seeing the club’s success as an
incentive and are wanting to be part of it.
With over 600 members, we are becoming known around the UK as an ‘up and
coming’ club. If you are interested in
finding out more about us, please feel free to have a look at our new website –
www.pioneer79.org.uk, or visit us on
Twitter - @PioneerASC or via Facebook – Pioneer 79 Amateur Swimming Club –
Training Groups – Accrington Academy or just drop us an email: pioneer79lts@gmail.com
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