Pioneer Swimmers selected to represent Lancashire

Two Pioneer 79 Swimmers have been formally invited to represent Lancashire at the forthcoming Inter-County Championships which will be held in Sheffield next month.

(Pictured P79 Head Coach, Mike Wilson with Niamh and Ben)

For 16 year old Ben Martin this came as a total surprise to him - knowing that his age group for this year is joint 16-17 years, he was delighted to receive the unexpected news last week.  Ben represented Lancashire last year for the first time in 2015 where he competed in 3 events; in the 14/15 years 4x50m Medley Team, Ben did the butterfly leg and the team finished 1st overall.  In his individual event, due to slipping on the blocks at the start, he finished 13th, in a slightly disappointing time, however his final event was the mixed 6x50m Freestyle Team Relay, bringing the team home in 1st position with his final leg swim of 23.85!

17 year old Niamh Robinson was also extremely pleased to receive the news last week, this year will be her 3rd successive call up and her final one as next year, being 18, she will be too old!  Last year, Niamh finished 3rd in the 100m Breaststroke, less than 1/4 of a second behind Georgia Coates who represented Team GB this year in Rio at the Olympic Games!  Niamh also competed in the 4x50m Medley Relay where the team finished 2nd overall.

Lancashire will have a lot to prove this year in Sheffield, as for the past 14 consecutive years, they have brought the A Division Title back home with them, so fingers crossed they can make it 15!  We wish them both the very best of luck as they take on 19 other counties.