Swimming Academy Success at Under 15 and Under 18 Relays
On Friday 26 January, our swimmers took part in a highly competitive swimming gala at Perdiswell Leisure Centre, which is the home of the RGS Swimming Academy. Our Under 15 Boys’ and Girls’ teams consisted of all Year Nine pupils, which means they have another year to compete at this age group. The Under 18 Girls’ team also consisted of only Year Eleven pupils and therefore were competing two years below their age group. With our Academy coaches, Mark Hill and Jon Fletcher keeping a keen eye on each individual split times, our pupils were guided and challenged throughout the qualifying round and finals.
The Under 18 Girls made both A finals in the medley relay (6th place) and freestyle relay (7th) and the Under 15 Boys just missed out on the A finals in each of the relay events but did finish third in the B final. Following on from their success at the ESSA National relay finals, the Under 15 Girls showed their class and potential. In the medley relay, they qualified a huge eight seconds faster than their nearest rival and, with safe changeovers, won the A final by five seconds! The freestyle relay A final was a closer race, with our girls proving to be too strong for the hosts and they again came away with the Gold medals by nearly three seconds. This was a fantastic achievement against some of the top swimming schools in the area.
All of our swimmers were a credit to RGS and there was fantastic camaraderie amongst the group throughout the gala. Well done to all our swimmers and Academy coaches. Our grateful thanks must also go to our parents who continue to travel around the country to support our swimmers and ensure they wake up early to train in our Academy.
Mr Stuart Davis, Head of Swimming