Whilst the the athletics team at the English Institute of Sport secured a superb second place, raking in the medals, the swimmers were slightly less fortunate over at Ponds Forge, Sheffield’s home of swimming. Despite not winning any medals, the team did secure a respectable 7th place in an extremely competitive field.
Regardless, every single team member performed admirably, many toppling previous PB’s in what is the premium intra-university swimming competition. Bronze scholar Zoe Bozzard-Hill, 5th in the 50m freestyle, set a new lifetime best of 26.77 seconds. Charlotte Taylor also competed in both 100m and 50m butterfly finals, coming 7th and 8th respectively, setting PBs in both. Steve Wilson, 7th in the 200m freestyle, also smashed his PB with a time of of 1:03.64, as well as setting a PB in the 100m freestyle. Steve Wilson, 7th in the 200m freestyle, also improved his PB with a time of of 1:03.64, as well as setting a PB in the 100m freestyle. Incredible achievements.
Slow mo video from the current backstroke heats. @BUCSsport #BUCSNationals #art pic.twitter.com/TyGp3ODvOA
— BurnFM Sport (@BurnFM_Sport) February 21, 2016
Silver scholar Joe Marsh came 9th and 4th respectively in the 100m and 50m butterfly. In his last ever races for the club, after competing for the University for 6 years and accumulating 229 BUCS points in total; Joe deserves a lot of credit for his efforts and commitment.
Other notable performances include Abby Smith who came 7th in the 800m freestyle, Emily Lane who secured 9th in the 100m backstroke, and finally Lizzie Grey who swam to 9th place in the 50m breaststroke.
In the team races, bronze scholar Guy Giles was part of the 400m free relay team that placed 6th in the final, alongside Joe Marsh and Steve Wilson. The latter two, joined by Dylan Jones, also helped Birmingham to 7th in the 400m open medley relay.
Whilst UoB’s swimmers might not have claimed as many medals as they’d have liked at this year’s finals, the quantity of athletes who made it through their heats to the finals over the course of the weekend is promising for the club – and will certainly have pleased Head Coach Gary Humpage.
See below for a host of commentaries from the days events, even an interview with Coach Gary Humpage.
Jack Fantham
