It was an exciting day for the UoB Swimming Club as the Swimmers battled against Universities across from the country at BUCS Long Course in Ponds Forge, Sheffield. The squad, who train 17 hours per week, had some great races, smashing their own PBs and club records in what was a very successful weekend!
Sunday saw the remaining heats in the morning session, with Birmingham sitting very proudly in 6th place. Many disqualifications occurred but Birmingham ensured they did not to fall victim to this. Chloe Davies won two silvers in the 100 free and 100 back heats, and Kieran Rookes won his 100m Breaststroke heat in a PB time of 1:07.82 Sports Scholar Ffion Butler came 2nd in her 100m Backstroke heat, and Zoe Blozzard-Hill achieved a Club Record with a time of 0:58. in the Womens 100m Freestyle heat. Head Coach Gary Humpage beamed saying ‘the team have worked very hard in training, and they’re all in PB performances this weekend- we’ve had some exceptional swims’.
The finals kicked off for Birmingham with the Women’s 100m Breaststroke. Ellen Stone beat her heat time by about 1 second to place 8th with a time of 1:15.51 in a very strong line-up. Next up was Ella Windle who too swam faster than her heat in the 200m Medley final to place 7th with a time of 2:28.39. Charlotte Taylor achieved her PB in the 50m Fly in a time of 28.78, although she came 9th, she audio swam faster than in her heat and moved up a place. Meanwhile, Jonathan Bennett also put in a very strong performance against an existing record holder in the Men’s 100m Backstroke, coming 10th with a time of 1:05.82.
Finally, it was time for the two 400m Medley Relays. First up were the girls- Jessica Shaw, Abbie Johnson, Charlotte Taylor and Abby Smith. It was an extremely impressive performance as they come 4th overall and swam 6 seconds faster than in their heat. The final race of the weekend saw the boys- Jonathan Bennett, Kieran Rookes, Dylan Jones and Club Captain Steve Wilson. They too swam extremely well in a huge final against extremely tough competition.
Overall, the Birmingham Swimming team should be extremely proud of themselves this weekend. Loughborough, of course, swept up a host of medals and BUCS records as did Stirling swimmers in the individual finals. But credit must be given to the Birmingham Swimmers who really gave it their all in the pool by beating their own records. Having achieved incredible results, the future of this club is looking very bright indeed!
