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Wirral Metro Swimming Club (WMSC) has had a successful campaign at the Swim England North West Regionals at Liverpool Aquatics Centre in Wavertree.
The first event WMSC competed in was the Girls 100m Butterfly. Gia Hothersall and Tash McDonnell comfortably qualified for the finals.
Next into the water was Megan Pendleton who secured a Top 8 finish in the Girls 800m Freestyle. WMSC finished the morning session with finals, Tash won Bronze and Gia finished 5th in the 100m Butterfly.
The afternoon session was quiet for WMSC, whose only swimmer in action was Megan and she claimed a Top 8 finish in the Girls 200m Freestyle.
Day 2 began with Tash in the 50m Butterfly, and she breezed through to the final, and Gia achieved a Top 8 finish in the Girls 400m Individual Medley. In the final of the 50m Butterfly, Tash also achieved a Top 8 finish.
The final session of the weekend saw Tash and Gia qualify again for the finals. This time the event was the Girls 200m Butterfly. Meg competed in the Girls 400m Freestyle and once finished in the Top 8. In the final of the 200m Butterfly, Tash picked up Silver and Gia got the bronze.
Moving onto the Second Weekend at Liverpool Aquatics Centre, this time for Age Group Regionals, in the Girls 200m Butterfly, Abbie Roscoe, Millie McKeown, Izzy Taylor and Emily French all swam well and Abbie made it through to her final.
Next in the water were the 50m Swimmers Boys Fly and Girls Backstroke, Freddy Ball, Lily Horton and Petra Varga, alas no finals in these.
Freddy was joined by Luke Kavanagh in the next event Boys 200m Freestyle, Luke made first reserve for the final.
The last event before the finals in the morning session was the 800m Girls Freestyle, Annabelle Rogan was joined by Emily and Izzy. Annabelle achieved a Top 8 finish in her Age Group.
The morning session finished with finals. The only WMSC finalist was Abbie in the 200m Butterfly, she swam with her usual determination and won a Silver Medal with a time of 2:33.60.
The Saturday afternoon session began with the Freddy Ball and Luke Kavanagh show in the 50m Freestyle good swims but no finals for the boys. The 100m Girls Freestyle followed and Annabelle and Abbie both swam well, with Abbie reaching the final.
In the next event, Freddy Ball was WMSC’s only Men’s 200m Individual Medley entrant and swam well in his first experience of Regional Swimming competition.
The next event for WMSC was the Girls 100m Breaststroke. It was Sophia’s first regional event, and she swam fantastically well. WMSC girls, Lily, Petra and Abbie all made finals.
The final event of Saturday’s session before the finals was the Boys 400m Freestyle. Daniel French competed alongside Luke Kavanagh in this event, and both swam with authority and achieved outstanding times.
Onto the final set of finals for the day and Abbie in the 100m Freestyle took second place and secured Silver.
Then the Breaststroke girls, Lily and Petra finished 5th and 6th respectively both with exceptional times through the heats and finals. Abbie battled her way to Silver Medal position in her Age Group.
The following day’s morning session began with the Girls 200m Freestyle. Abbie and Annabelle swam great swims and Abbie made the final. Lily and Petra were next in the pool in 100m Backstroke; no finals but solid swims. WMSC only made one final, but Abbie won a Bronze Medal in the 200m Freestyle.
The afternoon session began with Freddy and Luke in the 100m Freestyle, followed by Abbie, Lily and Petra in the Girls 200m Individual Medley. Abbie and Lily both made the finals.
Next up were Casey Costain, Freddy and Daniel in the 200m Backstroke, who all put in a good effort. The final event in this session was the 400m Freestyle. WMSC had many swimmers in this event; Bethan James, Sophie Wright, Millie McKeown, Emily French, Izzy Taylor and Annabelle Rogan competed, who all had great swims with equally good times. The finals were next, resulting in a Bronze for Abbie in the 200m Individual Medley.
On the last weekend of what appeared to be a long competition in the Girls 100m Butterfly, Annabelle Rogan produced a great swim with a good Personal Best.
Then it was the Breaststroke hour; Daniel French swam the Boys 50m, and a plethora of girls, Sophia Woof, Abbie Roscoe, Millie McKeown, Izzy Taylor, Petra Varga, and Lily Horton in the 200m Breaststroke, who all had good all-round swims with Abbie, Lily, and Petra making it to the finals.
All three girls had amazing swims; Abbie achieved Silver, Lily the Bronze, and Petra was not far behind in fourth place.
The afternoon session began with the Boys 100m Butterfly. Freddy Ball swam and produced a great swim. Back to Breaststroke 50m for Girls, super swims from Abbie, Sophia, Lily and Petra, then it was Boys 200m Breast which Daniel French just missed out on a place in the final, unlike Abbie, Sophia, and Lily who progressed to their respective finals.
The final event before the finals was the 1500m Girls Freestyle; Annabelle Rogan, Izzy Taylor, Tash McDonnell, Gia Hothersall, and Megan Pendleton all competed. All Ladies achieved Top 8 finishes and Tash received a Bronze Medal for her efforts. In the Girls 50m Breaststroke Finals, all swims were fantastic and Abbie got Silver.
On the final day, first up were Freddy Ball and Luke Kavanagh in the 100m Backstroke, followed by the 200m Butterfly in which Freddy competed and secured a place in the final.
Following Freddy’s swims was the Girls 400m Individual Medley. Millie McKeown, Izzy Taylor, Abbie Roscoe, Emily French, Seren Coombes, and Lily Horton all competed. Abbie received a Silver Medal and Lily a Bronze. Freddy competed in the 200m Butterfly Final and again produced a great swim.
The final session started for WMSC with the 100m Girls Backstroke; Abbie, Millie, and Lily competed. In the Boys 100m Breaststroke, Daniel competed but didn’t make the final. He was, however, the fastest 11 year old in the region.
The 50m Freestyle Girls was next; Abbie, Annabelle, and Petra competed and each girl produced superb times. Abbie supplemented her final appearance in the Backstroke with the Freestyle. A top 8 finish in those event finals complemented a great meet for Abbie, indeed a great meet for everyone who competed.
The quote of the competition came from Daniel French “If you’re swimming well, you’re swimming well” and to be honest you can’t argue with that.
WMSC is still in the qualification window for the British Championships in July and for the Nationals in August. They should find out next week if any of their swimmers will be invited to compete.
Meet overview:
Megan Pendleton 5th 800m FreestyleTash McDonnell Bronze 100m ButterflyGia Hothersall 5th 100m ButterflyMegan Pendleton 7th 200m FreestyleGia Hothersall 4th 400m Individual MedleyTash McDonnell 7th 50m ButterflyMegan Pendleton 5th 400m FreestyleTash McDonnell Silver 200m ButterflyGia Hothersall Bronze 200m Butterfly
Annabelle Rogan 8th 800m FreestyleAbbie Roscoe Silver 200m ButterflyLuke Kavanagh 8th 400m FreestyleAbbie Roscoe Silver 100m FreestyleAbbie Roscoe Silver 100m BreaststrokeLily Horton 5th 100m BreaststrokePetra Varga 6th 100m BreaststrokeAbbie Roscoe Bronze 200m FreestyleAbbie Roscoe Bronze 200m Individual MedleyLily Horton 7th 200m Individual Medley
Abbie Roscoe Silver 200m BreaststrokeLily Horton Bronze 200m BreaststrokePetra Varga 4th 200m BreaststrokeAnnabelle Rogan 5th 1500m FreestyleIzzy Taylor 6th 1500m FreestyleTash McDonnell Bronze 1500m FreestyleMegan Pendleton 5th 1500m FreestyleGia Hothersall 6th 1500m FreestyleSophia Woof 5th 50m BreaststrokeAbbie Roscoe Silver 50m BreaststrokeLily Horton 6th 50m BreaststrokeAbbie Roscoe Silver 400m Individual MedleyLily Horton Bronze 400m Individual MedleyFreddy Ball 6th 200m ButterflyAbbie Roscoe 6th 200m BackstrokeAbbie Roscoe 5th 50m Freestyle
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