119 swimmers aged 12 and under swam in the Junior League Trials on sunday evening, many of the younger swimmers getting their first taste of competition swimming – all the times are now available on the online database which can be found here. With 476 up to date 25m times we are now well placed to select teams for the forthcoming Peanuts and Milton Keynes Leagues.
The numbers of swimmers involved is significantly higher than in recent years thanks to a sustained recruitment campaign over the past 12 months, for which particular thanks must go to Sarah Young and Lauren Wilding, and gives us a good base of swimmers on which to build for the future. It was also very encouraging to see the number of new parents volunteering to help poolside alongside many senior swimmers who turned out to help manage and support their junior colleagues despite it being a rare break from their training and competition commitments.
To get through 76 heats of any distance in only just over an hour and a half is a tribute to the efficiency of the competitor stewards and officials – particular thanks to lead referee Ian Sewell, and judges/starters Sarah Young, Margot Wood and Alia Marsden who provided invaluable feedback to the coaching team on the legality of strokes. Last, but not least, thanks to Marlize Kennell and Phyllis Patrick who masterminded the event from start to finish – their first, but we hope not last, foray into the world of meet organising!