Venue: Beechdale Swimming Baths
Date: Sunday 24th June 2012
Was this a first? For once Portland swimmers outnumbered Leander swimmers on poolside and certainly got themselves noticed at this event which saw some swimmers ‘trying out’ for their very first time in an open meet, some trying some different events and some making finals. It was fantastic to see finals featuring more than one Portland swimmer, an achievement which did not go unnoticed amongst the swimming fraternity.
Altogether (if I’ve got my sums right and forgive me if I haven’t) swimmers posted 30 PBs, 1 new time and 6 new PBs from heats to finals. We had 12 finalists, with 3 of the finals featuring two swimmers.
Special mentions to:
- Enid Williamson on some very brave swims in her first Open Meet, especially in the 50 free where the goggle gremlin once more reared its ugly head. Enid was very nervous but you would never have known.
- Hannah Williams for either a first or a rare Open Meet appearance, once again giving two confident performances, with a PB in the 50 free.
- Jaime Misiuda for the swims of the meet, especially in the 50 free and 50 breaststroke finals where she edged ever closer to one of her main rivals, with PBs in both.
- Holly McGarva, Jaime Misiuda, Olivia Misiuda and Jack Harmer for PBs in the heats which they then bettered again in their finals.
- So once again, the Portland kit bags were chinking nicely as the collection of trophies made its way home but, whether they were a trophy winner or not, all swimmers should be proud of themselves for confident, competitive swims representing our great club. This was a really good meet for anyone wanting to try an open event for the first time so it might be one to look out for next time.
Thanks to Nottingham Northern officials for allowing some of us to shadow for the day and, as always, thanks to Grant for hanging on in there despite a marathon 14 hours on poolside altogether!
