Another two days of Counties racing was upon us, so early morning starts (though the Beechdale venue meant not painfully early) and chlorine infused air would feature prominently this weekend for several Portland families.
DAY 3
200m BACKSTROKE:
Lark or owl? Isabelle must be a lark – the first Portland swimmer to go in the first of Saturday’s events, she knocked 7 seconds of her previous best time!
Next up, Cecily, who swam with gusto to beat her PB.
Then it was Olivia’s heat. Fast arms helped slice 6 seconds off her PB!
Onto the 100m BREASTSTROKE; Dahlia put in a good swim against strong competition in one of the fastest heats.
The lunch break brought a change in personnel, with the exception of Dahlia who’d be there for the day; and all would compete in the same event – the 200m INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY:
Dahlia fought hard again, as did Rebecca H who took 2 seconds off her previous best time.
For one family, it was same event, same heat, adjacent lanes! Jaime and Olivia formed a purple centre in the line-up, lanes 3 and 4. Their different favoured strokes generated much excitement for Portland onlookers, but no doubt quite a bit of stress for mum and dad! Fast heartbeats all-round, fast times – Jaime got a 4 second PB and Olivia 2 second PB!
Happy families – good time to go home ….
DAY 4
Back again! This morning-only session for Portland would be a FREESTYLE affair today – the girls over 100m distance and the boys over 50m.
The girls kicked off determinedly: Jaime posted the first PB – 2 seconds – displaying a smile for all to see, Rebecca the next with a 1 second PB and Dahlia only just missed out.
The boys followed suit: Stanley succeeded in getting a PB and so did Ben by nearly 3 seconds! Think you have quick reactions? Think again – you obviously haven’t seen Ben’s super-quick starts! Amazing.
Well done to everyone for another fantastic weekend of swimming. Congratulations to Jamie and Rebecca for a full set of PBs on every day of the Championships so far.
A huge THANK YOU!!! once more to Dom and Dan for being there to help the swimmers so much with support and encouragement.
The final day of Counties will take place on Sunday 30 March.
