The 2016 Summer gala took place this year on Saturday the 18th of June. 49 swimmers gathered outside the Nottingham University Pool for a group photo before they got ready to start the heats. Their supporters took their seats on one side of the pool as a sea of swimmers in purple swimming hats and t-shirts got ready on the other side. The girls started the warm up, quickly followed by the boys.
Paul announced the start of the first heat and the swimmers got ready in the starting blocks. The gala is a friendly, competitive club event, encouraging the swimmers to try for PB’s and to show off their swimming skills and technique in front of their friends and families. Without the help of parent volunteers and the enthusiasm of the swimmers and coaches this event could not take place and the atmosphere was buzzing at the start.
The first event was the Boys/Girls 12 years/over 100m backstroke. Out of the 28 swimmers, 4 girls managed to break club records in this race: 2 senior – Rebecca and Dahlia and 2 13/u – Beatrice and Gaby. 14 swimmers swam PB’s with 12 recording first times for this event. Demonstration that most swimmers have been working hard during training!
The second event was the Boys/Girls 11 yrs/under 100m individual medley. 21 swimmers worked hard to register good times and two of the 9/under boys, Efan and Harrison, and one 11/under girl, Angelina, broke some more club records by swimming brilliantly. 14 swimmers achieved PB’s and 5 more set great new times. Credit must also go to the coaches for getting the children to work on their techniques!
The third event was the Boys/Girls 12 Yrs/Over 100m breaststroke and again 11 PB’s and 5 good new times were achieved by the swimmers. Michael broke the 15/under club record.
Event number 4 was the Boys/Girls open 200m Freestyle event. All 49 of the swimmers took part in this event. 27 of them got PB’s and
15 set impressive new times. Beatrice broke a 13/u club record for the second time in this gala! Michael beat coach Matt’s time from 6 years ago!
The last event was the Cannon. 5 teams shouted encouragement at the swimmers taking their turn in trying to touch the side first. By now the swimmers and their supporters weren’t afraid to shout encouragement (after a quiet start) and the atmosphere was brilliant.
Most of the swimmers and their families then made their way over to the after-party in Lenton, where picnics were spread out and several activities took place for the swimmers. Many of them braved the climbing wall and still had enough energy to get all the way to the top and the music and activities meant a good time was had by all. Well deserved medals were handed out to all the gold, silver and bronze swimmers.
Another successful summer gala took place this Saturday evening. Congratulations to the swimmers and thank you to the families, friends and volunteers for making this a very enjoyable event.
Medals chart and photos from the presentation evening can be seen in Swimmers’ Corner. Just log in and go to Gala News.
