National Swimming Finals at the London Aquatic Centre
An exciting day out at the London Aquatic Centre was had by six Davenies boys, all of whom qualified for the National Swimming Finals back in February.
First up were the U10 Freestyle Relay team who needed to ‘hit the pool swimming’ in their heat declared winners final. In short, they delivered! Qualifying in 18th place before the day, they smashed their PB by seven seconds (aided in part by blocks at both ends) to finish 12th overall. From an original starting line-up of 108 schools, that is an immense result. Well done to Connor Batchelor, Archie Inch, Nicholas Craggs and Harris Lafferty. Nicholas then stayed on for Session 2 to race his preliminary round in the U10 Freestyle event. Two heats of ten swimmers to select a final andNicholas swam very fast, but he finished 11th… 0.02s outside that all important 10th place finishing time! A fantastic effort considering his qualifying place was 13th/126. Last up, and after a patient wait, Oliver Jones competed in his U12 50m Butterfly race. In a grueling race and amidst a high quality field, Oliver improved his qualifying time by a second and placing by two places, but outside a final placing spot.
Congratulations to all the swimmers – a really fun outing to the impressive LAC. The boys did Davenies very proud with their efforts, swim-ability and camaraderie.
