REGIONAL ROUND UP

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Vikings find it tough at Regional Gala.

Amid hundreds of entries, Norfolk’s smallest  swimming  club,  North Norfolk Vikings still managed to have four individual qualifiers and a men’s relay team for the Eastern Regional Championships held in Luton.
As expected competition was fierce but ladies club captain Leah Harris still managed to go 1:12.07 over 100m butterfly long course and in the freestyle she completed the 100m in 1 04.28. It was another 100m for 18 year old Harry Hudson who was well below a minute when he touched the pad in 56.85. for the freestyle.
Lily Herring came third In the 400m Freestyle when the combined multi-classification para swimming points were announced after a very demanding 400m freestyle finishing on 5::51.64 .Herring came third again in the multi classification over the shorter distance of 100m with her 1:19.56.
Isaac Buchan handled four events  400 IM 5 24.08  400 freestyle 4:36.04,100 butterfly 1.04.52  and the 200m backstroke 2 27.42. All his swims were personal bests and in the 400m freestyle the 15 year old finished in sixth place..
The climax of the gala for the Vikings  was the 4 x 100 Men’s Freestyle Relay consisting of Ashley Jones, Lewis Goultry, Sam Morton and Harry Hudson. Jones, Goultry and Hudson all broke a minute for the 100m with men’s club captain Morton going just over a minute in !;01.61. and subsequently the team  finished eighth with 3:56.48.
They were only one of two Norfolk clubs in the final. The eventual winners were the City of Norwich who just out touched the City of Cambridge  in a very close finish. After the gala, a member of the Viking coaching staff said
“Although no one medalled  competing at this level has been a valuable experience for all the swimmers and full credit to the relay team as this was the first time in the club’s history they were able to field a team at this level.”
More to come….

SAM MOVES ON

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Sam moves on to pastures new
 Sam has moved on and taking up the lead coach role with Dereham Otters.
 In his time, he has steered the club through the Covid period and coached swimmers to reach County, Regional and National level. Last year, the club recorded its most successful year in its forty five year history whilst numbers have increased significantly.
He had lead by example competing him self in masters events. In 2023   he broke the 800m Eastern Regional Record going 10.46.78 at Crawley
In a statement to all the swimmers, club chair Sarah Buchan paid him tribute
   :
“Sam has been with us for 5 years and has helped grow the membership of the club through what were a difficult few years of Covid. The club has gone from strength to strength with its numbers and performances and this is down to Sam’s lead.”
Shortly after his resignation Sam said
“I have loved working and sharing poolside with you all . I wish you all the best in the future.”
 The club hope to have a replacement Lead Coach as soon as possible

MAY BANK HOLIDAY MONDAYS

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There will be no training on either of the bank holiday Mondays in May (6th & 27th) However, Saturday and Sundays are as normal.

VIKINGS IN MEDAL HAUL

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Vikings In Medal Haul At Swim Gala
A strong junior North Norfolk Vikings Swimming team descended on Dereham Leisure Centre for the Easter Mini Meet ably hosted by the Dereham Otters Swimming Club and achieved  thirty seven medals in one afternoon.
Brother and sister Finn and Layla Callaby got the Vikings off to a flying start by winning golds as early as the first and second events. They were both achieved over 50m backstroke when Finn went  55.26 and his elder sister Layla touched in 40.41.respectively. There was more backstroke success over the same distance when Imogen Laws won her first  gold of the afternoon with  41.62  with Anna Thurston and Milly Edridge making it a bronze each.
Over 100m backstroke, the female quartet all medalled again with both Layla and Imogen collecting their second golds  in 1:31.25 and 1:36.72 respectively.  Anna Thurston went one better with a silver in 1:36.29 and Milly, meanwhile,  gained her second bronze of the afternoon with 1:47.27.Anna, Layla and Imogen went on to have an outstanding gala all winning six medals each.

Anna Turner made a successful return to the Dereham pool and repeated her form from last October  Anna swam 47.30 for gold in the 50m butterfly and then in the 100m breaststroke,  took bronze with 1:53.04.  In  the final event of the day, the 100m freestyle, she made it a hat trick in another personal best time of 1:24.84 claiming silver.

Holly Cartwright won her very first gold medal for the club in the  100m freestyle, covering the course in 1:50.43. Her 10 year old twin sister Tessa, earned two bronze medals respectively for 50m freestyle 47.89 and 50m  breaststroke 1.06.81.Their eldest sister, 12 year old Isla rose to the challenge  when she swam all the strokes over 100m Individual Medley finishing third in 1.50.29 to collect a bronze.
First time gold medals also came from Niamh Corfield in 1:09:58 and Lucy Fincher who scored 1:04:63. as both recorded personal best times over 50m breastroke in respective age groups as did   Willow Hopkin  for 50m freestyle. in 48.21 Willow added a silver to her gold  for 50m breaststroke  1.10.21.
Niamh Corfield found her self in the medals again when she went 58.01 for 50m freestyle achieving a bronze. It was the same distance and event when Isla Haynes, gained a silver 50m freestyle in 41.54 for her respective age group.
Lexie Parker, Darcy Lee,  Amelia Hudson,  Emilia Sequeira-Reis, Heidi Smith and Zerif Gokmen. all swam well even though they did not medal this time.

 

 

LEXIE DELIVERS SILVER SERVICE

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Lexie delivers   silver service at swim gala
Lexie Parker  swam at the West Norfolk Swimming Gala in Kings Lynn and achieved three silver medals and a bronze recording  a personal best time on each outing.
Lexie, who has recently moved from the club’s Development Squad into squad “C” rose to the occasion and achieved her silvers all over 50m.  These were the backstroke 53.63,  freestyle 51.30  and butterfly 59.73. The 10 year old’s bronze medal came in the 100m freestyle when she touched in 1:43.77, improving her time by an outstanding 20 seconds
 Imogen Laws  aged 10, came away with three bronze medals. Her first one was the 100m freestyle when she scored 1:22.04 and in the 100m backstroke she went 1:34.37. It was backstroke again for her third medal when she completed  the  50m  finishing in 42.59  Imogen too recorded personal best times in all her swims.
Toby Corfield was the only Viking gold medallist at the gala. The year 11 year old covered 100m freestyle in 1:15.89 and then made it a double gold when he won the 100m butterfly in 1:31.08 respectively. Toby just finished short over the 200m backstroke when he had to settle for a silver in  3:03.44 missing the gold by just three tenths of a second.
 Vikings also  achieved  three more bronze medals through Leona Scott, 100backstroke 1:27.99, George Edridge 200 freestyle 2:22.55 and Layla Callaby 50m backstroke 41.19 50.
Also Ashley Jones,  Zak Edridge, Evie Bates,  Razvan Platon,  Anna Thurston, Mily Edridge and Darcey Lee also represented us at the gala
Well done to all our swimmers who took part.

WORLD RANKINGS FOR LILY

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Lily achieves world swimming rankings
Lily Herring  has just returned from the Para World Series held in Aberdeen and achieved a considerable amount of success.
. After a flight from Heathrow, in order to get her there on time, she was in  action early competing in the S10 category. Herring went – 1:17.60 for the  100 freestyle finishing in the FINA world category  54 out of 75   and 17 out of 28 in the junior world category. However, she did not quite make the British  final but was 2nd reserve.
In the 400m freestyle, Herring did make the British final and went 5:51.44.finishing seventh Although it was not enough to win it did place her 31 out of 42 in the world category and 10 out of 18 in the junior world category. Afterwards the 15 year old said
“It was great to compete with other para swimmers and to be able to see a world event. I look forward to competing with everyone again in the future.”
Meanwhile the club have been fortunate to recruit two new coaches in Mark Claxton and Gemma Mizon which will meet the needs of the Development Squad which has expanded beyond expectation at the Victory Pool in North Walsham. A Viking spokesperson said:-
“It is vital that we have a development squad if swimmers are to achieve  results which Lily has just accomplished. We are delighted that Gemma and Mark have joined us especially as there is an acute shortage of swimming coaches generally.”

SILVER LININGS FOR EMILY & MICHAEL

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Silver Linings For Emily & Michael
There was a silver lining for Emily Morton at the Norfolk County Swimming Championships held at the UEA Sports Park, Norwich when she swam for the North Norfolk Vikings.  A silver in the 400m freestyle in 4:58.94 – just four seconds short of the gold.. The 15 year old added her second silver medal when she touched the pad in 1:15.27 for 100m backstroke in a closer race at the finish. Emily finished her programme by collecting a bronze in the 100m butterfly with 1.17.41.
“I was happy and surprised with a silver in the 400m and just astonished with the one in the 100m backstroke ,not having swam this event for quite some time. I really enjoyed the championships, especially the relays at the end.” explained Emily.
It was also three in a row for fellow Viking Michael Sayer who also achieved three medals all in backstroke. He took  bronze for 50m backstroke in 34.82 whilst only hundredths of seconds separated the first three. His second bronze was achieved in 1.16.00 for the 100m. Then, the 12 year old showed his versatility over the longer distance of 200m when he went one place better by winning a silver in 2:43.40. Afterwards Michael said:-
“What I was most pleased about was getting qualifying times in all 3 events for the Regional Finals later in the season. Achieving personal bests in each of the heats and finals in which I won the medals was an added bonus.”
Other Vikings  placed in finals were Harry Hudson, Toby Corfield, Leah Harris, and Reuben Seaman.

FIVE GOLD RINGS FOR TOBY

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FIVE GOLD RINGS FOR TOBY
Toby Corfield took five gold medals and a silver at an Open Gala held at the UEA Sports Park whilst Lily Herring broke the para Eastern Regional S10Junior Record when they both represented the North Norfolk Vikings Swimming Club.
For Toby it was the Individual Medley event where he excelled. In the 200m he recorded a personal best time of 3:12.94. for gold  However, In the 100m he was pushed all the way but just hung on to win gold by one second in 1:30.13 and subsequently reduced his time by 23 seconds!
Lily Herring broke the 400m freestyle Eastern Region junior para 10 record by scoring 5:36.33. This was six seconds faster than when she won the recent gold medal at the Regional Championships in Luton.
The other gold medallist was 11 year old  Reuben Seaman in the 200m breaststroke when he recorded a personal best time of 3:42.03
Other medals followed when Ruby Tracey achieved Bronze in the 200m breaststroke with 3:03.5. Then the following also won bronze medals in personal best times. Lewis Goultry 50m freestyle 26.97,  Sophie McKee 100m back 1:14.42 and  Grace Parker  100m backstroke 1:31.16.
Lead Coach Sam Watts confirmed that as the end of the year is approaching, Vikings won 198 medals and had 592  personal best times in 2023.

RECORD ENTRIES FOR CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS

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Record Entries at Club Championships 

North Norfolk Vikings Swimming Club had a record number of entries when it staged its Annual Club Championships at the Victory Pool in North Walsham.

In the 100m freestyle, there was an exciting finish when Louis Goultry won by a finger tip by breaking a minute in 59.20 from Isaac Buchan’s  1:0123 with club captain Ashley Jones taking third in 1:03.63.

The 200m freestyle did not disappoint either. In front of  a pack house of spectators,  Louis and Isaac went head to head again. Lewis was the early pace maker but Isaac came back on the last 75m to record the fastest time in 2:13.85    from Lewis’ 2:18.16

In contrast, the 200m breastroke, saw Sam Morton and Emily Beighton win their respective races easily with Sam going  2:57.39 and Emily 3:12.33.

11 Year olds Lily Dear and Grace Parker were involved in some close races through out. None closer than the 50m freestyle when it seemed that they “dead heated” both touching first but the timing had Lily winning by a split second in 36.22 from Graces’ 36.62. This proved to be the most popular event of the championships attracting 18 competitors. Grace won six gold medals beating Lily into second place twice and Lily won five golds beating Grace into second place four times. The two 11 year olds left the championships with 11 gold medals between them.

For eight year old twin sisters Holly and Tessa Cartwright they swam against each other on a number of occasions over 50m. In the freestyle Holly won gold, defeating a field of thirteen in 48.84 and sister Tessa was runner up in 51.44. The backstroke followed and again it was Holly who won her second gold in 57.48 from Tessa’s silver in 1:01.85 respectively. The twins’ elder sister Isla, aged ten, also collected a freestyle bronze over the same distance with 53.96.in her age group.

In the intermediate category, Michael Sayer easily won both the 100m and 200m backstroke. The former in 1:20.15 and the latter in  2:44.70 respectively.

Noah Buchan, who in the summer was crowned Scottish open water age group champion, was also involved in a close 200m individual medley. The 12 year old won the event by a split second in 3:01.94 over Michael’s 3:04.43.

It was five wins in a row for 20 year old Senior Leah Harris who broke 30 seconds for 50m freestyle in 28.93. Leah then completely dominated the 100m Individual Medley in 1:09.91 proving what an excellent athlete she is. Meanwhile, the race was still on for the consolation places when club captain Jess Seamark touched in second with 1:29.45 and Rebecca Burrows third in !:29.68 respectively

Emilia Sequeira-Reis’ endeavour was simply outstanding. Although she did not medal the 11 year old also swam five  events. The 50m backstroke in 1:07.10 100m freestyle in 2:10.78 and 200m breaststroke in 5:18.11 to highlight just three.

“Emilia is just one of many in the development squad who have progressed over the last year and it epitomises the commitment from Emilia and others  which is very encouraging. The club now has a waiting list to join our development squad.” John.

There were two more initiatives introduced for the first time this year. The club invited  “Little Fish Swim School” from Norwich to take part and  they swam very well. It was also deemed a “licenced gala” which meant that any times recorded would be official. Subsequently, Vikings have achieved  a record 28 County qualifying times this year for next year’s County Championships.

Thanks and congratulations to all who took part.

Championship Results (click below)

DOUBLE GOLD FOR ANNA

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Wild Card Entry results in double gold for Anna.
Anna Turner, joined the Halloween Gala at Dereham late when she swam for the North Norfolk Vikings Swimming Club. Anna’s entries were in doubt when she arrived  due to an administration “hic-cup”  but the 10 year old was allowed to swim on a “wild card entry” by the courtesy of the Dereham Otters Swim Club, who hosted an excellent gala for younger swimmers.
Her first gold was in the 50m freestyle when she defeated a field of 23 touching the pad in 39.12. three seconds ahead. Vikings had more success over 50m freestyle when Fearne Sadler was runner up in silver medal place with her 44.76 and Mily Edridge made it  bronze in 44.99 in the next age group up. It was 50m again for Anna but this time over the breastroke when she won her second gold in in 56.8, again by three seconds, leaving 16 behind her.
Also on the gold medal trail was team captain Layla Callaby who lead by example winning the  50m freestyle in 39.12 in her age category.  Meanwhile, fellow Viking Alice Dickety touched in 39.49 in third place with only split seconds separating the first three.
Layla continued her form when she brought home three more medals. It was freestyle again, this time over 100m when she went 1:34.82 for bronze.  Another  bronze soon followed when she displayed she was not just a one stroke swimmer. Flipping over to backstroke she recorded 1:42.86 over the same distance. Layla completed, what was for her an excellent day, when the 11 year old managed a silver in the  50  breaststroke with 54.83. All her swims were done in personal best times.
Anna Thurston won no fewer than  six medals ,five silver and one bronze and subsequently achieved a personal best on each outing. It was in the 100m freestyle where the 12 year old improved the most. Anna reduced her time by seventeen seconds finishing in 1:30.36. missing the gold medal by a split second.

Other swimmers who won medals were Alice Dickety, Leonardo Jones, Fearne Sadler, Holly Cartwright, Bethany Brooks, Zerif Gokmen, and Isla Cartwright. 

The club were also represented by Edith Hopkins, Rosa Sadler, Heidi Smith, Emilia Sequeira-Reis, Darcie Lee, Ray Smith, Lexie Parker, Jasper Green, Lucy Fincher,  Nancy Harrison and Tessa Cartwright.  

After the gala, team coach Roxanne Demmen said
“It was lovely to see so many of our younger Vikings swimming! The gala proved a learning curve for all whilst every one gave their all, I think they can all build and look forward to doing it again in the future. “
 
Vikings won 3 Golds,17 Silvers and 9 bronze medals.