Viking Swimmers Make Golden Start To Season.

The Club made a strong start to their season at the Iceni Gala in Dereham. They won 18 golds, 26 silvers and 18 bronze medals in various age categories

Isaac Buchan left the competition with four gold medals. The 14 year old completely dominated the 200m backstroke in 2:24.68 winning by 35 seconds and recording the second fastest time out of 14  across all the age ranges. Isaac went onto to win golds in the 50m Butterfly 30.08,100m backstroke, 1.09.49  and the 50m backstroke in 32.31.

For Emily Morton, leaving galas with out a medal is currently unheard at the moment as she is swimming very well. The 15 year old continued her form by winning three golds. 100m freestyle 1.07.25, 50m Freestyle 31.24  and the 50m backstroke 37.88.

Harry Hudson aged 18, also had three golds. In the 100m freestyle  he defeated a field of twelve touching in 56.42 50 in his age group, only a split second a head of his nearest rival. However, he achieved the over all fastest time in the gala out of 57 who swam this distance. He went onto claim two more golds, the 50m backstroke 30.33 and the 100m butterfly 1.03.33 respectively.

It was also three in a row for 20 year old Leah Harris 100m butterfly (1.08.31) 50m  Freestyle 28.75 and the 100m Freestyle (1.02.21)

Vikings made it a clean sweep of medals in the 200m breaststroke with George Edridge touching first for gold in 3.21.64, Razvan Platon silver in 3:28.31 and George’s 13 year old twin Zak, took the bronze in 3.29.84. The twins’ sister Mily, who is only in her first year of competition, did not win a medal but her time of 44.13 was good enough for the 10 year old to compete in 50m Freestyle in next year’s County Championships.

Ruby Tracey struck gold In the 200m breaststroke. The 17 year old finished in a winning time of 3.05.60 to take gold. In the 100m it was silver in 1.25.64   and over 50m it was the bronze in 39.02.

There was a gold medal each for Emily Beighton,(100m breastroke 1.29.53)  and Reuben Seaman (50m freestyle 35.28) 

There was further breastroke success when Lily Dear took a bronze in the 200m breaststroke in 3:49.16 and then added a silver on her 50m in  50.06 respectively. In her age group was Grace Parker who too was successful on backstroke when she won bronze over 100m in 1:28.62 respectively.

Anna Thurston went 3.38.82 for the  200m backstroke  and subsequently reduced her personal best time by twenty seconds collecting the bronze medal.

Other Viking Medalists were  Noah Buchan silver 100m freestyle  1.08.37 50, silver 50m  freestyle 28.62  silver 50m backstroke  36.39 bronze 200m freestyle  2.26.91and silver 200m IM 2.52.22, Bebe King  bronze 50m breaststroke 50.71 and bronze 50m freestyle, 35.02 Esme Seaman silver 50m backstroke 40.60 and bronze 50m butterfly 40.74 respectively.

Vikings were also represented by Winnie Browne, Evie Bates, Bailee Beighton  Leona Scott, Lewis Goulty, Sam Morton, Ashley Jones,.Fearne and Rosa Sadler

After the gala, our Lead Coach Sam said:

I knew we had the potential to do well but to be honest I never imagined we would do so well with 63 medals. It shows that the team are all eager to improve.

Noah is Scottish National Champion

Noah Buchan won the 12 years National 2.K open water event at the Scottish Nationals held at Castle Semple Loch in Fife, west of Glasgow in what was quite a choppy loch, but with some sun in between the rain and water temp of 18.5c, Noah was victorious in 31.59,  03.4 seconds ahead of his nearest rival to be crowned Scottish National Age Group Open Water Champion.

Due to an admin error Swim England would not allow him to swim but being half Scottish and qualifying at an event he was allowed to enter. After the swim Noah said:

“I am just amazed that I  won and happy and  grateful to have been able to swim in a national championship.”

Lily makes waves at Swimming Nationals

Lily Herring  competed in Sheffield at the National Summer Meet (50m) This is Swim England’s biggest domestic swimming event of the year.

Lily, qualified in sixth place in the multi classification heats when she  went 1:19.38 for the 100m freestyle  However, in the final, the 15 year old looked very determined and  after 50m she was third. However, Lily was pushed all the way but was not prepared to relinquish the position and held it right to the finish in an improved time of  1:18.08. However, owing to a complex Swim England permutation, based on a points tariff, Lily was placed sixth 

This did not deter her as she had the satisfaction of coming third in the race with the third fastest time in the final and had two more events to look forward to. In the 50m freestyle, she was seeded fifth and this is where she finished in the final in a personal best time of 36.30. In the 200m Individual Medley, Lily found it tough going but finished in 3.40.62. In the 400m S10 freestyle she gained another fifth place after eight hard  lengths of the 50m pool in 5.51.38. After the gala, her coach, Sam Watts said:

“Lily is having an excellent year in the pool so far. Her application and tenacity has been exemplary and its just reward that she swam in the nationals. I believe that this is just the beginning of what is to come”

Twins Bag A Gold Each At Gala

Our swimmers  George and Zak Edridge,Reuben Seaman, Emily Mortpn and Bebe King  won 14 medals between them at a Gala dubbed Mid Summer Madness held at the UEA Sports Park.

George won his first gold when he went 5.32.44 wiining by eight seconds for 400m freestyle in his age group. In the 100m breaststroke he also achieved a silver in 1.33.71 but he was beaten by his brother Zak who touched in a gold medal time of 1.32.67 in a finger tip finish.

In the 200m breaststroke, sibling rivalries were rife again but there was a change of fortune in that George beat Zak to take a bronze in 3.22.09 from Zak’s  fourth place time of 3.25.56. as both the 13 year olds recorded personal best times

George’s second silver came in the  200m I M completing the course in another personal best time of 2.56.96 as swimmers must swim all strokes in the event. 

Reuben meanwhile did nine events and recorded a personal best on every swim. Subsequently the ten year old  won seven medals in total, two silvers and five bronze . When asked about his favourite event he said

‘I did 9 events this weekend but my favourite was the 50 Fly, I really wanted a good personal best so I just went for it, put my head down and did as many strokes as I could between each breath’  Reuben finished third in 45.11

However, his best swim was the 400 freestyle.He raced another boy the entire way battling it out for 3rd and 4th place in their age group, it came down to the last 25m where Reuben really accelerated  and got the medal.  He also knocked 44 seconds off his long course time.

Emily Morton continued her consistency by being in the medals again and it was the 400m freestyle when  she came home with a bronze, leaving sixteen competitors behind her completing the course in 4.59.43. Subsequently, the 14 year old improved her time by eight seconds. This is the fourth consecutive outing for the Viking where she has medaled. Bebe King, aged 12, had a silver in the 100m butterfly when 12 year old touched in 1.55.90 covering two lengths of the pool.

Thanks to all our swimmers who took part

BOUDICCA

Michael Sayer, aged 12, won a hat-trick of gold medals at the Boudicca Long Course Swimming Gala at the UEA Sports Park, Norwich and competitors from Norfolk and beyond provided excellent competition over two days.

His first success was in the 100m freestyle, Michael recorded a personal best of 1:14.72 – a four second improvement.  In the  backstroke, he hit the pad in 1:20.55 to take gold and completed the hat-trick with 3:47.29 over 200m breaststroke  to claim his third gold. Michael went on to win two silvers and one  bronze over the competition,  recording  personal best times in every event. At the end of the gala, Michael said:-

“My best swim was the 100m freestyle as I took 4 seconds off my personal best and beat some other swimmers in my heat who before the gala had achieved faster times than me. Training is hard work but this makes it worthwhile.”

Ellen Eccleston proved to all that she is one of the best competitors in Norfolk when the 16 year old won the 200m Individual Medley  In a close race she brought it home on the freestyle leg of the event in a close finish touching the pad in 2:33.16 beating nine others in her age group and recording one of the fastest times over all. However, she had to settle for three silvers in her specialist breastsroke events.

Ironically, in her specialist breststroke events, she had to settle for silver medals. In the 200m her start was sublime as she swam into the stroke with alacrity and perfect timing, pacing the race well. In a surge for the finish it appeared that she would offer more but the electronic timing had her in second place in 2:33.16. In the same race fellow Viking Rebecca Burrows was sixth in 3:34.62.as she swam to the best of her ability. Ellen had two more silver successes in Breastroke. For  the 100m (1.17.70) and the 50m (36.67) and then claimed another  this time over 50m Butterfly with 31.87.

When asked about Ellen’s current progress, lead coach Sam  responded with:-

“Ellen is swimming exceptionally well at the moment but it’s unrealistic to expect her to come first in every race or record a personal best every time she swims. As she approaches the Nationals next month, I believe we will see the best from Ellen.”

Toby Corfield bagged five medals in his respective age group. He won gold in the 100m butterfly in 1:44.57, easily winning by a four second margin. Toby, aged 11, also achieved two silvers and two bronze medals respectively.

As ever, Reuben Seaman did not disappoint.  He came out on top this time with a gold medal in the 400m Individual Medley swimming two lengths of the 50m pool on each stroke. The 11  year old finished on 7.48.28.

Medals for Emily Morton are becoming routine and she did not disappoint over the week end by winning two freestyle medals. The 400m for silver in  5:10.29and in the 200m a bronze  2:25.06  respectively.

There was more success from our seniors. Ruby Tracey took silver in the 100m breastroke with 1.27.46    Sophie Mc Kee also had a silver on the 50m backstroke touching in 34.20 respectively.

 Also representing Vikings were Captain Ashley Jones, Amy-Rose Thomas,  Sam Morton, Harry Hudson, Leona Scott, Razvan Platon, Mia Turner, Lily Dear, Grace Parker, Evie Bates, Esme Seaman, Emily Beighton, George and Zak Edridge.

Vikings won 6 Golds, 13 Silvers and 4 Bronze medals – our thanks and congratulations to all our swimmers.

More of our younger swimmers made their debut for the  Club as the junior team were back competing in  Diss.

Anna Thurston achieved a maximum of five wins out of five in only her second gala. Over the 25m the 11 year old won three races; the Butterfly in 23.39, the Freestyle in 19.06 and the Breastroke in 26.84. Then over 50m, she took the Backstroke in 23.28 and the Freestyle with 39.47  when she finished  ahead of fellow Viking Isabelle Bird who touched in 43.88  to take second .Isabelle later went one step better winning the 50m breaststroke in 59.35 . Meanwhile, there was a double second for her 7 year old sister, Ivy in her very first gala. Over 25m Freestyle (29.72) and 25m Breastsroke (34.02) respectively.

Leona Scott, aged 10 won two races. Perhaps the most significant was the 50m Backstroke  when she beat a strong field of six, winning in 50.28. In the 50m Butterfly she completed the course in 53.4. in first place. Then she achieved a second place in 1;08.6 on the 50m breaststroke whilst Viking Milly Edridge came third with 1:10.64 in the same event.

Debutant Isla Haynes had a win in the 25m butterfly with 25.52. Not far behind was fellow 10 year old Heidi Davison who came in on 28.00 to make it a Viking first and third place respectively.  Fearne Sadler came first in the 25m freestyle defeating a field of eight when she hit the pad in 20.38 whilst Isla was third in 20.87 as only split seconds separated the first three in an exciting finger tip finish. There was a consolation place for Fearne’s elder sister Rosa finishing second behind Anna with 25.91 for 50m backstroke in the appropriate age group.

Also competing for the first time was 9 year old Lexie Parker who had three consolation places to be proud of. Lexie   achieved two seconds and one third.  Her two second place swims came in the 50m freestyle with 1:18.6 and her second second is was for the  50m Breastroke. with 56.50 respectively. In the 25m Breastroke, her time of 35.0 was enough for third.

At the conclusion of the gala, Club Coach Roxanne Demmen said

“ Fantastic time for our juniors  at the Diss Otters gala! Lots of fun and lots of learning to take away onto the next one.”

We had 32 PBs from 43 swims which equals a 74.42% success.

Ellen and Isaac win again but Vikings fall short 

Ellen Eccleston has qualified for Swim England’s National Championships after some impressive work and was on form again after returning from the Regional Championships. Her latest success was at the Norfolk County Gala held at the UEA Sports Park in an inter-club championships where every Norfolk Club took part.

Ellen dominated the 100m breastroke in which she finished in 1:14.91 short course time, compared with her long course time of 1:19.04 in the regionals. Converted it means that she improved  by approximately three seconds  During the event, Ellen led the race from the gun finishing eight second ahead of any opponent and the fifteen year old had the fastest time in any age group. Ellen will compete in the 50,100 & 200m breaststroke events at the Nationals in August.

Isaac Buchan was another Viking winner. In the100m backstroke, he finished in 1:08.7 a split second ahead in what was one of the closest finishes of the gala. He scored more valuable points for the Vikings when he finished in third place over 100m butterfly touching in 1:10.84

Emily Morton increased the points tally for Vikings when the 14 year old achieved a second place in the 100m butterfly with 1:16.71 and Toby Corfield had similar success when he went 48.18 for 50m on the same stroke. Meanwhile, Reuben Seaman was a worthy runner up too when he completed 50m backstroke in 54.29

Emily Beighton, Harry Hudson and Ruby Tracy all achieved third places. Emily 100m breaststroke 1:28.16 Harry 100m butterfly 1:02.94 and Ruby 100m breaststroke 1:23.30

Other clubs on the day swam better as Vikings finished seventh out of seventh in the juniors. In the seniors, Vikings came seventh out of eighth as other Vikings found it tough to keep up with the fierce competition despite their  determination and commitment across all the age ranges. However, Viking’s Team manager Samantha Seaman remained positive

“I was so proud of all of our swimmers across all the squads. They all represented the club beautifully and swam amazingly.  Well done everyone.”

Final Points

Juniors

Seniors

ON THE BEESTON BEAT

We took a junior team to Beeston Hall School to competed against the school  for the first time since covid restrictions were fully lifted in which is now becoming a traditional swimming fixture. It was held in the outdoor pool at the Beeston  School infront of parents and more than  fifty two youngsters took part in the friendly match when swimmers competed in school age groups up to Year 8 (13 years)  Some of the Beeston children haven’t swam regularly but they soon blew the cobwebs away and. after a good warm up they were ready to race. Meanwhile, Vikings have been having considerable success  in their junior sections lately so it was all set for an explosive encounter.

The school provided ample opportunities for more events on the programme so that swimmers on both sides could benefit  from the competition. As you would expect there were some very close races and In total the Beeston children achieved 47 Personal best times out of a possible 51. However, when the final points were tallied it was the Vikings who came out on top by a slender three points.

“The children held their nerve, tried their hardest and were spurred on by the enormous crowd of spectators. ‘Parents I cannot thank you enough for your support and loud cheering.’ The overall result has shown just how much potential our Beeston children have in the swimming pool. remarked Yasmin Caswell the school’s Head of PE and Swimming.

Sarah Buchan Chair of the Vikings responded with

“Vikings were very pleased to be back at Beeston and It was very encouraging to see so many swimmers take part. We would like to thank Beeston Hall School for staging an enjoyable and friendly competition.”

Viking Coaches Set  Example

Viking Coaches Sam and Roxanne have been setting the example when they took the plunge at the Norfolk Masters Coronation Gala held at the UEA Sports Park. Lead Coach Sam  from Taverham and Club Coach Roxanne  both achieved gold medals in their respective master age groups.

Sam achieved his first gold medal in a finger tip finish, over 50m freestyle winning in 27.51 from Richard Davies’ 27.94. Roxanne struck gold when, over the same course and came in on 54.72.swimming backstroke. Sam got his second gold medal in the 50m Butterfly and there was more of a winning margin when he hit the pad  in 29.02 from Paul Maukonen  who recorded 35.24.

However, there was more success for Sam when he proved that he was not just an individualist but a team player. In the Medly Relay he swam the freestyle leg  for a combined East Anglia Team  and helped the team to a silver

Meanwhile, Roxanne,was busy again this time in the 50m freestyle when a silver medal was awarded to her over the 50m easily winning in 46.82. In the 50m breaststroke, its was a bronze medal in  1:04.97 but was adrift of the winner Louise Bush.

At the conculsion both coaches responded with:-

I am really pleased with my three nedals I achieved at the masters and I hope it will help motivate the Viking Swimmers to improve and achieve more.” said Sam

“I really enjoyed it and pleased with my swims. I hope it will motivate our club swimmers becasue you don’t know what you can achieve if you don’t at least try. A gold, silver and bronze medal I never expected to achieve so much to be honest” remarked Roxanne.