A message from Roxanne…
“All our amazing new kit is in from LogoWear Ltd!! If people would like to drop in to Victory this Sunday 4-6pm you are more than welcome to collect for me 
if not I will organise collections during other sessions 
Thank you for your patience.” 
Roxanne
Gold Rush For Vikings
It was the time for the junior swimmers of the North Norfolk Vikings Swimming Club to deliver their very best when they travelled to compete in Diss in a team of sixteen, ages ranging from seven to eleven. For some it was their first experience of competition.
Nerves faded quickly right from the first event when Reuben Seaman of Aylsham got vikings off to the perfect start by winning gold in the 100m Individual medley in 1:49.0 His elder sister Esme, immediately followed with another Viking gold over the same event finishing the course in 1:35.73. The decisive element of her swim was her butterfly as she breathed every five strokes which pulled her to the front after the first leg of the event. A technique which she repeated twice more when she gained two more gold medals for the stroke; 25m in 21.31 and 50m in 47.72 respectively.Reuben,meanwhile was busy again with two more gold medals; the 25m freestyle (18.47) and the 50m freestyle (44.19) respectively.
Debutants Evie Bates, Bebe King and Razvan Platon all won a gold medal. Evie had a close race in her age group when she touched first in 0:17.31 in winning the 25m freestyle by just three, one hundredths of a second from Elizabeth Ferrier of Diss Otters. Evie, from Sheringham, went on to win bronze in the 50m event in 0:39.76
Bebe’s 50m backstroke was also close when the eleven year old from North Walsham touched the wall first in 0:46.97 from Great Yarmouth’s Jessica Hurren’s 0:47.19. There was a double delight for vikings when Lily Dear captured the bronze in 0:52.82. in the same event.
Razvan – who makes a round trip of twenty – eight miles to train at the Victory pool in North Walsham – won gold in the corresponding boys event in 51.51 to add to his bronze medal he achieved in the 50m freestyle in 0.43.67.
Bailee Beighton achieved a hat-trick of silver medals. The 25m freestyle in 0:19.18, 25m breaststroke, 0:29.92 and the 50m freestyle with 0:42.56 and seven year old Annie Jackson, Vikings’ youngest competitor took her first medal home when she came third in the 25m butterfly in 0:41.71
Amiya Hawes, Clara Farrow, Grace Parker, Isobel Chaplin, India Morton, Layla Callaby and Rosa Sadler were also part of a strong viking line up. Vikings won 11 golds 6 silvers and 4 bronze medals.
Silver Hallmarks For Leah & Katy
Leah Harris of Cromer and Katy Coleman of Mundsley came away with two silver medals each at the City of Norwich Swim Meeting held at the UEA, when they swam for the North Norfolk Vikings Swimming Club.
Leah came second in the 100m butterfly in 1:11.54 from Rebecca Smith’s 1:10.75 of the Norwich Swan Club in a tight finish. During the100m freestyle It is was another close finish as she was just out touched by Charlotte Smith, also of Norwich Swan, in 1:03.35 from Charlotte’s 1:02.40. There was more success for the young eighteen year old adult when Leah won two bronze medals. In the 50m butterfly with 0:31.16, against a field of twenty eight and the 50m freestyle in 29.19 against thirty seven competitors respectively.
Meanwhile, the middle distances favoured Katy over 200m Her first silver was achieved In the butterfly in 2:50.32 finishing behind her name sake Jasmine Coleman of Norwich Swan who completed the course in 2:45.17. In the backstroke, the seventeen year old was runner up in 2:44.78 behind Norwich Swan’s Shannon Stubbs’ 2:39.70
There were more medal success for Vikings at both ends of the age range with eleven year old Reuben Seaman who broke a minute for the 100m breaststroke in 0:59.97 and seventeen year old Harry Hudson in the 50m butterfly in 27.90 both of whom won bronze medals respectively
Vikings also had a number of top eight places. Emily Beighton 200m breaststroke
Vikings Success as County Championships rejuvenated after covid.
Norfolk Vikings Swimming Club had considerable success at the County Championships held for the first time since 2020 at the UEA pool, Norwich.
Leah Harris of Cromer swam 29.34 to a silver medal in the 50m freestyle. In the 100m freestyle she was down in seventh in 1:02.93 but ironically the time subsequently qualified her for the Regional Championships in the summer.
Broadland High School Year 11 student, Sophie McKee came home with two bronze medals, the 50m freestyle in 29.78 and 100m backstroke 1:16.98 respectively. It was bronze too in the 200m backstroke for 17 year old Katy Coleman of Mundsley, when she finished in 2:44.69
Harry Hudson has also qualified for the Regionals when he scored 27.78 for the 50m butterfly although he finished in eighth position. With seven others ahead of him , all of whom hit regional times, it provides ample evidence as to the fierce competition to what Harry and indeed Leah faced.
Michael, Isaac and Noah triumph
Michael Sayer and Noah Buchan each became multi county age group champions. Michael from Holt, was three seconds ahead at the half way point of the 200m Individual Medley. However, it was ironically Noah who pushed Michael all the way, but Michael held on well with his strong freestyle leg to finish in 3:22.98 as Noah touched over a second behind to become runner up in the 11 year age group category.
Michael then made it a clean sweep of all the backstroke events and was victorious for the second time in the 50m backstroke when he just out touched James O’Toole of the City of Norwich Club , with 41.27 from the 41.55 recorded by James and subsequently defeated no fewer than nineteen in his respective age group. If this was not enough, he added a third age group title when he again just crept ahead of James at the conclusion of the the 100m in 1:31.02 and rounded off his backstroke events with the 200m finishing the 50m long course event in 3:13.69.
Noah,from Beeston Regis, beat a field of sixteen in the 200m freestyle to finish in 2:49.65 – a clear margin of fifteen seconds from second placed James. It was freestyle again and gold again when Noah was the winner of the 400m in 6:12.19. He went on to be runner up in the 50m freestyle when he hit the pad in 36.27 just behind Josh Read also of the City of Norwich Club. In the 100m freestyle Noah swam very well by taking another second place only to see the score board reveal that it was again Michael Sayer who had won the event in 1:23.62 respectively to earn Michael his fifth gold medal of the championships
Noah’s elder brother Isaac won his 13 Years 400m freestyle in 5:13.51. He captured a silver in the 200m backstroke with his 2:53.93 behind Travis Viotman of the City of Norwich Club. He continued to achieve three bronze medals the 100m freestyle in 1:09.77. 50m Butterfly 35.74 and 50m backstroke in 36.11.Through out the championships,
Ashley Jones came second in his heat of the 50m freeestyle in 30.22. Chloe Jackson, Reuben Seaman, George and Zak Edridge were also apart of the team. Reuben improved his 50 butterfly time by thirteen seconds when he finished in 54.66. in the 11 year age group race.
Vikings won eight golds, five silvers and seven bronze medals.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR SWIMMERS!
Michael Sayer Five Gold Medals
Chloe Hits Six
Chloe Jackson, has achieved six County qualifying times at a gala held recently at the UEA when she was apart of the team under the auspices of lead coach Sam Watts.
Her main focus was on her freestyle where she qualified first for the 400m The Norwich High School student swam sixteen length of the pool to achieve a time of 6:24.67 finishing in fifth place. In the 200m, she just finished ahead of fellow Viking Jess Seamark by just over a second, completing the course in 2:51.18. and subsequently qualified in the 100m in 1:15.63.
After achieving a hat-trick of freestyle qualifiers she demonstrated her all round swimming ability by competing in the the 200m Individual Medley. An event where swimmers do all of the four strokes in one race. Miss Jackson aged fourteen, who has only recently moved over to the club, made no mistakes and subsequently hit the pad in 3:15.75. She then adapted quickly from middle distance to sprints and rounded off her programme with two successful butterfly sprints In the 50m she qualified in 41.87 – narrowly missing out on a bronze medal and in the 100m she went 1:35.35 to complete the six
Chloe, who trains three times a week and makes a twenty seven miles round trip from Hellesdon to the Victory Pool in North Walsham said
“ I have found that Vikings are a very welcoming club and I want to do well for them”
Twin brothers, George and Zak Edridge from Tunstead .have also qualified ; whilst club captain Rebecca Burrows took a Bronze medal in the same qualifying gala. The three swimmers all attend Broadland High School.
Zak qualified in the 50m Breastroke when he swam against his brother. Zak recorded 49.71, just ahead of George, who on this occasion George, agonisingly missed the qualifying time by just 0.66 seconds . Both Vikings were locked together again in the 100m when Zak finished ahead of George for a second time but the score board revealed a slightly wider margin between the two twelve year olds with Zak on 1:46.59 and George on 1:48 25. respectively – both of whom bagged County qualifying times in this event However it was the 200m freestyle where George gained his second qualifying time in 3:00.98 which resulted in the brothers gaining two qualifying times apiece.
Rebecca, from Rackheath was the only Viking to medal at the gala. achieving a bronze in the 200m Breaststroke with her 3:24.07. Ironically her time does not qualify her for the County Championships. However. Its been a positive time for fourteen year old Rebecca as she has rejuvenated her enthusiasm for swimming by joining the Vikings and afterwards said
“I am delighted to have got my first medal at a gala with a new goal to gain county times next year. I would like to thank everyone at Vikings especially my coach Sam for helping me to get my love of swimming back.
Ashley Jones swam well when he qualified for the 50m freestyle in 30.83 and was supported by Emily Breighten, Jess Seamark and Masie Fagan who, although did not qualify this time, made a good account of them selves by swimming for Vikings.
Katy’s Midas Touch At Gala
Ruby & Katy
Katy Coleman and Ruby Tracey are the latest to qualify for the County Championships when Katy won a hat-trick of gold medals and a silver. Ruby achieved two bronze medals at the same, final qualifying gala at the UEA. just before Christmas.
In the 100m butterfly Katy came back from behind as at the first 25m she was in fourth position. Demonstrating diligence and tenacity she was in first place at the final turn. However she was pushed all the way over the final 25m by Millie Harris of Wisbeach but Katy was not going to relinquish the lead she had fought so hard for; finishing a split second ahead in 1:12.38. to take the gold.
Her second gold came in the 100m freestyle when she ironically defeated a field of 100 with her 1:04.31 and then in the 50m freestyle it was gold again in 29.16. defeating no fewer than 131 swimmers. However, Katy was still not done, because she got a silver in the 50m butterfly with 32.37.
Meanwhile, Ruby was in contention all the way in the100 backstroke. Her nonchalant tumble turns were dexterously timed on either side which made all the difference for her to take the bronze medal in 1:15.84. Consistency was a key component again In her 100m breastroke when she did the last three 25m each in 22 seconds on her way to her second bronze medal in 1:26.59
John Holden
Record Entries For Club Championships
The Club had a record number of entries at their annual club championships held at the Victory Pool in North Walsham when seniors, Leah Harris won no fewer than seven events and Harry Hudson won six but it was in the development and Junior sections which caught the imagination of the spectators
The under 9 years 50m freestyle saw Lilly Dear easily won the event on 44.37 with the consolation places going to Alice Dickerty and Edith Hopkins. In the corresponding boys’ event Toby Corfield had his first win of the championships when he came in on 45.78. Toby later triumphed again this time in the 50 backstroke. However, he was pushed hard by Reuben Seaman but just managed to hold on to first place in 51.12 in an exciting finger tip finish over Reuben’s 51.62. Reuben himself also went onto be a double winner in the 50m butterfly (59.43) and 100 Individual Medley in 1:59.58 respectively.
In the 12/13 Individual Medleys Rosie Dickerty surprised a very strong line up when she made the freestyle leg of the race count touching the wall first in 1.34.37 as only four seconds separated her from, Romilly Hammond, Emily Morton and Emily Beighton. However In the boys’ event the opposite happened as there was clear daylight between Isaac Buchan, Archie Haughan-Zelos, William Coop, and brothers George and Zak Edridge. Isaac was easily the winner in 1:24.85.
Esme Seaman and Rebecca Burrows showed all what an exciting prospects they are. Esme won won seven events and Rebecca five. Esme enjoyed her 200m Individual Medley best of all because” I had never done it before” and the 200m breaststroke gave Rebecca the most satisfaction “as I got to pace it well.” They claimed their first places in 3:34.60 and 3:30.75 respectively.
There were determined contributions from all squad swimmers. Caelan and Sean Godden, Bailee Beighton, Razvan Platton. Jack Rochester, Eve Bates, Clara Farrow, Isla Davies, Rosa Sadler, Amy-Rose Thomas, Jess Seamark, Michael Sayer, Ruby Tracey, Isak Hamilton, Noah Buchan, Toby Davison Ashley Jones, Masie Fagan, Ella Haughan-Zelos, Georgina Beardshaw, Winnie Browne and club Captain Katy Colman; all of whom gave their best, whilst some won events in their age group category and helped made the championships the success it was – John Holden
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1. Photo – Helpers & Officials
2. Teams get ready for the relay.
3 Heat 2 of the 100m Individual Medley
Sam goes under sixty.
Head coach Sam fulfilled his ambition to go under a minute for 100m freestyle when he competed at the English National Master Championship in Sheffield. Although he came seventeenth he touched the pad in 59.66 over 100m freestyle. After the race the veteran swimmer said:-
“I was very pleased to go under 60 seconds which I hadn’t done for many years.”
Ironically he was better placed In the 200 freestyle in 2:11.48 finishing seventh. but by far his best swim, according to Sam, was the 400m freestyle placing when he was just outside a bronze medal with 4.46.32 – four seconds faster than his time in Scotland.
John Holden
Silver Linings For Harry and Sophie
Harry Hudson was on top form again for the club when he claimed four silver medals and broke another 30 seconds at the UEA. in a competition promoted by Diss Otters Swimming Club when clubs attended from all parts of the Eastern Region.
The sixteen year old from Stalham – who has already gone under 30 seconds in the 50 freestyle in July – went under 30 again in 29 seconds exactly: this time over 50m butterfly but was just thwarted by James Crossfield of Deben as only 0.85 separated the pair. Harry later went on to win his heat in the 50m backstroke but just missed another thirty seconds with his 30.97. and just 0.42 agonisingly outside gold to Joe Flowers of St Felix School who swam faster in a different heat However, he came back strongly In the 100m butterfly to achieve his third silver medal in 1.07.05, when he was runner up to Cornelis Verdonk of Newmarket who touched in 1:05.99. To complete his quartet of silvers, he came second in the 100m backstroke two seconds adrift to Joe Flowers in 1:09.22.
Sophie Mckee made the most of the opportunity and proved what an adroit swimmer she is by claiming second place in the 15 years backstroke against stiff opposition with 1:16.02 and then later joined fellow Viking Ruby Tracey from North Walsham in the 100m freestyle coming seventh in 1:06.89 from Ruby’s ninth in 1:08.41. Ruby’s highest position was the 100m breaststroke when she finished in sixth place in 1:26.36 – her best stroke.
Intermediates William Coop, and Masie Fagan both from North Walsham demonstrated their appetite for the sport in their respective age groups, both swimmers did three events. William admitted that his best race was his 50m freestyle and it was epitomised in his technique when he went over the distance in 33.80 finishing fifth. Masie, meanwhile made no mistakes when the North Walsham High School student completed the 200m freestyle as one of the braver Vikings coming tenth in 3:03.41. Rebecca Burrows was simply excellent in her 200m freestyle when on the last length, the 14 year old from Rackheath demonstrated an almost perfect unilateral breathing technique to take her strongly to the finish in 2:51.95 to finish seventh.
In the under 13 years 50m freestyle the time margins were faster than blinking when Viking trio Rebecca Burrows, Emily Beighton and Emily Morton seemed to touch the pad together but the electronic timing separated, them all with Rebecca on 36.05 finishing in 16 place with Beighton on 36.83 just 0.05 ahead of Morton respectively although under swimming laws, they were both awarded 18 place as the margin was so slender.
Swim twins George and Zak Edridge excelled in both the 100m freestyle and breastsroke respectively with George getting the slight upper hand on his brother. George was fluent especially on the freestyle when he recorded a 1:25.52 and in the breastsroke finished one place ahead of his brother in 1:36.23, both of whom were below their entry time displaying a significant improvement from both brothers.
Esme Seaman, aged 11 and her younger brother Reuben aged 9, swam in no fewer than seven events between them. Esme, looked determined and demonstrated her improved fitness when she came thirteenth with her 50m 51.28 over 50m butterfly. Graduating from the development squad, Reuben came second over 50m breaststroke in his heat and surprisingly did very well to finish in 1:06.49 coming eighth. Reuben also excelled in the 50m freestyle in 48.17 and he was joined in the same race by fellow Viking, Bailee Beighton who scored 49.24 with both boys coming ninth in their respective age group categories. A distinct improvement from the pair.
New member, 10 year old Winnie Browne made her debut with the Vikings with both 50m freestyle (42.67 -sixth) and 50m backstroke (53.72 – fifth)) respectively.
Vikings achieved forty one personal bests and eight county qualifying times – congratulations to them all!
John Holden
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Photo – Ruby Tracey, Harry Hudson & Sophie McKee
Photo – Only split seconds separated L – R Emily Morton, Emily Beighton & Rebecca Brooks
Photo – Winnie Browne who made her debut for the club.
Gala Opportunity For New Members
Membership has recently sored in our junior section, Therefore, Beeston Hall School kindly offered Vikings an opportunity to either compete for the very first time or a chance of a little more race practice in a friendly match against their school team. No fewer than thirty one swimmers took part as distances were contested over both 20m and 40m in front of a large gathering of appreciative parents and spectators.
There were some exciting races and close finishes and one event event was decided by two tenths of a second whilst both teams scored points on either side of the lane lines However when the final tally was revealed Beeston Hall School ended up worthy winners.
At the conclusion, Mrs Cresswell from Beeston school said
“For many this was their first chance to race against children outside of their school and they enjoyed the opportunity and rose to the challenge. Vikings put on an excellent display with some brilliant swims and we had a number of nail biting finishes.”
and our Chairperson Sarah Buchan, replied with
“Our junior section has been developing well lately and it was pleasing to see them reaping their reward for all their hard work they have put in over the summer months and thanks to Beeston for their hospitality and friendly rivalry.”
John Holden
Representing Vikings were L to R
Photo 1 The team L to R Clara Farrow Lilly Dear, Reuben Seaman,, Alice Dickety, Amiyah Haws, Isobelle Chaplin Evie Bates, Baillie Breighton, Isla Davies Toby Corfield, Georgia Lee, George & Zak Edridge.
Sam clinches a gold but still wants to swim faster.
Sam our lead coach lead by example by competing himself in the Scottish National Short Course Masters & Senior Age Group Championship and what a competition he had! The event took place at Tollcross Park Leisure Centre Glasgow , under the auspices of Swim Scotland and swam three events in the 35-39 masters age group category.This was Sam’s first competition in over two years.
His best result by far was his 200m freestyle in which he came first in a time of 2.12.72 – a full two seconds ahead of his nearest rival.
Sam was also runner up in the 400m freestyle. scoring 4.50.73 but explained that it was a hard fought race.
“This was a tough race for two reasons. I had done the 100m only 20 minutes before this race and its never easy to use two different energy systems in two very different races.” However, after he swam the 100m, Sam had very mixed emotions and although he came sixth he was, on the other hand, happy for now to record his second best time ever of 1.00.51 He now wants to go on and break a minute over the distance. “I know that I’m capable of it and I will have another chance when I compete again in October” added Sam.
John Holden
