Tough Championships for Monson Swimmers
11th March 2018
Tough Championships for Monson Swimmers
The ‘Beast from the East’ played havoc at this year’s British Championships held in Edinburgh from the 28thFebruary to the 4thMarch. 2018. Of the nine swimmers from RTW Monson that qualified, only six of the team made it. Annabel Guye-Johnson had several flights cancelled and when finally getting on board a train found that she had to turn back on reaching Newcastle.
Head Coach Graham Bassi said ’Conditions were horrific with athletes having to walk through blizzard conditions from their hotels to the pool. Sport is about coping skills and self-management and the athletes that made it had the biggest learning curve of their lives.’
Of the six swimmers that made it to Edinburgh, Bassi was delighted with his charges. ‘When attending a major international meet you want your athletes to achieve a positive experience, perform to their highest level and execute training processes. Our results showed that we achieved in all three areas.’
Junior swimmers Jemimah Berkeley and Anna Leman put in strong performances in all their breaststroke events making three junior finals and posting qualifying times for summer nationals. Between them they now hold five top three rankings in the country with Jemimah currently ranked No 1 in the 50 & 100 metre events.
Newcomer Frankie Whiting showed exceptional form in her backstroke events, moving up nearly 50 places from her entry ranking. Tom Leman continues to get back to his best form with solid swims. Along with Annabel, Mia Burns and Hannah Lambert couldn’t complete their journeys. Rose Compton returned from injury to swim the 200m breaststroke and Stephanie Andrews showed potential in her 50m breaststroke event.
This meet signalled the opening of the qualifying window for the summer nationals. Bassi said, ‘It’s a busy period with athletes trying to achieve a ranking that qualifies for British and English nationals. We shall try and post early times so that we can get back in the pool and train to the next level.’
RTW Monson run a thriving ‘Learn to Swim’ programme which continues to expand. If you are interested in joining please contact us via our website: www.rtwmonson.org
