Presentation Evening/Club Champs – Alan Roberts

I would first like to say a big thank you to all the volunteers and helpers who helped run such a smooth operation as the club champs
I was very pleased on how well the lower squads were represented at the club champs, it was a very good turn out and everyone who entered should be very pleased with their performance.
Two swimmers stood out for me at the club champs, not for their speed and winning of medals, but for their grit and determination.
First there was Sophia Evans age 9, never done a swimming gala before, at the beginning of the day she was so nervous i had to sit her down talk to her and tell her what to expect and what was going to happen. Normally swimmers on their first gala will do a couple of swims that they are comfortable with. Not Sophia she only meant to do 50m swims but she had also entered 100m swims.
The difference in 1 swimmer from the beginning of the day, to the end of the day was amazing she oozed confidence it was really good to see.
The second swimmer was Toby Preece age 6, because of his age he was only to do 25m swims which he did, as its only his first gala he too could have just done some swims that he was comfortable with but like Sophia, Toby pushed himself, and at the age of 6 doing a 25m butterfly swim, full on confidence, was also very pleasing as a coach.
It goes without saying that there were some fantastic swims through the weekend and it made me as their swimming coach very proud to be represented by such a young group of swimmers, who behaved very well on pool side, swam their hearts out and put 100% effort in
A BIG WELL DONE!!! To all that swam

Alan Roberts