The busiest weekend of the swimming calendar was upon us with the team competing at competitions in London, Bournemouth and Plymouth.
Mount Kelly sent 11 relay teams to compete against the best schools across the country at the English Schools Swimming Association (ESSA) national secondary school team championships at the London Aquatics Centre. With some outstanding teamwork and blisteringly fast swimming, Mount Kelly came away with 5 wins and 3 second place finishes out of the 12 races on the day – our second-best tally from a single championship.
In Bournemouth, our younger and development team members enjoyed their first away competition of the year, racing across three days and securing an impressive 21 Gold, 27 Silver, 23 Bronze, 130 personal bests and one Mount Kelly age group record in the 800m Freestyle.
The third installment of the weekend was held closer to home in the familiar surroundings of the Plymouth Life Centre. The meet was a final opportunity for some of our older swimmers to gain a qualifying time for the national winter meet, or to gain valuable race practice. Five swimmers gained their first National qualifying times and seven added extra qualifying times to their national schedule of events. Three Mount Kelly age group records fell (12 years 200 IM, 14 years 1500m Freestyle and 15 years 800m Freestyle) as well as one Mount Kelly Open record in the 1500m Freestyle.
Article by Neil Edwards, Performance swimming coach
Categories: Swimming
