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This morning’s session saw the first appearance of Georgia Barton in the Womens 200m Butterfly. Georgia stepped up looking hungry for a big swim, and she didn’t disappoint! In true ‘Ali’ style, she “floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee” clocking a new lifetime best of 2:14.19 and earning herself a spot on the European Junior Team and what would have been 3rd fastest SENIOR going into the evening finals... What happened next could not have been predicted by anyone. Georgia’s moment was stolen from her in a case of mistaken identity as she was disqualified for a technical infringement (alternating leg kick). As all coaches do on these occasions, an explanation was sought from the officials by Head Coach, Louise Robinson...
The rules are clear, once a disqualification is recorded and there is no question about the interpretation of the rule, that statement is now FACT. The video footage of Georgia’s swim clearly showed that she had not been the swimmer with the alternating leg kick, however, rules are rules, and video evidence is never considered. Unlucky for Georgia on this occasion, but a lesson learned and a doubly determined swimmer emerged – Georgia stepped straight up in the Womens 400m Individual Medley within 30 minutes of this incident, and stormed her way to a 4:59.46 – another lifetime best swim! What a star!!
The 400m IM also saw the final appearances of the Davis girls who have been on great form all week. First up was Lucy, she attacked again from the start (splitting the fly leg in her PB of 1:10) and showed true grit as she brought home the race in 5:04.82 – a massive 7 second PB – GREAT JOB LUCY!!
Older sister Megan was up in the very next race in an outside lane, just as she was in the 400m Freestyle on Day 5. She went out strong on the fly leg, and was solid throughout the middle 200, and once again dug deep in the final 100m to pick off some of her competitors in the closing stages to stop the clock at 5:00.30 – a 3 second PB at the end of a demanding week of racing. WELL DONE MEG!!
It has to be said that the Gallica girls dealt with this difficult morning session in true G force style. They all pulled together after Georgia’s 200m Butterfly and showed real unity and character as they ALL swam new lifetime bests..
The other event this morning saw Dan Sliwinski in the Mens 200m Breaststroke. Dan had a controlled heat swim of 2:16.41, taking him into the evening finals session in 3rd spot.
The finals session saw Dan step up for the last time of the week in the Mens 200m Breaststroke. Whilst it isn’t his favoured event, he is doing a lot of work to develop his pacing skills and stroke length especially for this distance. Dan swam an impressive 2:14.81 (30.92/34.26/34.58/35.05), which is his best time this season, and his best without the banned bodysuits of last season. He finished in 6th spot (3rd English) in what was a very experienced field.
The next qualification meet for this year’s Commonwealth Games takes place from 18-21st August in Sunderland. There are places up for grabs, and the lessons learned this week will no doubt give our swimmers the experience they need to once again challenge for places on the England Team.
This week has seen some outstanding performances from our Team, and all swimmers, parents and coaches involved with Gallica can be very proud of the way they were represented at this year’s Championships!! As for now, its back to the training pool after a couple of much needed days off for Easter..........
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