18-19 SEASON
ENGLISH SUMMER NATIONALS 2019
Pond's Forge - Sheffield
31st July to 4th August 2019
Following the British Swimming Championships at Glasgow is the Swim England National Championships held in Sheffield. With only a couple of days rest five of the swimmers who competed at British Champs were back in action again, along with Ella Thatcher-Plant and Ben Scobie who have both had to keep training on their own as their events weren't until later in the week.

Over the five days of racing all our swimmers produced some great performances and many long course personal best times, and all swimmers making it through to Finals in most events.  This is a fantastic achievement on its own, but some of the team pushed all expectations and also achieved podium positions putting Wrekin College Swimming Club up there with the big teams. 
Having competed the previous week at British Champs, Anya Preece only had the one race at this competition, the 400IM. She made the most of it by qualifying for the final as the fastest swimmer in the 16yr age group. The final saw Anya pushed all the way by her competitor in the next lane but she was determined not to let her beat her and with a long course personal best time, she took the GOLD medal, becoming the 16 years 2019 English National Champion in the 400IM.

Will Slawson qualified for four events at this competition and made finals in all four events. In the 200IM after storming the last 50 metres Will managed to grab bronze by 0.05 seconds.  Next day was the 200 fly final which came down to three swimmers racing for the medals, Will managed to pull away in the last 15 metres to take GOLD and becoming 18&over 2019 English National Champion in the 200Fly.

Sam Neeld was another swimmer who competed all his main events at British Champs, only had the one event here the 200Free, even though he was lacking a bit of fitness, Sam still qualified for the evening's final finishing 8th.

Eve Leleux had five events and qualified for four finals, her best swim was in the 400Free, swimming a seasonal best time in the heat and qualifying for the final as the fastest swimmer.  However the evening's final saw everything change with swimmers going much faster, Eve had a strong swim and with a fast last 50 metres she managed to take the bronze position with a long course personal best time and was only 0.1 second behind silver.

For Ben Scobie this was his first National competition and he knew to stand any chance of qualifying for the final he needed to achieve a long course PB, rising to the challenge Ben achieved a three second PB in the heat and qualified for the final and finishing 9th overall in the 13/14year age group final.

Ella Thatcher Plant had two long distance events to compete in on back to back days.  In the 1500m Free she achieved a seasonal best time finishing in 6th place.  In the next day's event in the 17&over 800m Free event, Ella didn't swim as well as she can do but still finished in a credible 7th place.

Harriet Smith qualified for two finals during in the week and finished the last day with the 15yr age group 800m Free event, swimming a seasonal best time she finished the week off on a high taking second place and claiming that National silver medal.

Well done to all who competed, time for the summer break now to recharge and look forward to the new season starting in September.

Full results click here 
BRITISH SUMMER CHAMPIONSHIPS 2019
Glasgow Tollcross International Centre
23rd - 28th July 2019
It must be mentioned first, for a small club like Wrekin to have six British qualifiers at the British Summer Championships is a fantastic achievement,  So a huge well done to all who qualified,  for training well and keeping your hours up through the year, this is no mean feat for those who have had GCSE and A-Level exams to contend with too.  Special mention to Anya Preece and Eve Leleux for qualifying for the first time at this event. 

It was never going to be easy for our swimmers when you know that they are all competing against the best swimmers in Britain, except for those who where competing at the World Championships in South Korea.  But the team rose to the occassion, all our swimmers performed well, with some great PBs and a few moving up the rankings with some great finishing positions.
Zara Leleux was the only swimmer who qualified for a final, in the 200Fly, with a strong swim she finished in the top ten in 7th place. 

Competing for the first time at this event Eve Leleux and Anya Preece also finished in the top ten in the 800m FC coming 7th and 9th respectively and with both achieving a massive 7 to 8sec PB. Anya also finish in the top ten in the 1500m Fc in 8th place. 

 Sam Neeld competed in all three Breaststroke events 50/100 and 200m where he was only tenths of a second outside all his entry times in a tough 19&over age group. 

Will Slawson improved on his entry times in the 400m FC and IM and finished 15th in both events. 

Harriet Smith was a little off form for this event, however she still managed to finish in a credible 11th position in the 1500m FC.

Time for a short rest before they all compete again at the final event of the swimming season, the English Summer Nationals held at Sheffield from 31st July to 4th August.   

Full results here
WOLVERHAMPTON SC SUMMER OPEN MEET 2019
13th/14th July - Wolverhampton
This was the last open meet of the 18/19 swimming season.  For our Nationals swimmers it was a chance to do some race practice prior to the upcoming British and National Championships. For others it was a last chance to achieve some Personal Best times and perhaps add some more winning medals to their season collection.
It was a challenging weekend with some swimmers not making it due to illness and some swimmers actually looking tired and ready for their summer break.  However we still had many swimmers achieving PB's and winning medals, and a few more top boy and girl awards being won.

10yr Boys - Joshua Zhou
11yr Girls - Lexie Rodgers
14yr Girls - Jess Backhouse
15yr Girls - Harriet Smith

Full results here
SHROPSHIRE SUMMER MEET 2019

Shropshire summer counties is a great competition just before the summer holidays. It’s an event that the Shropshire West Midland swimmers can’t compete in which allows a lot of Shropshire swimmers a better chance to win medals in a relaxed, fun meet.  Added to this there are relays and Skin events making the whole weekend a fun and exciting experience for all involved.

Our swimmers came away with lots of medals and PB's from their individual results and the relays. 
The Skins races were an exciting event for everyone to watch, with Wrekin, again having some great swims and some winners in the money! 

Isabelle Jones and Sammy Foskett won the 13yr&under Medley Skins.

 Aiden Hofland won the 13yr&under Freestyle Skins. 

Tymon Strzelecki won the 14yr&over Freestyle Skins.

Full results here
Huge well done to four of our swimmers, Cole Nicholas, Hugo Roberts, Levi Banfi and Chardonnae Charlery, who competed in their first ever swimming competition setting target times for their next future competition. 
Shropshire Summer Meet 2019 Wrekin College SC Competitors 
Development squad and junior squad members
Competing for their first time for Wrekin College were
Levi Banfi, Ethan Jones, Hugo Roberts, Tymon Strzelecki,  Chardonnae Charlery, Beth Barrett and Cole Nicholas
2019 BRITISH AND NATIONAL QUALIFIERS
BRITISH QUALIFIERS

SAM NEELD - 50/100/200BR 400FC
WILL SLAWSON - 400FC 400IM
ZARA LELEUX - 100/200FLY 400IM
EVE LELEUX - 800FC 200BA
HARRIET SMITH - 400/1500FC
ANYA PREECE - 400/800/1500FC 200FLY
NATIONAL QUALIFIERS

BEN SCOBIE - 200FLY
ELLA THATCHER-PLANT - 800/1500FC
WILL SLAWSON - 200FLY 200IM 200BR 200FC
SAM NEELD - 200FC
EVE LELEUX - 200/400FC 100BA 100/200FLY
HARRIET SMITH - 800FC 200FLY 400IM
ANYA PREECE - 400IM
WEST MIDLAND REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS, COVENTRY
4th-6th May & 11th/12th May 2019

Wrekin had 26 swimmers qualify for this season's Regional Championships, nine of whom it was their first time competing at the event.   With the event being held at Coventry's 50m pool over two back to back weekends it was going to be a busy one for coaches David and Rachel, swimmers and parents alike, and a great opportunity for the squad to compete against all the best swimmers in the West Midlands.
The first weekend was held over the bank holiday incorporating three full days of racing, with heats and finals.  This did not stop our swimmers rising to the challenge though they all had a fantastic weekend of competing and produced some amazing performances and Personal Best times, we had 11 members qualifying for evening finals.  The most notable race was the girls 100fly event, with three age groups all taking top place on the podium.  Harriet Smith - 15yrs, Eve Leleux - 16yrs and Zara Leleux -17&over.  
The team brought home a total of 11 golds, 2 silver and 7 bronze.  

The main aim is always the swimmer's performance and how they compete at long course in a high-level competition and as usual our swimmer's did Wrekin proud.  The second weekend of racing saw many more Personal Best times and qualification for the evening finals,.
The club had a number of the team qualifying for the 200Fly finals, making this event the most successful for the squad. For the Boys we had Robert Melintescu in the 13yr age group, the 14yr age group saw Mason Carter and Ben Scobie competing, with Ben taking the bronze medal in the event and Will Slawson competing in the 17yr&over final.  The girls 200Fly saw Harriet Smith in the 15yr age group taking silver, to be followed by the 16yr old event with Anya Preece taking gold and Eve Leleux the silver and to top the event off Zara Leleux took gold in the 17yr&over final.  To add to the team's achievements from the first weekend the squad brought home a medal haul of 5 golds, 7 silver and 3 bronze.
Again, this shows how all the hard work, hours, mornings sessions pay off with such great
performances from a small club.

For full results click here
West Midland Championship Qualifiers 2019
BRITISH SWIMMING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS, GLASGOW
16th - 21st April 2019
This is the pinnacle competition of the British swimming calendar. It provides a great opportunity for swimmers to compete alongside the top swimmers in Britain, who are competing for places for the summer World Championships.  This year we had 3 qualifiers Sam Neeld, Zara Leleux and Ella Thatcher-Plant. 
First to compete was Sam in the 100m Breaststroke, even though he was one of the slowest entries in his heat, Sam won his heat gaining a new personal best and finishing in 21st place in the open age group. Sam also competed the following day in the 50m Breaststroke swimming just off his PB.

 Zara competed on the third day in the 200m Fly, swimming a very strong heat she qualified for the transition final later that day. In her final, Zara produced a fantastic swim gaining a 2 second PB and finishing a well deserved 4th.  

Having to wait until the end of the week to compete was Ella, who was swimming in her first British Championships in the 1500m freestyle. With a strong swim Ella swam a seasons best time, and as a junior at this competition finished in a credible 30th place. 

 It was great to watch their live swims and to hear Wrekin College SC getting mentioned. Well done to all three swimmers, they did the club proud with their performances and have gained a lot from this experience.

Full results here 
DERVENTIO MEET - Ponds Forge, Sheffield
5th-7th April 2019

This long course open meet held at Sheffield was a full on weekend of racing with swimmers competing from many top clubs from around the country. 

Wrekin had many swimmers competing for different reasons. For some it was about recording Long Course times to get onto the summer national ranking list, for others to gain long course experience prior to next month’s West Midland Championships and for Ella Thatcher-Plant, Zara Leleux and Sam Neeld it was preparation for the British Championships taking place in April in Glasgow. 

The competition started on the Friday evening with the 800 & 1500 events then followed by all the other events from 50m up to 400m over the weekend.
There were some fantastic swims from many of our swimmers with some recording times that will put them high on the ranking list. Many long course personal bests times where achieved which puts our swimmers in a good place with less than a month to go until to the West Midland Championships. 
To add to the weekend results Zara Leleux and Sam Neeld both finished Top Boy/Girl in their age group.
We wish all our swimmers the best of luck in their upcoming Championships, swim fast team.

Full results here 

Nuneaton Open Meet - Pingle Pool, Nuneaton
16th & 17th March 2019
This was the first competition the club had competed at since the Counties, with the aim being to see if swimmers could improve on Personal Bests or maybe achieve more West Midland qualifying times. 
Over the course of the two day event most swimmers achieved PB's with some great performances amongst them all.
On top form were Daniel and Robert Melintescu, between them they achieved 12 new West Midlands qualifying times, some great swims seen from both boys. Mason Carter finally achieved his 100m Fly WMQT after a couple of close misses in previous swims.
The team won lots of medals between them, but best medal performance has to go to Sammy Foskett taking Gold in the 200Free with a 7 second PB.  
With the qualifying window for the West Midlands Championships coming to a close soon, Wrekin now has 26 qualified swimmers. Well done to all the team, keep swimming hard. 
Top Form Twins
SHROPSHIRE COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Jan/Feb 2019

Shropshire Counties ran over three back to back weekemds.  With all events covered from 50m sprints to the long distance 800m & 1500m Free, and finals for all 50m & 100m events this was surely a full on programme for all our swimmers. Unfortunately for some members of the team, including coach David, illness took a hold which led to a few swimmers being forced to drop out.  
Despite this Wrekin College SC had a fantastic Championship which was reflected by the number of medals won, the amount of West Midland qualifying times gained and the achievement by several of our swimmers winning top overall boy and girl awards.  
Special mention to Leon Steer and Sam Neeld for gaining Shropshire County records.
As it stands we now have twenty six swimmers qualified for the West Midlands Championships, a phenomenal achievement by the team of swimmers and our Coaches David and Rachel.  Well done to all.

SUMMARY OF RESULTS

78 GOLD MEDALS
69 SILVER MEDALS
66 BRONZE MEDALS


129 WEST MIDLAND QUALIFYING TIMES


3 new Shropshire County records attained:

Leon Steer - 13yr age group - 50m Breast - 33.92
Leon Steer - 13yr age group - 100m IM - 1:09.68
Sam Neeld - 16yr&over - 50m Breast - 29.06


TOP OVERALL WINNERS
BOYS

10/11yrs
 3rd - Caleb Zhou

12yrs
2nd  - Oliver Greaves

13yrs
2nd - Leon Steer

14yrs
1st - Ben Scobie

15yrs
1st Will Timmins

16&over
1st - Sam Neeld
2nd - Woody Goodall
3rd - Luci Valle

GIRLS

12yrs
3rd - Aimee Corkhill

14yrs
1st - Jess Backhouse

15yrs
1st - Harriet Smith

16yrs
1st - Zara Leleux
3rd - Chloe Moloney

Click here for full results
Trophee National des Hortillions, Amiens, France
18th – 20th January 2019
Harriet, Eve and Anya's first taste of International competition in Amiens this weekend culminated in the girls swimming a total of 34 races including finals.  No mean feat in just three days!
The girls each achieved long course personal bests in some events and also managed positions of 3rd, 4th and 6th in some events overall in the whole competition.  Anya's 3rd place even earned her a few Euro's too.
The girls had to race each other in a few of the heats and finals, testing their competitive nature against each other as well as the international competitors.
Well done to all three girls in surviving food you didn't like, a very long two day's of travel and lots and lots of racing. 
14th - 16th December 2018

This was the last weekend of competition before the Christmas break and with four members of the club qualifying for Winter National Short Course Championships in Sheffield and squad members competing at Northampton Winter Open Meet in Rugby it was going to be a busy one for Coach David Clarke as well as the team.
Winter National Short Course Championships
Ponds Forge, Sheffield

This year had Anya Preece, Zara Leleux, Sam Neeld and Will Slawson qualify for this prestigious event held in Sheffield.  Competing against the best Junior and Senior swimmers in the country, all four team members did their club and coach proud with some great performances between them, and Personal Bests from Anya, Sam and Will.  The highlight of the competition was Sam Neeld qualifying in both the 100m and 200m Breaststroke B finals, competing in only the 100m final Sam finished an incredible 3rd place and improved his time further still.  

Click here for full results
Northampton Winter Open Meet
Jubilee Centre, Rugby

The club only had a small group of swimmers competing at this full weekend of competition, but with many PB's, medals, County and Regional qualifying times achieved, the club finished as second top visiting team in the medals table.  
Harriet Smith took top girl in the 14yr age group and Ben Scobie finished as top boy in the 13yr age group.  We also had two more swimmers added to the growing list of Regional swimmers, with Mason Carter achieving his first ever WMQT in the 200m Fly event and Chloe Moloney qualified in both 200m FC and 400m IM events. 

Click here for full results. 
NORTHGATE PB BUSTER 2018 - WOLVERHAMPTON
24TH & 25TH NOVEMBER 
 For Wrekin's Junior squad this was a full weekend of competition, with some tying to improve on last month's times and other's trying to gain further County qualifying times.
Yet again, everyone set new Personal Best times, with plenty of County quailfying times achieved and, although its early in the season, four swimmers gained six West Midland qualifying times between them.  Eva Sambhi gained her first ever WM QT in the 200m Breaststroke, Oliver Greaves gained a further three more WM QT's to add to the two he gained last month, Joeleen Charlery in the 100m Fly and Jack Males in the 100m Backstroke.

And to end a great weekend of swimming from all, Wrekin College SC took the title of Top Visiting Club and three Junior Squad members took Top girl and boy trophies. Well done to all, the club is proud of you all, keep up the hard work. 

Jessica Backhouse - Top Girl 12/13yr age group
Jack Males - Top Boy 11yr age group
Caleb Zhou - Top Boy 9yr age group

For full results click here
MIDLAND SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2018 - HARVEY HADDEN, NOTTINGHAM
3RD & 4TH NOVEMBER 2018
With only one full day of rest after our week long intensive training swim camp, eight of our squad swimmers travelled to Nottingham for the Midland Short Course Championships.  Coach David Clarke was unsure of what to expect from the team over a full two days of competition, but the swimmers didn't let him down.
Although some were looking tired, they still managed to produce many Short Course Personal Best times.  Four of the team qualified for twelve finals between them, achieving four podium places and four swimmers gained a total of nine Winter National Short Course times between them.  So not a bad day's work at the end of it.  Well done to all competing after a long, tough week of training. 
To add to the weekend of racing, Wrekin also entered a girls 4x100m FC relay team, after some fantastic split times from all the girls and an exciting race to watch, they finished a credible 5th place.  Well done to Eve Leleux, Anya Preece, Ella Thatcher-Plant and Zara Leleux.
Finals and best results over the weekend

ZARA LELEUX - 2nd 200Fly - National SC QT

WILL SLAWSON - 2nd 100Fly - 3rd 100IM - 5 National SC QT

ANYA PREECE - 2nd Junior 200Fly - National SC QT

SAM NEELD - 4th 50Br - 5th 100Br - 6th 100IM - 7th 200IM - 2 National SC QT

LUCIAN VALLE - 32nd 100IM

ELLA THATCHER-PLANT - 11th 800FC

EVE LELEUX - 7th Junior 400FC

HARRIET SMITH - 5th Junior 800FC

Click here for full results
SHREWSBURY OPEN MEET, WOLVERHAMPTON
7TH & 8TH OCTOBER
This was Wrekin’s first competition of the new swimming season and it was great to see the whole club of swimmers racing over the weekend at the same meet, it was a great chance to race away the summer cobwebs and to get everyone back into the racing mood.  

Being only 5 weeks into the new season of training it gives opportunity to see where fitness levels are and give swimmers important feedback of areas to work on ready for Midlands SC winter meet and the Northgate PB buster next month

Kicking the new season off to a great start our swimmers impressed by producing some great swims and with most achieving those all-important personal best times. With the team gaining numerous top three places and many medals being won the club came away with the Top Club award and eight top boy/girl trophies out of the ten up for grabs.
TOP BOY AWARDS
WOODY GOODALL - 16&OVER
WILLIAM TIMMINS - 12/13YR
OLIVER GREAVES - 10/11YR
CALEB ZHOU - 9YR
Click here for full results
TOP GIRL AWARDS
ELLA THATCHER-PLANT - 16&OVER
HARRIET SMITH - 14/15YR
JESSICA BACKHOUSE - 12/13YR
AIMEE CORKHILL - 10/11YR
British National County Championships
7th October 2018 - Ponds Forge, Sheffield
Three of our swimmers, Eve Leleux, Anya Preece and Leon Steer had to miss the Sunday sessions at the Shrewsbury Open to go off to Sheffield and compete for Shropshire in the British County Team Championships. Their performances there helped Shropshire finish overall 4th and gain their first ever promotion into Division 1. Between them they had 7 swims either individual or relay and helped contribute to the promotion gaining valuable points for the team in their events. 
CONGRATULATIONS TO A FEW OF THE TEAM
 Congratulations to Harriet Smith who has been selected for the Swim England National Develpment Programme.  
This is a programme offering a series of development programmes that provide a pathway to support young swimmers in their quest to achieve Senior International podium success.  For Harriet this means she will be attending three one day camps in Wycombe. Well done Harriet, keep up the hard work. 
Congratulations also, to Leon Steer, Eve Leleux and Anya Preece.
All have been selected to represent Shropshire County at the biggest team event of the swimming calendar year, the British National County Team Swimming Championships, being held in Sheffield on Sunday 7th October. Well done to all, and good luck. 
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