The National Winter Championships took place at Ponds Forge, Sheffield between 5th and 8th December.
Four West Norfolk Swimming Club members qualified and competed.
The Championships, raced in 25m, short course format, are unlike the Summer Championships which have age group specific finals. Instead the Winter Champs have just Youth (18 and under), Open (over 18) age groups
Freddie Laws (16yrs) was joined by Nathan Wells (21 yrs), Sam Peck (18 yrs) Sam Rose (16 yrs)he clubs they swim with whilst studying outside the county.
Heat sessions ran from 9:00am in the mornings and finals from 4:30pm.
Thursday 5th December
Freddie Laws got think underway swimming a personal best (PB) in of 1.05.14 in the 100m breaststroke.
Nathan Wells got his weekend started with the 200m IM, swimming just off his PB. In the 400m freestyle however he swam a brilliant 3.50.42 which broke the 36 year old Norfolk county record, held since 1983 by Norfolk Olympian Paul Easter. That time earned Nathan a place in the final where he finished 5th, with an even quicker 3.49.12, notching up a 2.75 second improvement on his PB on the day and consolidating the county record.
Friday 6th December
Sam Peck and Nathan Wells both raced he 400m IM. Sam just missed his PB, while Nathan equalled his own county record time of 4.20.57 in the heats. In the final he took a further 1.5 seconds off it to finish in 4.19.06, stamping his name on that county record even harder.
Sam Rose raced the 100m freestyle putting in his second best ever time of 53.69, not quite matching his own junior county record, set last month.
Saturday 7th December
Nathan Wells began his day with PB of 56.81 in the heat of the 100m IM, which was yet another Norfolk county record, and earned him a place in the final. The record didn’t hold for long though, as he again bettered it in the final, with 56.53, placing him joint 8th overall.
He then raced the 1500m freestyle finishing 6th overall with another PB time of 15:28:87
Sunday 8th December
Freddie Laws was first up in the 200m breaststroke, notching up a time of 2.20.33, just off his own junior and senior county record time, set in November, taking it from team mate Sam Peck..
Sam Peck went a couple of heats later of the same event, finishing in 2.21.64.
Sam Rose finished his weekend off, along with the #purplearmy interests in the event, with a 1.55.58 in the 200m freestyle.
West Norfolk SC Head Coach Sarah Vanderloo said ‘It’s great to see all our members doing so well, whether swimming in a purple West Norfolk cap or in the colours of their other clubs. I was particularly pleased for Nathan who had a fantastic weekend, but taking the longstanding county record in the 400m freestyle from such a top achieving athlete is really special. I’ve been keeping tabs on the results from City of Peterborough’s ‘CoPs Winter Open’ gala where we had members swimming as well over the weekend and am pleased that there have been some great results there too. We crack on with training now though, with the final of the Arena League in Cambridge next Saturday, and the Norfolk County Championships early next month, there’s no time to rest on our laurels. I’m also looking forward to welcoming the 20 or so new young members joining the club after our recent trials sessions. Anyone looking for information on joining the club can contact me through our new look website www.westnorfolksc.co.uk’
