The Alive St James Swimming Pool in King’s Lynn once again played host as West Norfolk Swimming Club held the 2023 edition of their annual open meet on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th March.
Supported by headline sponsors Alive Leisure, the event drew competitors from across Norfolk; Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire to the Blackfriars’ Street venue to contest seven different age categories and the chance to secure regional qualifying times.
Almost 1600 individual swims took place across 28 events running from Saturday afternoon, into the evening before resuming again early on the Sunday morning. This was made possible by an army of volunteers who run the event under the excellent leadership of event promoter Amanda Bellamy and were kindly kept fed and watered throughout thanks to the generous support of Renegade Spudz; Priors Butchers of West Lynn and Karina the Community Champion at Gaywood Tesco.
Thanks also go to additional event sponsors Manor Farm Fishing Lakes and the Belle Vue Guest House.
After the two days and four sessions of competition, the overall trophy for Top Boy was awarded to Kameron Baker of the City of Peterborough – who also secured honours for Top Visiting Club – whilst West Norfolk’s own Polly Anderson narrowly beat team mate Olivia Bradford to the award for Top Girl.
In the pool, WNSC’s Purple Army delivered an impressive performance once again, demonstrating the club moto “train hard race easy”.
No-one showcased this better than one of the youngest swimmers at the weekend, 10 year old Valeria Soldatihhina who took the gold medal in every one of the 11 events she raced.
Also in the 10 year old category Den Vojevoda secured gold for his 100 metre backstroke along with 6 silvers and 1 bronze. Elizabeth Litvinenko took home 3 silvers and 4 bronze medals while Leo Harrington’s 200 Backstroke also earned a gold medal to accompany a silver and 2 bronze’s.
Joshua Norris and Kiean Jackson each took home a silver and bronze medal and Alexandra Cerps earned a well-deserved bronze medal for his 100 metre Butterfly.
For the 11 year olds Polly Anderson won 12 medals, 9 of which were gold and Harry Clarke showed he meant business with 9 golds and 1 silver.
Gold medals also went to Logan Greenwood and Arya Richardson. Calum Wallace and Nellie Chadderton each took home 4 medals while Lexi Foster won 2 silvers and Ignas Smulkys took bronze for the 50 backstroke.
The 12 year olds bagged a total of 33 medals between them including 7 golds, 3 silvers and 2 bronzes from Olivia Bradford and 2 gold, 3 silvers and 2 bronzes from Ruby Baxter. Adam Jackson and Rejus Mazeika each contributed 4 medals while Samuel Liddell and Toby Turner added another 3 each.
For the 13 year olds Alexander Pattison topped the table with 7 golds and 2 bronzes. Golds were also earned by Theo Ryan, Ashton Busby, Belle Ringwood and Milly Johnson. Further contributions from Calleigh Welham-Smith, Callum New, Cory Hill, Florence Collison, Ruby Steward Brown and Thomas Elsdon brought the medal total to 39 for the age group.
The 14’s and over had an equally successful meet. Eloise Collins took the gold in 8 of the 9 events she swam, and Sarah O’Brien finished the weekend undefeated after 7 events.
Benjamin Tennant, Jamie Wilson and Tobias Oglesby each earned 5 golds and there were high medal counts from many others including Wiktoria Marcinek who medalled in 12 out of 13 events, Kye Harrington medalling in 11 out of 12 events, Erin Woodrow with 9 and Esmie Kidman with 8 medals.
A raffle was run throughout the weekend to support the club’s ongoing fundraising activities. Prizes were kindly donated by local businesses King’s Lynn Model Shop; Collison Cut Flowers; GBC Construction; Church Farm of Stowe Bardolph; The Majestic Cinema; Smudge Creations; Alive Corn Exchange; WaffleOpolis and Sweet Treats, as well as Sandringham Hall and larger firms Morrisons; Farm Foods; AP Race Clinic and Outdoor Swimwear.
