The Swim England Norfolk County Championships took place at the UEA SportsPark in Norwich across three weekends in January and Early February, with West Norfolk SC represented by a large contingent of swimmers guided by Head Coach Sarah Vanderloo.
Success came early on for Esmie Kidman who secured both the 17 and over and the Open Age Group Women’s 800M Freestyle in the opening day of competition on Saturday 13th January.
Kidman then repeated the feat in 1500M Freestyle the following day, with Club Captain Harvey Isle making it a double victory for West Norfolk by taking the 17 and Over and Men’s Open Age Group titles in the same event.
The third day of competition on the 27th January saw Valeria Soldatihhina take the first set of honour on offer – those for the 10 & 11 Year Old Girls’ 200M Freestyle.
Josh Jones took first place in the Boys’ 15 Years’ 100M Breaststroke in dominant fashion before Soldatihhina won her second gold medal of the morning in the Girls’ 10 & 11 Years’ 50M Butterfly.
Olivia Bradford took top spot in the 13 Years’ age group of the same event and Millie Harris made it hat trick of 50M Butterfly titles coming back to West Norfolk with victory in the 16 Years’ category.
Nathan Wells wrapped up Saturday morning for West Norfolk with first place in the Men’s 50M Backstroke, narrowly edging out teammate Tobias Oglesby by three hundreds of a second on Oglesby return to competition following a period of ill health.
Saturday afternoon saw a third county title for Soldatihhina in the Girls’ 10 & 11 Years’ 100M Breaststroke and then a fourth in the 50M Backstroke to put the cherry on the cake of an outstanding day for the eleven year old swimmer.
The morning of Sunday 28th January saw first places for Alexander Pattison, Jamie Wilson and Kye Harrington in their respective age categories for the 200M Butterfly before Soldatihhina returned to the top step of the podium once again in the Girls’ 200IM.
Nathan Wells came home first in Men’s 100M Backstroke Final before Soldatihhina starred once again in her age category’s 50M Breaststroke final, taking victory by the narrowest of margins – one one hundredth of a second ahead of Norwich Swan’s Amy Brightwell.
Sunday afternoon started with a second gold medal of the weekend for Josh Jones via the Boys’ 15 Years’ 400M Individual Medley.
Valeria Soldatihhina took her seventh and eighth county titles – this time in the 200M Breaststroke and 50M Freestyle, whilst Samuel Liddell took top honours in the Boys’ 13 Years’ 100M Butterfly.
Soldatihhina was also responsible for the first West Norfolk victory of the third weekend of the championships, placing first in the Girls’ 10
& 11 Years’ 200M Butterfly, before Nathan Wells took gold in the Men’s 200M IM.
The Girls’ 100M Freestyle saw Soldatihhina raise her number of age group county titles into the double digits, with Millie Harris also made it to the top of the podium in the 16 Years’ age category.
Freddie Laws closed the morning’s proceedings by leading home a West Norfolk 1-2-3 in the Men’s 50M Breastroke final ahead of Finlay Ryan and Nathan Wells.
The afternoon session on the 3rd February saw Milly Johnson place first in the Girls’ 14 Years’ 400IM and Esmie Kidman repeat the fest in the 17 Years and Over Category.
The Boys’ 200M Breaststroke was Harry Clarke’s time to shine, with a first place in the final for the 12 Years’ age category. Clarke was quickly followed by Josh Jones in the 15 Years’ Final and Laws in the 17 and Over Final.
Not one to leave a session empty handed, Valeria Soldatihhina secured her thirteenth gold medal of the championships in the Girls’ 10 & 11 Years’ 100M Backstroke before Tobias Oglesby ended the penultimate day of competition with victory in the blue-riband Men’s 50M Freestyle Final.
The final day of swimming, Sunday 4th February, started with a West Norfolk gold from Nathan Wells in the Men’s 200M Backstroke and another for Soldatihhina in the Girls’ 10 and 11 Years’ 200M Backstroke.
Wells then took his second county title of the morning in the Men’s 100M Freestyle, before Soldatihhina did the same in the Girls’ 10 & 11 Years’ 100M Butterfly, closing her account with an outstanding total of 15 County Titles.
West Norfolk’s final individual gold came courtesy of Millie Harris in the Girls’ 16 Years’ 100M Butterfly.
The championships concluded with the County Relay Gala on their final afternoon, with West Norfolk placing second overall and one last gold medal coming courtesy of the Men’s 4 x 100 Mixed Medley Team.
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