More of our younger swimmers made their debut for the  Club as the junior team were back competing in  Diss.

Anna Thurston achieved a maximum of five wins out of five in only her second gala. Over the 25m the 11 year old won three races; the Butterfly in 23.39, the Freestyle in 19.06 and the Breastroke in 26.84. Then over 50m, she took the Backstroke in 23.28 and the Freestyle with 39.47  when she finished  ahead of fellow Viking Isabelle Bird who touched in 43.88  to take second .Isabelle later went one step better winning the 50m breaststroke in 59.35 . Meanwhile, there was a double second for her 7 year old sister, Ivy in her very first gala. Over 25m Freestyle (29.72) and 25m Breastsroke (34.02) respectively.

Leona Scott, aged 10 won two races. Perhaps the most significant was the 50m Backstroke  when she beat a strong field of six, winning in 50.28. In the 50m Butterfly she completed the course in 53.4. in first place. Then she achieved a second place in 1;08.6 on the 50m breaststroke whilst Viking Milly Edridge came third with 1:10.64 in the same event.

Debutant Isla Haynes had a win in the 25m butterfly with 25.52. Not far behind was fellow 10 year old Heidi Davison who came in on 28.00 to make it a Viking first and third place respectively.  Fearne Sadler came first in the 25m freestyle defeating a field of eight when she hit the pad in 20.38 whilst Isla was third in 20.87 as only split seconds separated the first three in an exciting finger tip finish. There was a consolation place for Fearne’s elder sister Rosa finishing second behind Anna with 25.91 for 50m backstroke in the appropriate age group.

Also competing for the first time was 9 year old Lexie Parker who had three consolation places to be proud of. Lexie   achieved two seconds and one third.  Her two second place swims came in the 50m freestyle with 1:18.6 and her second second is was for the  50m Breastroke. with 56.50 respectively. In the 25m Breastroke, her time of 35.0 was enough for third.

At the conclusion of the gala, Club Coach Roxanne Demmen said

“ Fantastic time for our juniors  at the Diss Otters gala! Lots of fun and lots of learning to take away onto the next one.”

We had 32 PBs from 43 swims which equals a 74.42% success.

Ellen and Isaac win again but Vikings fall short 

Ellen Eccleston has qualified for Swim England’s National Championships after some impressive work and was on form again after returning from the Regional Championships. Her latest success was at the Norfolk County Gala held at the UEA Sports Park in an inter-club championships where every Norfolk Club took part.

Ellen dominated the 100m breastroke in which she finished in 1:14.91 short course time, compared with her long course time of 1:19.04 in the regionals. Converted it means that she improved  by approximately three seconds  During the event, Ellen led the race from the gun finishing eight second ahead of any opponent and the fifteen year old had the fastest time in any age group. Ellen will compete in the 50,100 & 200m breaststroke events at the Nationals in August.

Isaac Buchan was another Viking winner. In the100m backstroke, he finished in 1:08.7 a split second ahead in what was one of the closest finishes of the gala. He scored more valuable points for the Vikings when he finished in third place over 100m butterfly touching in 1:10.84

Emily Morton increased the points tally for Vikings when the 14 year old achieved a second place in the 100m butterfly with 1:16.71 and Toby Corfield had similar success when he went 48.18 for 50m on the same stroke. Meanwhile, Reuben Seaman was a worthy runner up too when he completed 50m backstroke in 54.29

Emily Beighton, Harry Hudson and Ruby Tracy all achieved third places. Emily 100m breaststroke 1:28.16 Harry 100m butterfly 1:02.94 and Ruby 100m breaststroke 1:23.30

Other clubs on the day swam better as Vikings finished seventh out of seventh in the juniors. In the seniors, Vikings came seventh out of eighth as other Vikings found it tough to keep up with the fierce competition despite their  determination and commitment across all the age ranges. However, Viking’s Team manager Samantha Seaman remained positive

“I was so proud of all of our swimmers across all the squads. They all represented the club beautifully and swam amazingly.  Well done everyone.”

Final Points

Juniors

Place	Team	Points
1	Co Norwich	334
2	West Norfolk	277
3	Norwich Swan	264
4	Diss Otters	179
5	Dereham	166
6	Gt Yarmouth	133
7	N Norfolk Vikings	116

Seniors

1	Co Norwich	277
2	West Norfolk	259.5
3	Norwich Swan	237.5
4	Thetford	191
5	Gt Yarmouth	187
6	Dereham	170
7	N Norfolk Vikings	155
8	Diss Otters	114

ON THE BEESTON BEAT

We took a junior team to Beeston Hall School to competed against the school  for the first time since covid restrictions were fully lifted in which is now becoming a traditional swimming fixture. It was held in the outdoor pool at the Beeston  School infront of parents and more than  fifty two youngsters took part in the friendly match when swimmers competed in school age groups up to Year 8 (13 years)  Some of the Beeston children haven’t swam regularly but they soon blew the cobwebs away and. after a good warm up they were ready to race. Meanwhile, Vikings have been having considerable success  in their junior sections lately so it was all set for an explosive encounter.

The school provided ample opportunities for more events on the programme so that swimmers on both sides could benefit  from the competition. As you would expect there were some very close races and In total the Beeston children achieved 47 Personal best times out of a possible 51. However, when the final points were tallied it was the Vikings who came out on top by a slender three points.

“The children held their nerve, tried their hardest and were spurred on by the enormous crowd of spectators. ‘Parents I cannot thank you enough for your support and loud cheering.’ The overall result has shown just how much potential our Beeston children have in the swimming pool. remarked Yasmin Caswell the school’s Head of PE and Swimming.

Sarah Buchan Chair of the Vikings responded with

“Vikings were very pleased to be back at Beeston and It was very encouraging to see so many swimmers take part. We would like to thank Beeston Hall School for staging an enjoyable and friendly competition.”

 

Viking Coaches Set  Example

Viking Coaches Sam and Roxanne have been setting the example when they took the plunge at the Norfolk Masters Coronation Gala held at the UEA Sports Park. Lead Coach Sam  from Taverham and Club Coach Roxanne  both achieved gold medals in their respective master age groups.

Sam achieved his first gold medal in a finger tip finish, over 50m freestyle winning in 27.51 from Richard Davies’ 27.94. Roxanne struck gold when, over the same course and came in on 54.72.swimming backstroke. Sam got his second gold medal in the 50m Butterfly and there was more of a winning margin when he hit the pad  in 29.02 from Paul Maukonen  who recorded 35.24.

However, there was more success for Sam when he proved that he was not just an individualist but a team player. In the Medly Relay he swam the freestyle leg  for a combined East Anglia Team  and helped the team to a silver

Meanwhile, Roxanne,was busy again this time in the 50m freestyle when a silver medal was awarded to her over the 50m easily winning in 46.82. In the 50m breaststroke, its was a bronze medal in  1:04.97 but was adrift of the winner Louise Bush.

At the conculsion both coaches responded with:-

I am really pleased with my three nedals I achieved at the masters and I hope it will help motivate the Viking Swimmers to improve and achieve more.” said Sam

“I really enjoyed it and pleased with my swims. I hope it will motivate our club swimmers becasue you don’t know what you can achieve if you don’t at least try. A gold, silver and bronze medal I never expected to achieve so much to be honest” remarked Roxanne.

 

REGIONAL RATINGS

Lily Herring took at hat-trick of bronze medals when she swam in the Eastern Regional Championship at the UEA Sports Park in Norwich.

The 14 year old who attends Broadland High School, swims in the S9 and S10 Categories and since transferring to the Vikings has found a real sense of purpose and focus. Lili also proved that she is versatile over long, middle and shorter distances. This was clearly displayed when she first completed eight lengths for 400m freestyle in 5:45.24

 Liliy also proved that she is  talented on all four strokes when she swam the 200m Individual Medley in 3.24.80 to achieve her second bronze and subsequently her third bronzel came in the 100m breastroke when she scored 1:58.87.Lily was just two seconds short of a fourth medal when she was fourth in the 50m freestyle with 36.45

.Alysham’s Ellen Eccleston made the finals of both her respective breaststroke events.In the 100m she finished eigth in 1.19.04 but in the 200m breastroke,  her  time of 2:47.92 made her fifth only six seconds behind the winner.

Leah Harris aged 21 of Cromer and  Harry Huson aged 17 of Smalbugh, also represented the Vikings at the Regionals.

As for  Lead Coach Sam Watts, who now has his first swimmers and medalists at Regional Level said

Our training programme is working well at the moment. More swimmers are responding  and some are breaking through achieving Regional Qualifying times and medals. This is subequently raising our standard so I’m looking forward to seeing where the club is in the next 12 months.

STOP PRESS  …..Congratulations to Ellen as she has qualified for the SE National Summer Championships as a result of her swims at Regonals

Silver Linings at Dereham

 

 

Swimmers, Mia Turner and Anna Thuston won medals for the first time in a triangular gala involving the host club Dereham Otters and Norwich Swan. They were members of a team of ten younger swimmers all of  whom swam in their respective age groups.

It was gold for Mia when she touched in 39.58 in a finger tip finish over 50m freestyle when she defeated twelve more 11year olds. Mia has only been with the club a short while and has recently been promoted up from the club’s development squad.

Anna  left with two  medals in her very first gala . Anna achieved a time of  48.81 over 50m backstroke for bronze and then  went one place better with a well earned silver for 50m butterfly in 1.00.11. 

There were silver linings too for 11 year old Layla Calaby, who just just out touched Anna in 47.49  Milly Edridge in 2.06.35 for her 100m freestyle and 12 year old  team captain Leona Scott, when she hit the pad in  42.61 over  50m freestyle. 

 Another Vikings who has just been promoted to the main squad from the development squad and continues to improve is  Isabelle Bird. The 11 year old from North Walsham achieved a bronze in the  50m breaststroke. in a time of 1.00.38.

 Leonardo Jones was just outside the medals but swam well. He achieved two fourth places  Also In her first gala 9 year old Clemmie Dent swam in three events without blemish and Heidi Davison rose to the challenge by participating in four events.

 

400m Freestyle Proving Popular

 

Swimmers continue to improve and the 400m freestyle seemed to be very popular with the Vikings at a gala hosted by the Norwich Swan Club at the UEA Sports Park

Toby Corfield won six gold medals and achieved a personal best in five events. In the 100m freestyle he took the gold by improving his time by thirteen seconds when he finished in 1:21.36. He won the event by a clear five seconds, defeating a field of seven more 11year olds.

Reuben Seaman, achieved four golds for the North Norfolk Vikings.and it was the longer distance event of 400m freestyle when the 11 year old completed the  16 lengths exhausted in 7:01.65. Ironically there were no other swimmers against him in his age group so Reuben’s opponent was the clock which he beat it by an outstanding eighteen seconds.

There were no medals.for Reuben’s 14 year old elder sister Esme, however, but there was considerable improvement right across the week-end. In the 400m freestyle, she improved by thirty six seconds the largest margin of improvement for the vikings over the competition when she finished sixth.in 5.51.45. Esme went on achieve three more personal best times in other events.

Emily Morton left a week-end of competition with a magnificent seven medals across a broad spectrum of events and already has established herself as an accomplished County Swimmer. Of the seven medals it was her silver in the 400m freestyle in which she was magnanimous. Emily completed the swim in 5:32.00 – only split seconds out side the gold and in a close race throughout. The 15 year old improved her time by eighteen seconds like Reuben did.

Rebecca Burrows of Rackheath had success in the 400m freestyle when she won silver in 5.44.79 and went on to achieved two bronze medals. The 200m backstroke (2.55.81)) and the 200m freestyle in 2.47.72 respectively. The Broadland High School student swam a personal best on each outing.

Maisie Fagen from North Walsham also improved when she went seven seconds better at the end of the 200m freestyle. The 15 year old finished in .2:43.45 to gain a silver adjacent to the bronze won by Rebecca in the same event

George Edridge from Tunstead claimed a silver medal over the 400m freestyle when the 13 year old finished in 5.30.56. and in the 200m, he achieved a bronze in 2.32.03 improving by ten seconds on both swims

Lily Dear of Moundsley won bronze for 100m breaststroke in 1:45.95 as the 10 year old improved by eight seconds but in the 200m event she reduced  her personal best by twenty seconds.finishing with 3:40.66 to claim her second bronze over the week end..

The team was also represented by Sam Morton, Zak Edridge,Bebe King, Grace Parker, Razvan Platon & Club Captain Jess Semark

Vikings won 10 Golds, 8 Silvers and 10 Bronze Medals, whilst there were 73 personal bests from 103 swims. A success rate of 71%.

NEW CLUB BANNER & MOTO

“Unleash Your Inner Viking.”

We are telling our swimmers to Unleash their Inner Viking as we have just revealed our club moto It all came about when the club decided to hold a competition amongst their swimmers to come up with a moto and Unleash Your Inner Viking was judged to be the best from a short list of twelve entries.

It came from fourteen year old Maisie Fagan of North Walsham who has been a club member for five years. Her favourite events are the 200m freestyle and the 100m breaststroke and when asked about how she thought about the moto, Maisie said,

“I was brainstorming lots of ideas with my family. I wanted something that included Vikings, as Vikings are strong and the club improves your confidence and fitness.” John, one of our coaches responded

“ We were delighted that there were so many positive suggestions from the swimmers. It epitomises how proud they are of their club. The new moto tells every one that there is more within one’s self than they can imagine and it challenges the inner self to succeed.”

The cub was founded in 1978 originally as the Aylsham Vikings before moving to North Walsham when the new Victory complex was opened. It is the first time they believe they have ever had a motto which is now proudly displayed on their new club banner. Maisie believes that being a Viking, “Is a regular way to keep fit and to make new friends.”

Diss Is What We Did

A new team of fourteen went to went to Diss for a Development Gala hosted by the Diss Otters Club. For some it was their very first taste of competition. Their ages ranged from 7 to 12 when they swam adjacent to three other clubs. Otters created a very friendly, relaxing atmosphere which helped the youngsters relieve their nervousness.

Leona Scott, aged 12 years, achieved two second places both in backstroke. Leona covered the 25m in 21.44 and the 50m in 48.38 respectively. Milly Edridge and Fearne Sadler, both aged 9 years, ironically each reduced their personal best times time by 9 seconds Milly touched in 51.87 over 50m freestyle whilst Fearne finished in 26.06 for 25m backstroke. Fearne improved her time again by 10 seconds when she scored 20.64 for 25m freestyle. Imogen Laws, another 9 year old, swam even faster coming 5 out of 39 in the same event with a very impressive 19.13 The over all results were impressive too with a 83% success rate based on personal best times

The Viking team also consisted of Holly Cartwright, Isla Cartwright, Tessa Cartwright, Edith Hopkins, Willow Hopkins, Leonardo Jones,, Jonah Perrott, Rosa Sadler, Cody Turner & Joe Willimott.

 

Some of the team at the Warwick Thompson Gala L to R back Sam Watts (Coach) Lewis Goulty Front L to R Razvan Platon,Winnie Browne,Emily Beighton,Rebecca Burrows, Esme Seaman & Baillee Beighton

After having a very successful County Championships. we swam well again when we travelled to the Warwick Thompson gala in Thetford.

For 15 year old Emily Beighton it was a gala she will not forget for a long time. Over the week-end of competition, she won five gold medals. Her first came in the 200m Individual Medley. Completing 50m on all four strokes, the Broadland High School student from Bacton, led the race from the gun and was fifteen seconds clear of any opponent after she touched in  3:06.89 Emily swam butterfly again in the 100m but it was much closer. However, she just held on to win in 1:35.81. The decisive factor was her breathing technique when she took one breath every two strokes in stead of the traditional one. This definitely worked to her advantage.

Emily is proving to be very versatile in all strokes over different distances and when it came to the 50m backstroke, she won it with a finger tip finish hitting the pad in with 40.03 – a split second ahead. Perhaps her fastest race came in the 50m breaststroke when she defeated no fewer than eight competitors in 41.56. In her final triumph, she completely dominated  the 200m breaststroke winning almost 18 seconds ahead of any rival and in a personal best time of  2:23.66 . When asked about her swims, Emily said

“I have to admit I was very apprehensive this week about my 100m butterfly but when I got there,a member of the coaching staff at the club told me ‘If I think I can’t, I will not – but If I think I can I will,   I therefore just felt the time was right to at least start the race. I just could not imagine I would even get in the medals let alone win gold.” was the honest and modest reply.

Seniors and debutants, Sam Morton and Lewis Goulty both had multiple gold medal success in their first ever galas. In the 100m freestyle, Lewis aged 19,  came first  in 1:04.20. in an explosive finish. Then there were two more golds the 50m butterfly in 34.59 and his hat-trick of golds came in the 50m freestyle scoring 28.94. Meanwhile, 16 year old  Sam stated his claim on the 100m IM with a gold medal time of 1:20.36.  Sam did not have to wait long for his second gold when he added  the 50m backstroke  in 39.34 to his tally respectively.

Razvan Platon, won gold, five silvers and a bronze medal

In the 14 years,100m breastroke, he was three  seconds ahead of any opponent  at the half way mark.  Then on the last 50m he pulled further ahead  winning the race and improving his time by eight seconds when he brought it home in 1:41.98 to win the gold. .However, it was the 100m Individual Medley where he excelled and improved further . He was in contention right throughout the race and finished in silver medal position, just one second behind the winner but with a personal best of 1:30.93   – an eighteen second improvement  For a sprint event – where swimmers have to swim all four strokes in the race – it was simply  outstanding.

Doubling the distances Razvan attempted the 200m breastroke. At the touch he was just two seconds adrift of winning the gold but his silver medal time of  time of  3.38.47 was a twelve second improvement. It was the same distance again, but in the freestyle when Razvan claimed another silver medal with 2:48.72  Razvan improved  his time here by nineteen seconds.

In the 50m breastroke, he went six seconds faster than he has achieved to claim a well deserved silver medal in 48.21 and He improved his 50m butterfly by seven seconds when he hit the pad in in 43.04 for silver.

His bronze medal swim was for the 50m back stroke when he finished in 48.07  ironically, on this occasion, he was  four seconds out side his best time but not many swimmers left with seven medals! When asked about his swims, Razvan said

“Whilst it’s true that I have greatly improved recently, I don’t want to get too carried away. However, I’m excited for the next step forward.’

Full credit must go to 11 year old Layla Callaby who was the exceptional winner over the 50m breaststroke. Layla defeated six swimmers to win in 59.10 and is only currently in the development squad. However, Layla was not finished. There was another gold to follow  this time in the 50m freestyle defeating nine swimmers in a close finish with a stoic 45.11.

Amongst the medals was 12 year old Winnie Browne who had double medal success.. After a lot of perseverance, hard work and tenacity in training she went 1.36.09  on the 100m backstroke to take silver and then in the 200m freestyle, she scored  3.04.01 to take a bronze medal. Winne swam a personal best in both races.

Fearne Sadler, aged 10, also swam her fastest over 50m freestyle when she improved by twenty two seconds for the 50m freestyle to collect a bronze with 48.24. There was a bronze too for 13 year old Baillee Beighton over 100m in the 13 years freestyle in 1.37.77.

Esme Seaman entered no fewer than nine events and improved her own personal performances and was happy. The 14 year old was just out of the medals, finishing fourth over the 100m IM with1:36.27 Rosa Sadler, Fearne’s elder sister, swam will in the 50m freestyle in her best time of 45.55 .

Vikings left the gala with 14 golds, 14 silvers and 5. bronze medals.