COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS 25

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County Championships 2025

It only took 22 minutes and 28 seconds for North Norfolk Viking Swimmer Reuben Seaman to swim 30 lengths of the UEA pool at the County Championships for him to take the bronze medal in the 1,500m freestyle. His official time was 22.28.48 and the 13 year old was only 2 minutes outside the gold medal.

This was not the end of his achievements, however. In the 800m he came fifth in 11:45.72 just behind fellow Viking Toby Corfield by a second who recorded 11.44.33 from Reuben’s 11.45.72 respectively. Reuben swam strongly again when he became a finalist in the 100m breaststroke touching the pad sixth in 1:35.67 out of seventeen in his age group.

Toby, also 13, went on make two butterfly finals. In the 200m he agreed a pace plan with his coach which bore fruit. Although he was a long way from the gold, the thirteen year old had  enough energy at the end to claim a silver in 3:18.32. subsequently improving his time by 7 seconds.

Imogen Laws bagged  five medals for the North Norfolk Vikings at the County Swimming Championships held at the UEA Sports Park over  50m long course distances.  In the 200m freestyle, the 11 year old was not even in contention for a medal at the half way stage. Then suddenly on the last 50m, she accelerated and in a very close finish, she managed to offer just that little bit more and won the bronze medal by a split second in 2:36.51.

Over the same distance on the butterfly she went one step further and achieved silver in 2:59.48. and then added three more bronze medals in backstroke events, two of which were the 100m (1:24.22) and the 200m (2:59.48) respectively.

However it was the 50m,backstroke, which Imogen regarded as her best swim, when she achieved a personal best time of 38.99 which put her right into the final. It was a close final with Imogen again improving further taking bronze in 37.77.

Emily Morton proved to be one of the top swimmers in the county and took home a pair of freestyle bronze medals.  In the 400m freestyle she touched in 4:54.75 which ranked her sixth over all out of 56. In the 100m she scored 1:03.12 for the medal and only three tenths of a second outside the gold  In her third final the 16 year old came seventh over 100m butterfly with a 1:15.48.
Leona Scott  was also a worthy winner of a bronze medal in the 200m butterfly The 14 year old achieved  3:35.29.

Lexie Parker made the most of her time and seized every opportunity after qualifying in seven events over the last year. Having just missed out reaching the final of the 50m backstroke, the 11 year old qualified for the 100m butterfly final in 1:47.22. It was a nervous wait as you would expect as this was her first county final. Lexie looked strong from the gun and shattered her own personal record by five seconds in 1:42.09.

However, according to her coach her best swim was the 200m backstroke which tested her to the full as this was four lengths of the 50m pool. Building up a rhythm, which she held well over the distance, she completed the course in 2:59.48 to finish ninth – a personal best by 23 seconds.

Another finalist was Anna Turner who did very well when the 11 year old took on six events. Her best swim is when she achieved eighth place in the final of the 100m Breaststroke in with 1:40.50. in a personal best time.

John Holden

DON’T WIPE THIS OUT!

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Leonna Scott  was amongst a number of successful swimmers who represented the North Norfolk Viking Swimming team when they competed in a “Winter Wipe Out” gala at the UEA Sports park.  The 12 year old took no fewer than  3 golds and 2 silver medals home with her after being on top form.

Scott seemed to  favour backstroke and  In the 100m she took gold in 01:19:02 easily defeating a field of 13 and then followed it up with a victory in the 50m, this time over 50m when she brought it home in 35.85. Scott completed her golden hat trick on the 50m freestyle winning in 30.78. There was also more Viking success in her 100m backstroke when Layla Callaby took the bronze in 1:26.72.

Turning to freestyle and butterfly, her third gold came in 50m for the former in  30:78 and in the latter she took her silver in  36:89 3 over the same distance. She rounded off her programme with another silver over 100m freestyle in  1:11:21

Evie Bates  also had a memorable time with her three golds  and a silver. In the 400m freestyle the 14 year old just missed out on the gold by one second in 5:21.68.

Ironically when she contested the 200m freestyle, she won the gold by one second in 2:34.38   defeating seven in her age group. Evie then demonstrated her adroitness on the 100m butterfly winning in 1:25.99 and then proved how to compete in all the strokes in one race by taking the 100 Individual Medley 1:24:50 to round off what has been an exceptional year for her in the pool.

Lexie Parker,  Emily Morton, Sam Morton, Emma Willimott, and Toby Corfield   also achieved gold medals There were consolation medals too for George Edridge, Grace Parker, Anna Turner Layla Callaby, Ashley Jones and Mollie Earle.

LICENCED CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS…

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LICENCED CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS PROVES ADVANTAGEOUS

Imogen Laws swam an impressive 200m butterfly and is set to secure an Eastern Regional Qualifying time, when the qualifying times are officially announced shortly. When ratified she will be the first to achieve the mile stone at the Victory pool in North Walsham. This is because the club championships were  “licenced” for the second year running; meaning that all times were deemed official. The ten year old completed the course in 3:28.81 winning her event by quite a considerable margin and went on to win again in her age group over 200m breaststroke. Imogen covered the eight lengths in a block busting junior tussle to finish in first  place with 3:54.18.

In contrast, there were close finishes. None so close than the 11 year old 50m freestyle when Lexie Parker and Stefanie Smologewski “dead heated” with both hitting the pad simultaneously in 42.50 meaning both swimmers were deemed first under the laws of the sport. New member Amelie Cutting had the second fastest time with 42.91 and was awarded third place in the respective age group in her first club gala..

The Senior girls 100m freestyle was another close one when Leah Harris and Emily Morton crept away from the rest and only split second separated them at the finish with Leah finishing first in 1:03.22 from Emily’s 1:04.15.

The corresponding boys’ event was equally entertaining as Lewis Goultry Ashley Jones, Sam Morton and George Edridge were all in contention but after the 75 metre mark, Lewis stroked ahead to touch first in 58.34 from Ashley’s 1:01.78. Ashley was later a worthy winner of the 50m butterfly in 31.47 and then triumphed again in the 50m backstroke in 32.94. respectively.

Sam then hit back when he won the 200m breaststroke in 2:46.63 recording the fastest time over all whilst twin brothers Zak and George Edridge settled for the consolation places respectively.

The club had its fair share of debutants who made their mark. Amber Clarke  was victorious in the 12 years 100m breaststroke when she touched in 1:51.03. This was followed by two second places in the same stroke., In the 50m she finished with 49.58 and  over a longer distance of 200m Amber got her “second second” this time , losing out to Grace Parker as both girls recoded times times of 3:54.72 and 3:42.38 in the same age group respectively.

Debutant Ivy Bird was the winner of the 9 year 50m backstroke in 46.4 defeating seven fellow Vikings. In the corresponding boys event, Harry Metcalf was the fastest in 59.38 as he was in the 50m breaststroke scoring 1:11.25. This was also Harry’s first gala.

Amelia Hudson swam seven events which is very encouraging for a member who has just been promoted from the club’s development squad. Most impressive was her 200m freestyle  when the 11 year old finished third with a brave 3:35.53 over 8 length of the Victory pool which earnt her third place.

Another debutant Amelie Cutting also made a good account of her self. In the 10 year old age group she was the second fastest in the 100m freestyle in 1:40.12 and second fastest again in the 50m butterfly with a 59.46.

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Zerif Gokmen had every reason to celebrate by winning a silver and three bronze medals In the 100m Individual Medley, 14 year old  Zerif went 1:39.02 demonstrating her improved ability on all four strokes for her silver medal.

Then there were three bronze medals to follow all of which were contested over 50m . The first came in the freestyle to finish in 37.16. Her second in the butterfly with 45.28 and the final one was her 50m breaststroke concluding in 54.0. Then there was an additional bonus when she was awarded the Senior Endeavour award by the club at their annual presentation evening shortly after the championships.

Evie Bates had a club championships she will not forget in a hurry Evie made it a hat trick of golds in all her freestyle events. In the 50m,(32.88) the 100m and the 200m freestyle There then followed more gold medals success including the 100m butterfly (1:33.03) and the 100m IM (1:22.39) with Zerfi as runner up.

Milly Edridge and  Isla Haynes went head to head in the 100m freestyle. Milly was the outright winner in 1:21.03 for  the 11 year old age group with Isla Cartwright coming between them gaining second in 1:26.29 whilst Isla Haynes touched in 1:29.22 taking third.

Meanwhile, Milly’s elder twin brothers Zak and George had their inevitable skirmishes in the breaststroke events. In the 50m, George won in 41.06 from Zak’s 42.12 but in the longer distance of 200m, Zak was victorious in 3:14.19 over George’s 3:21.57.

Other gold medals were achieved in  their respective age groups. Reuben Seaman won double golds in the 100 and 200m freestyle with respective times of 1:15.85 and 2:44.57 Evie Bates made it a hat trick of golds. In the 50m freestyle,(32.88) 100m butterfly (1:33.03) and the 100m IM (1:22.39) with Zerfi as runner up on 1:39.02.

HAT TRICK FOR JOE

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Joe strikes a hat trick of golds at Halloween gala

Joe Willimott. achieved a hat trick of golds for the North Norfolk Vikings Swimming Club at  at a special Halloween junior gala at Dereham.

Joe made no mistakes when he dominated the 100 Individual Medley in his 11 year old age category by an outstanding 23 seconds margin in 1.42.86 and was the second fastest in all age groups combined for this event.  In the 50m butterfly he was second fastest again combined with 50.53 and in the 100m freestyle he scored 1.32.47 to win as fellow Viking. Finn Callaby took silver. Joe’s younger sister Emma, also had success when she took a bronze in the 50m backstroke with 49.59.

It was Finn and Lexie Parker, who earlier in the programme, got Vikings off to an excellent start by winning back to back golds. Finn  in the 50m backstroke on 48.94. and Lexie  in  the 100m butterfly with 1.56.05. The two swimmers went onto win another gold apiece.  Finn over 50m breatsroke  (57.26)  and Lexie in 100m backstroke with 1.41.61 respectively.

 

Isla Cartwright  took home four medals. The 12 year old’s best swim was undoubtedly her gold medal triumph when she won her Individual Medley by a 2 second margin in a close encounter. She complete the 100m in 1.39.83, reducing her personal best time by 11 seconds.

Her 9 year old , younger twin sisters were also successful in the 50m breststroke. Only hundredths of a second separated Tessa  getting silver in 1:01.53 from Holly’s bronze. in 1:01.73; both of whom swam personal bests.

Zerif Gokman came away with two excellent bronze medals. The first was over 100m breaststroke finishing in 2.04.57 and then the  50m when she just missed a medal  in 56.77. However, in the 50m butterfly she came back to win her second bronze of the day in  45.21.

There was a silver lining for Leonardo Jones. He took three silvers, two of which came in the freestyle. In the 50m he came home in 41.20 and then in the 100m he improved his personal best by 6 seconds to finish in 1:39.39. His other silver was another 50m this time in breaststroke scoring 1:04.4.

 

Milly Edridge  had double golds to be proud of. In the 100m freestyle  she finished in  1.28.22,  improving her best time by 5 seconds. Then in the 100m backstroke, she improved her time by 11 seconds touching the pad in 1.36.47. Milly went on to win a Bronze in the 50m breaststroke with 52.91 – another personal best time. She was the fastest Vikings in the event as  the club fielded 11 swimmers all of whom recorded personal best times.

 

Darcie Lee also improved her 100m freestyle. Although she did not medal she improved her 100m freestyle time by 5 seconds when she finished fifth in 1:51.39 and just missed out on a medal when she finished 4th over 100 Individual medley in 1.51.39 again reducing her time by another 5 seconds.

 

Isla Haynes, aged 11,  made a good account of herself.  Isla took on 8 challenging events and secured a personal best in 7 races. In the 100m freestyle she went 1:32.45 improving by 4 seconds and then over the same distance in the backstroke she touched in 1:56.65 improving by 8 seconds

 

11 year old Lucy Fincher, who is coached by Mark Claxton at the Reef, made a positive contribution to the afternoon. Lucy recorded a personal best time in all her events namely the 50m freestyle when she took off 3 second in 45.72 and subsequently she came in the top 8 in all her races.

 

 

VIKINGS IN ICENI BATTLE

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VIKINGS IN ICENI BATTLE

 

Emily Morton came away with six gold medals at the gala when the team went to Dereham for the Iceni Gala in September

Her  time of 1:03.12 was  the fastest  time out of 118 competitors when she won the 100m freestyle.  Morton was on form again, when In the 50m freestyle, she, defeated 121 competitors to take her second gold breaking a minute in  29.23 – a split second ahead of fellow Viking Leah Harris who touched in 29.43. Leah had more success when she too came away with a gold in the 100 butterfly in 1.11.70.

 

Taking on the longer distances,, Emily was pushed all the way again and in an exciting finger tip finish, she hit the pad  in 2:18.5 when the dividing time again went into hundredths of a second over 200m freestyle

 

Her successes continued with two back to back golds the 100m (1.13) and 200mbackstroke ((02.37) respectively and concluded her programme winning the  50 butterfly (33.65)

 

In the juniors, Anna Turner also came away with  five  gold medals. The 10 year old swam very fast throughout and recorded a personal best on each outing.  Anna regarded her best swim was the 100m freestyle as she explained.

 

“I was really nervous to do my first race.  This is because I was up against a few 12 and a 13 year olds. Even though I was in the same race with them I still came first both in my heat and age group. In the race, I had a good start and lead until I touched first in 1:17.33, reducing my time by 5.51 seconds.”

 

There were other gold medal successes for Vikings. Sam Morton, club captain and Emily’s elder brother, in the 200m butterfly (2:41.0).

 

George and Zak Edridge  celebrated their 15th birthday over the gala week-end and had further reason to celebrate when they came home with 14 medals between them.

 

George won two back to back golds. His first success came over 200m freestyle when he came home in 2:20.52 and in the 100m butterfly he struck gold again with a 1:18.33. George had an outstanding gala claiming  five more consolation medals. Significantly his 200m Individual medley when he had to swim all four strokes in which he ably did, finishing in 2:54.51.  He was paired with brother Zak in the 50m breastsrtoke and won silver in 38.26 with Zak on 40.10 for bronze

 

However, fortunes were reversed in the 200m breaststroke when this time Zak was ahead of his brother in 3:10.64 achieving silver  with  George who scored 3:11.41 for bronze respectively. Zak had did a “double” in the backstroke events too. For the 50 he scored 35.61 claiming silver and over the 100m another  bronze in 1:18.93.

 

Their younger sister 11 year old Milly did not medal but made a significant improvements.  recorded  5 personal bests times out of 9.  There were two swims of significance which she excelled in. She reduced her time by 14 seconds finishing the 200m freestyle in 2:58.08 and it was freestyle again, this time over 100m when the margin of improvement was 4 seconds with 1:22.74.

 

Imogen Laws struck gold in the 100m butterfly in 1.30.62  and followed it up with a silver In the 200m Individual medley recording 3.06.53 and a bronze for the 100m freestyle going 1:17.03  respectively. At the conclusion a Viking coach said:

 

Grace Parker had double silver medals successes in the backstroke. In the 100m she improved her time by 8 seconds in 1:20.58 but in the 200m she improved by 20 seconds finishing with 2:55.69. The determined 12 year old competed in 11 out of 12 events events over the week end of competition which attracted teams from all Norfolk and beyond.

 

There was other medal success for Vikings In the 50m backstroke another 12 year old, Leonna Scott made the most of the 50m backstroke in 37.61 for Bronze and in the Seniors, Lewis Goultry swam  all four strokes over 200m individual medley taking the bronze medal in 2.31.38.

 

Zerif Gokmen is another intermediate who has been swimming well. In the gala she improved her 50m times over breaststroke (54.80) and butterfly (43.16) respectively and subsequently passed the Physical Section of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award which she is currently participating in at bronze level.

 

Also competing for Vikings were Darcey Lee, Lexie Parker, Layla Callaby, Niamh Corfield and Ashley Jones.

LEAD COACH REQUIRED

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A lead coach is  required. Preferably Level II qualified. He or she will lead a team of experienced coaches and set schedules accordingly . Again the position will be subject to a successful reference and an enhanced DBR check. This is a paid position.

 

Interested? For further details please contact North Norfolk Vikings Swimming Club

  info@norfolkvikings.co.uk

HARRY & IMOGEN STRIKE GOLD

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Harry and Imogen strike gold at swim gala.

It was a memorable day for North Norfolk Viking Senior Swimmer 19 year old Harry Hudson competing in the “Mid Summer Madness”at the UEA Sports park Gala.  He recorded the fastest time in the gala over 50m freestyle in 26.38 and subsequently beat 29 competitors in his own age group,  Also competing in the same event were fellow Vikings Lewis Goultry and Ashley Jones who went 27.29 and  27.33 finishing 5th and 6th respectively.

Meanwhile, 10 year old Imogen Laws had every reason to be proud of her multiple achievements. Imogen was a gold medallist  for the 100m freestyle with  1:17.38 beating 15 other competitors including fellow Viking Lexie Parker who did well to achieve 1:32.44 for the distance. Imogen went on the achieve  five  more medals, significantly the 200m freestyle when she achieved silver in 2:55.81. This was her first gala in a 50m pool.

In the intermediate categories, 13 year old Evie Bates enjoyed her outing by achieving two bronze medals. Her first one came in the 200m freestyle in 2:34.64 and the second was over 100m butterfly when she touch in  2:34.64. Toby Corfield was the other Viking medallist when he won silver over 200m backstroke in 3:04.03 Afterwards Viking Coach Adam Crafer said:

“I Really enjoyed watching everyone race.  Lots of great swims but some things to work on, Meanwhile, every one played their part and did a great job.”

Thanks also to Leona Scott, Anna Thurston, Grace Parker, Layla Callaby, Saha Hordinenko, Emily Morton, Niamh Corfield, Bethany Brooks,  Millie, George & Zak Edridge

TOUGH BUT ENJOYABLE

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Tough but enjoyable
We had a  tough but a very enjoyable time at the Inter County Swimming Gala held at the UEA Sports Park. There were two separate junior and senior competitions but no medals were awarded for places as it was primarily a team event. However, Vikings had a number of first three places both in the individual events and the relays.
Isaac Buchan was the only one who achieved a first and it came in the 100m backstroke when he touched in a personal best time of 1:07.27. A mere tenth of a second ahead of his nearest rival in a finger tip finish. Isaac, aged 15, went onto claim two further third places to keep Vikings in contention.
Meanwhile, younger brother Noah had a second in the 13 years 100m freestyle and emulated his elder brother by recording a personal best in 1:03.25 but equivocally just missing the first place in another finger tip finish. Noah’s other success came in the 100m breaststroke with a third place in 1:29.68 in another tight finish. Harry Hudson also had  a second place in the 100m butterfly when he touched the pad in 1:01.18 .in the 16+ age group
Alfie McCann,(50m backstroke 41.24), Toby Corfield (50m freestyle 40.27 ), Anna Turner (50m butterfly 44.56) and Emily Morton (100m freestyle  1:03.68 and 100m backstroke 1:12.74 respectively.) All of whom recorded personal bests for third place
In the juniors, Lexie Parker, Isla Cartwright, Anna Turner and Imogen Laws came third in the 4 x 50 freestyle relay with 2:38.19 and in the 4 x 50 medley relay  the quartet did it again in  with another third in 2:58.70
There was more relay success in the seniors when Noah  Razvan Platon, twins George and Zak Edridge brought it home to finish third in 4 x 50 medley relay in 2:19.30. At the conclusion ,team manager Samantha Seaman summed up the performance.
“Our aim for this gala was to have fun as a team and try new things; and that’s exactly what we did.  Everyone worked hard, they were an excellent team cheering each other on and everyone embraced new challenges with the usual cheery Vikings spirit.   I’m very proud of the whole team.”
Also representing Vikings were Winnie Browne, Anna Thurston, Millie Edridge,  Reuben Seaman, Sam Morton Grace Parker, Leona Scott, Leonardo Jones, Evie Bates  Layla Callaby Bethany Brooks & Tessa Cartwright.
Final Results Juniors 1 City of Norwich 279  7 Vikings 108
Seniors 1 West Norfolk Club 293  7 Vikings 135

JUNIOR VIKINGS EXCEL

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Junior Viking Swimmers Excel at Gala

We took a small   junior team travelled to Kings Lynn to compete in the West Norfolk Swimming Gala. It was challenging for them as they were up against new teams who came from the west of the region such as Huntingdon and Peterborough as well as Norwich Kings Lynn and Great Yarmouth.
 Joe and Emma Willimott  swam beyond all expectations as they brought home two gold medals apiece and recorded a personal best in each of their swims. Joe,  struck gold in the very first event when he touched in 49.27 over 50m backstroke. In the 50m freestyle he completed the course in 39.20 for a second gold.
Younger sister Emma meanwhile was making the most of her opportunities and in the 50m butterfly she won easily by a clear five seconds finishing first in 52.18 and recording a personal best by 21 seconds.
Emma’s second gold came In the 50m  freestyle  when she finished in 44.02 50, just out touching the Huntingdon swimmer by a split second and subsequently defeating a field of 18 swimmers.
More Viking gold medals followed  when Rokas Kriksciunas won his first Viking medal which was a gold when he swam 50m breaststroke in 1:05.15 – a personal best. He was not finished here, Rokas took the silver for the 50m freestyle in his respective age group with 48.03. This was followed by Finn Callaby winning over 50m freestyle with his 48.4 in a different age group.
There were  first Viking medal for  Alice Dickerty when she bagged a pair of silvers. The 50m backstroke in 42.67 and 50m freestyle in 36.41 both in respective personal best times.
There was a silver lining too for Finn’s elder sister Layla when she was second in the 100m freestyle with 1:22.38 in a personal best.
Leonardo Jones achieved two bronze medals respectively His successes came over the 100m freestyle  in 1:45.19 and he followed it up with a second bronze for the 50m backstroke with 52.31 both in personal best times.
It was a similar scenario with Anna Thurston with her two personal best bronze medals. Anna went 43.71 for 50m backstroke  and the 50m freestyle in 36.48 respectively just loosing out to Alice by seven one hundredths of a second!

Also representing Vikings was  Amelie Cutting who recorded personal bests but were not in the medals this time. These came in the 50 freestyle finishing fifth in 51.12 and fifth again this time over 50m butterfly in 1:08.87 to take the Viking total to  6 Golds 4 Silvers 4 Bronze and 20  personal bests  out of 22 swims. After the gala John said

“With so many personal best times one can hardly complain about their performances and with winning 6 golds, 4 silvers and 4 bronze medals, it just epitomized their dedication and commitment from all who swam.”

REGIONAL ROUND UP

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Vikings find it tough at Regional Gala.

Amid hundreds of entries, Norfolk’s smallest  swimming  club,  North Norfolk Vikings still managed to have four individual qualifiers and a men’s relay team for the Eastern Regional Championships held in Luton.
As expected competition was fierce but ladies club captain Leah Harris still managed to go 1:12.07 over 100m butterfly long course and in the freestyle she completed the 100m in 1 04.28. It was another 100m for 18 year old Harry Hudson who was well below a minute when he touched the pad in 56.85. for the freestyle.
Lily Herring came third In the 400m Freestyle when the combined multi-classification para swimming points were announced after a very demanding 400m freestyle finishing on 5::51.64 .Herring came third again in the multi classification over the shorter distance of 100m with her 1:19.56.
Isaac Buchan handled four events  400 IM 5 24.08  400 freestyle 4:36.04,100 butterfly 1.04.52  and the 200m backstroke 2 27.42. All his swims were personal bests and in the 400m freestyle the 15 year old finished in sixth place..
The climax of the gala for the Vikings  was the 4 x 100 Men’s Freestyle Relay consisting of Ashley Jones, Lewis Goultry, Sam Morton and Harry Hudson. Jones, Goultry and Hudson all broke a minute for the 100m with men’s club captain Morton going just over a minute in !;01.61. and subsequently the team  finished eighth with 3:56.48.
They were only one of two Norfolk clubs in the final. The eventual winners were the City of Norwich who just out touched the City of Cambridge  in a very close finish. After the gala, a member of the Viking coaching staff said
“Although no one medalled  competing at this level has been a valuable experience for all the swimmers and full credit to the relay team as this was the first time in the club’s history they were able to field a team at this level.”
More to come….