13 swimmers represented the club at the annual Norfolk ASA County Championships held at the UEA sport spark over 3 weekends in January and February. The swimmers results included 31 top 8 positions and finals, as well as 10 medals including 3 bronze, 1 silver and 6 Gold’s.

The championships marked the first long course meet within the 2018/2019 racing season, as well as the first time racing in a 50m pool for some of our younger swimmers. The team pulled together well, with the older swimmers leading dry land warm ups before pool warm ups for races, and encouraging one another before and after races.

Joseph Hollick started the racing with the 200m freestyle event producing a strong swim in 3:11.18, converting to a PB from a long course swim. This placed him 13th in the 10/11 year age group. Five of the girls then raced the 100m backstroke. Abi Gotts secured 1:17.77 in her swim beating her short course PB, securing a position for the final and finishing 6th, along with Natalie Claxton who placed third in her age group, achieving third in the final also. India Weston also placed 4th in the open age group, securing 6th overall in the final.

In the afternoon session 6 swimmers raced the 200m Freestyle, where Emily Haslam achieved 1st place in the 15 year age group in a time of 2:16.80 to equal her short course PB. Abi Gotts placed 7th; India Weston 4th; Leah Harris 12th;Steph Claxton 12th and Alanya Shaw 18th. The girls were then faced with a tough challenge of the 200m individual medley shortly after the 200m freestyle, and we saw India Weston achieve the bronze medal in the open age group. Natalie Claxton had a great swim beating her short course PB and taking 5th place in 2:59.60, with Abi Gotts also placing 5th.

The next session included the 400m freestyle event, where Emily Haslam achieved second place just 0.1 seconds behind first, in 4:53.40. Later that session she went on to win the 100 freestyle in 1:01.87. Other finalists included Abi Gotts who came 4th. Congratulations also to Raphaelle Horne-Morris and Natalie Claxton who both equaled their short course PB’s in this event. In the afternoon the girls raced the 50m freestyle event, with Ella Haughan-Zelos achieving a PB in 36.70. Katy Colman also PB’d in a strong performance placing her 16th. In the afternoon the girls all swam well in the 50m fly, where we saw 7 swimmers achieve a PB, including Florence Street racing this event for the first time in the 50m pool. This was a great performance and a reflection of the work they have done on this stroke in recent months.

The final day of the meet occurred on Sunday 10th Febraury having been re-scheduled from the 27th of January after maintenance issues. It had been a long championships for the swimmers and the last day saw Natalie Claxton secure the gold medal in the 50m backstroke final in a strong swim, taking the race by half a body length. Isaac Buchan had a fantastic swim in the 100m freestyle, securing a 3 second PB in 1:31.55. Ruby Tracey swam the 200m breastroke, finishing 6th in the 14 year age group in 3:14.23. She swam the race very smartly and with a good stroke, showing improvement from recent months. In the afternoon Emily concluded the championships for the club taking the gold in the 100m fly in a PB of 1:10.85.

Congratulations to everyone who competed, everyone swam well and are looking promising for the season ahead. Well done to Emily Haslam and Leah Harris on achieving regional qualifying times, and thankyou to the team managers for their assistance during the competition.

Well done and thank you to all the swimmers and volunteers who gave up there time to pack shopping bags at Morrisons in Cromer today. A massive £340 was raised to bolster club funds.

I’d like to say thanks to the Committee for electing me to the role of Chairman of North Norfolk Vikings Swimming Club.

I’m looking forward to helping to continue to support the great club we have developed for our swimmers. The committee meet every 4-6 weeks and ensure we have everything in place for a successful and safe club. If you ever have any questions or concerns please do speak with any of us or the helpdesk team.

For anyone who doesn’t know much about me… Myself and husband Spike help out coaching Development, Squad 4 and Squad 3. We also both swim and still compete in Masters for the club. Our two children Isaac and Noah swim in the club and have done since we moved to Norfolk. I retired from the Royal Navy in 2015 and have since been working in business consultancy and running my own Swim School. I have been a swimming teacher for nearly 30 years, a coach for 15 years and I tutor new teachers for the Swimming Teacher’s Association.

My focus is to continue the good work of the club, ensure our swimmers meet their aspirations and ensure we are in the best position to continue. For this I ask you all to support in any way you can. Be that paying subs and getting gala entries in on time, answering calls to help at galas, lane coach or officiate. We’re of course always looking for support however there are currently a number of important vacancies – if you’re not already regularly helping please do come and talk with me about where you could come help out even if that’s for just an hour a week.

See you at the pool soon, Sarah

“You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the farther you get.” Michael Phelps, most decorated Olympian of all time

To All Swimmers,

The start of the New year and we have a number of galas over the next few months which i wanted to update you all with.

Dates for your Diary

We have two team galas for our younger swimmers this year.

The first one is on Saturday 6th April at UEA in the afternoon and for ages 9 to 12  with age at date of gala. Our coach will be selecting our team over the next few weeks.

The 2nd one is on Saturday 15th June again for ages 9 to 12 years  with age at gala.

If you know you will be away for the April date as its the first saturday of the Easter holiday please can you let your squad rep know. This will help the coaching team when selecting swimmers.

Fixtures List

This will shortly be added to our website which is currently being updated, you will be able to see all other dates.

Entry Forms Now available for the following  3 galas.

Warwick Thompson Memorial Gala– level 3 25 m 23rd and 24th February at Thetford ,

Only swimmers with times slower than qualifying times are allowed to enter. Age at 31.12.19

£5 per event

Admin Fee £3 per day £5 per weekend.

Closing date for entries Wednesday 16th Jan. 

Suitable for squads: 2,3,4

Norwich Swan Open Meet  30th/31st March ages at 31.12.19 level 3 meet short course (25m)

See meet info for cut off times.

£4.50 per event.

Admin fee £3 per day £5 per weekend.

Spectator fees- £3 per session or £5 per day

Closing Date Wed 23rd Jan .

All squads

CoNSc Easter Meet – Level 1 long course (50m) 19th-21st April

Age as at 31.12.19

£7 per event

See info for qualifying times.

Spectators £8 per day £20 per weekend.

Closing Date Wed 23rd Jan.

Squads 1,2,3

All entry forms can be submitted to Club Desk at Victory or by email to fixtures@norfolkvikings.co.uk.

Please note different closing dates on the galas.

If you need any help regarding entries please ask at club desk or your squad rep.

Regards

Sandra Claxton

Fixtures Secretary

Our Annual general meeting is on Sunday 12th November 6.00pm at the Victory centre.

All are welcome, we would like to encourage all involved to take the opportunity to raise any concerns, also anyone wishing to volunteer or become a committee member would be very welcomed.

 

The weekend of the 29th of September/1st October gave stage to both Cambridge & Dereham to host the start of the 2017/2018 competition season for the Vikings  swimmers, all stepping up to challenge after an anxious wait, all achieving some good solid results, as well as PB times and medals.

The Cambridge open was a level 2 meet attracting clubs from all over the uk. The competition was incredibly tough with times achieved over the weekend being of a very high standard. The morning session began with the 200 freestyle events for both the girls & the boys.

Dylan White finishing in a time of 2:44.93 achieving 9th in his age group, Abi Gotts finishing 12th & Immy Horne Morris 17th. There was a short break before the second session started. Both Dylan White & Illor Gjoka were swimming next in the 100 freestyle both achieving a personal best time. Bethany Toyne, up next in the 200 backstroke & swam a great race swimming consistently and showing a  massive improvement to her stroke & underwater work of each wall to finish in 10th place in her age group and beating a previous PB by 3 seconds, proving that all the hard work on her training in previous months does pay off.

Other sessions included the girls 100 fly, taking part was Mollie Smith & Alanya Shaw finishing 26th/35 & 37th/51 respectively. Abi Gotts also had a good race in the 50 Breastroke equalling her PB & finishing 32nd/78 swimmers in the 11-14 years of age category.

Moving into the afternoon session, seven of our girls began with the 50 freestyle event six  finishing close to their PBs, Bethany Toyne achieving a personal best by almost half a second. Later Ilor Gjoka swam a great 100 breastroke narrowly missing out on a medal in the 11 years of age group.

Towards the end of a long day it was the turn of the girls to compete in the 200 breastroke, up first was Abi Gotts, swam a great race to finish 2nd place in her heat with a PB of 3:09.34 placing her 7th in her age group, Mollie White followed finishing 9th in her age group.

Day two setting the scene for some great swims from the team, Dylan White winning a medal in the boys 100 backstroke. Abi gotts also secured a top six finish in the 100 breastroke. Mollie Smith faced a tough challenge in the 200 fly showing real determination. Emilly Haslam also swam a good race leading her heat &  equalling her PB from last season in the 100 freestyle.

Also on the same Sunday there were ten Vikings competing in the annual Iceni meet Hosted by Dereham Otters, due to the event being oversubscribed our swimmers were limited to the events they were able to take part in. however they were determined to make the most of the day, producing some great results as well as ten medals.

In the junior section of the club, Raphaelle Horne Morris achieved personal bests in all her events. Sophie Mckee also had a great day improving on her previous 100 freestyle PB by 12 seconds, Natalie Claxton also taking 8 seconds of her previous 100 freestyle. The PBs didn’t stop there, Billy Life achieving PBs in all of his events improving on his 200IM time by 8 seconds.

A special mention for Leah Harris, achieving her first regional ,time in the 200IM also producing PBs & medals in all of her remaining events.

I would also like to take the opportunity to congratulate Tilly Meyrick & Emilly Haslam who represented Norfolk at the National Inter counties competition held at Ponds Forge Sheffield on Sunday 8th October, this is an annual competition represented by every county in the UK. Both girls raced well in their respective age groups, Tilly Meyrick competing in the 100 backstroke going out hard & splitting in 31.52 turning well Tilly really attacked the second 50 to touch in 1:04.61 finishing 16th/37 in the 14/15 years of age group taking over a second of her previous PB. Continuing with her form Tilly led the team out on the first leg of the Medley breaking the 31.00 seconds for the first time.

Emilly Haslam Anchored the girls in the 12/13Years of age group for the medley relay team & splitting in a 29.81with her team finishing 11th/17 overall

To Summarise, North Norfolk Viking’s should be really proud of their achievements at both events & look forward to continued improvement. Well done to all.

Anyone Interested in joining North Norfolk Vikings Swimming Club Please Contact Kirsty Smith at dksmithlm@me.com

 

We now have new kit ready to order, there are sizes to try and kit to look at, please ask at front desk.

Midsummer Madness Competition Report

On Saturday 8th July the Club took a team of fourteen swimmers to the City of Norwich Midsummer Madness Meet, a long course level 3 competition held at the UEA Sportspark. Packing three long sessions into a single day, the swimmers were under a great deal of pressure to perform in large number of races back to back, but rose to the challenge well, achieving a total of 57 personal bests out of 77 swims finishing in a medal position a total of 33 times, 14 of these being Gold, 10 Silver and 9 Bronze.

The morning session kicked of with the girls 200IM, both India Weston and Abi Gotts improving on their previous personal bests by three second each, Emily Haslam also swam a great race winning her heat by a large margin. 200m Freestyle being the next race where Dylan White finished second in his age group. Dylan also swam in the 50m Backstroke in the morning session achieving a personal best time as well as winning in his age group. Also in the same age group Ilor Gjoka won the 100m Breastroke, as well as finishing second behind Dylan in the 50m Backstroke. Mollie White and Abi Gotts also had two first place finishes in their age groups for 50m Breastroke, both achieving personal bests.

After a short break all the swimmers were back in for the second session, starting with the girls 200m Freestyle, with three girls racing, Abi Gotts, India Weston and Matilda Meyrick producing two golds and a silver, Abi and Matilda achieving personal bests. The girls also achieved three medals in the 50m Freestyle, Emily Haslam winning her age group and improving on her personal best by over a second. Not forgetting the boys, both Dylan White and Luke Babbs taking second place in their age group in the 100m Freestyle, Luke taking a second of his personal best. Ilor Gjoka finishing the session with gold in the 200IM.

The final session started with the girls taking part in the 50m Butterfly, 100m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke events, 50m Butterfly had four swimmers taking part, Emily Haslam winning the 13 year category, Matilda Meyrick finishing 2nd in the 14 years and  over category, Abi Gotts swam a good personal best to finish 2nd in the 12 year category, whilst Leah Harris, Matilda Meyrick and India Weston all finished in the top six. The final event of the day was the 50m Freestyle with Dylan White finishing in second place and Luke Babbs finishing third, both boys having a great race despite being tired after a long day, and produced some excellent personal bests along the way.

This event marked the end of the 2016-2017 racing season and all the swimmers finished the season with a great set of results.

If anyone is interested in joining Norfolk Vikings, the link to contact can be found here on the website.

 

Adam Crafer

Head Coach

This year the club sent seven swimmers to the annual ASA East Regional Championship, held in both Luton & Norwich, a significant improvement on the previous year. These championships  saw all the top swimmers from all the east regional counties coming together to compete over two weekends. With the ASA National qualifying window nearing the end, the stakes were high and the swimmers were under a great deal of pressure to produce some good results.

Two of our swimmers were competing at Luton at the youth championships from 29th of April-1st May, Immy Horne-Morris was competing in the 50m Breastroke in the 16 year age category, finishing in respectable 22nd place.

India Weston competed in six events, making 3 finals in the 15 year age category, day one began with the 50m freestyle finishing with a respectable 29th place, followed by the 200m Breastroke event posting a heat time of 2:50.30 ranking her 6th going into the final, holding the field well and increasing her stroke rate in the final 50m to finish in 5th place and improving on her heat time by over 2 seconds touching in 2:48.06. India also made the finals in 100m Breastroke, finishing 5th & posting a time of 1:19.14, & finishing 6th in the 200IM posting a time of 2:32.94, This was India’s second Regional championship, competing in her first in the 50m Backstroke, India continues to make significant improvements & we look forward to seeing her make more improvements in the coming months & seasons ahead.

Four weeks later , five of our junior swimmers were competing at the age group Regionals held in Norwich over the May bank holiday weekend. Abi Gotts, Emily Haslam & Alanya Shaw were competing in their first Regionals, with Mollie White & Matilda Meyrick returning from the previous year.

All the girls raced well throughout the three days, achieving long course personal best’s, finals, & medals along the way, Emily Haslam swam a strong race in the 50m freestyle, finishing with a time of 30.61, in 35th place out of 61, in the 13 year old category, a good result & pb. In the same race Abi Gotts swam a good heat to finish 7th in the 11/12 year old category, progressing to her first regional final finishing 8th overall. Abi also competed in the50m, 100m, & 200m Breastroke events as well as the 100m & 200m freestyle events. On the final day Abi swam a fantastic 200m freestyle race, pulling away from the field in her heat on the first 50m, attacking the race from the start, maintaining her lead only to be touched into second place by a tiny margin, missing out on a place in the final, however producing a very respectable pb of more than 2 seconds touching in 2:27.33, a great swim overall.

Mollie White competed in three Breastroke events, which is a considerable feat considering a very difficult season dealing with injuries, producing strong swims to place 17th, 14th & 12th in the 100m, 200m, & 50m Breaststroke events in  the 14 year old category.

Alanya Shaw, also having struggled with injury this season finished 24th in the 100m Butterfly, & 30th in the 50m Butterfly in the 13 year old category.

Finally Matilda Meyrick had some good performances in the Backstroke Events, collecting two bronze medals in the 50m & 100m, & gold in the 200m Backstroke. After disappointment in the 200m Backstroke heats Matilda went into the final in second place, maintaining the second place through most of the race behind Emma Cruickshank from team Ipswich, increasing her stroke rate effectively in the last 50m to gain the lead & take the win.

Overall with Vikings swimmers making eight finals over the two weekends, all producing some respectable swims, a great effort & a good indication of direction the club is moving in, I would hope to see an increase in the number of swimmers qualifying in 2018.

Well done to everyone who took part in these championships.

 

Adam Crafer