Congratulations to all the Worcester swimmers who competed at this summer’s National Championships…without exception, they all swam superbly!
Asha Mahanta kicked things off in glorious style in Dublin at the Irish Championships where she tasted success representing her adopted club “Sundays Well”. She had a very busy programme – including Relays – but absolutely smashed everything with a Personal Best Time and qualification for the 14-year old Finals in each of the 5 events she contested. A silver in the 200m Backstroke on the opening day was awesome but she followed that up with two Gold medals on days two and four in the 100m Butterfly and 100m Backstroke with simply stunning swims, winning in 1.08.04 and 1.10.06 respectively
After Dublin, the Club’s attention turned to British and then English “Home Nations” Championships in Sheffield where Worcester was wonderfully represented by Grace Earp, Frankie Barry, Grace Ciancio and Ben Gooch
Invitations to these are hard earned with the top 24 swimmers in each event based on times achieved in the 12-week qualifying window March-May competing at the British event and then the next best ranked 20 swimmers in England, Scotland and Wales to their respective “Home Nations” meet
Grace Earp was first off the blocks at British. Her 50m Breaststroke was solid albeit a bit off her scintillating PB from the West Midland Championships Final. However, with the nerves gone, her 100m Breaststroke was simply amazing! She clocked a big PB in the Heats, and then went faster again in the Final (1.15.52) for a wonderful 9th place
Sandwiched between Grace’s two swims was Frankie Barry. The Club’s top sprinter, she was really up for the 14-year old 50m Butterfly and produced an excellent swim, a mere 0.01 seconds off her PB, oh so narrowly missing the Final
Back in action though a couple of weeks later – after a longer than normal break due to the Commonwealth Games at which our own double Paralympic medallist Becky Redfern finished a superb 5th in the 50m Freestyle – Frankie stepped up big time with a massive PB in the 50m Freestyle to secure a Finals spot. She went another 0.07s faster (28.31) but couldn’t quite grab a medal in a blanket finish
Joining her at English on that day was 16-year old Grace Ciancio. In her GCSE year, securing qualification for the 200m Breaststroke was a huge deal and she made the most of the opportunity with a very strong swim. Just a tad off her PB, she didn’t quite make Final but can be hugely proud of her successes in 2022
Last up was Ben Gooch who like Asha at Irish, had a busy week. His training had been immense in the run up to Championships and hopes were high for a successful meet, and he certainly did not disappoint! He smashed his PB’s, recording 50 Free – 25.15 (25.81), 100 Free – 54.88 (56.91) and 50 Fly – 26.85 (27.62) and secured qualification for all three Finals, winning Bronze and then Silver in the 50m and 100m Freestyle respectively…his titanic 100 Free battle with the Royal Tunbridge Wells swimmer one of the highlights of the meet
All of these Worcester swimmers were making their debuts at National level – a superb achievement of which they and their families should be hugely proud; reward for all their hard work and dedication. I’m sure I speak for everyone at Worcester Swimming Club when I say a huge congratulations to them all
Mark Stowe
Head Coach
