Swimming
At the Wear Valley November Swim Meet, at Woodhouse Lane Leisure Centre, Bishop Auckland, the Teesdale Tiger Sharks swim team must have been spurred on by the success of their team mates Wojiech Urbanski and Alba Kneller, as, according to one WhatsApp response in the club members’ group, it was “raining medals” .
It all began last week at the North East Region winter championships in Sheffield. Wojiech impressed with improvements in personal best times, the most notable being breaking the 30 second mark in 50m freestyle with a time of 29.50.
Alba, in her first regional level competition, did particularly well in her backstroke races, being ranked eighth for the 50m and tenth in the 200m. Head coach Keith Hall said: “Both swimmers listened, learned and grew as athletes during this competition and were a credit to Teesdale Tiger Sharks.”
The Tiger Sharks’ success continued with ten swimmers taking part in the Wear Valley gala. On the first day, 20 medals were won with swimmer achieving some outstanding results.
Relative newcomer Alice Best showed great skills in her first 200m freestyle race with a time of 3.50.12. Caitlyn McLean finished first and took gold in the girls’ 50m freestyle with a time of 36.73, while Olivia Hall knocked a staggering 21 seconds off her 400m freestyle time.
Thea Onions enjoyed an equally fantastic 400m freestyle, pushing Olivia into third place with a time of 5.49.94 taking second place and the silver medal in the 12 year age group.
Performing brilliantly in the 100m backstroke with a three seconds improvement and an amazing 200m individual medley time of 3.51.40 was one of the younger swimmers, nine-year-old Teddy Hall.
On day two, there were further successes with six gold, six silver and five bronze medals.
Novice competitor Finlay Street-Poulsen recorded a personal best and earned a gold medal in the 50 metre sprint while the experienced Libby Robinson took a gold medal in the 100 metre backstroke. When asked why these swimmers are coming to the fore locally and regionally, coach and former Tiger Shark Holly Robinson said: “They have the drive, they are wanting it. They work hard in training.”
The success of the swimmers is also due to the unique partnership with Richmond Dales ASC with whom Teesdale Tiger Sharks share coaching staff and who also provide additional pool time for those swimmers who want to progress further and make their mark in competitions.
With a cohort of new starters joining the club over the summer more success will be in store over the coming months and years.
Wico Van Mourik
