IAPS Swimming Regional Qualifiers
A group of five keen swimmers travelled to Coventry on Thursday 8th February to compete in one of the IAPS Swimming Regional Qualifiers. This event ranks them nationally across prep schools in their selected event. The top 20 fastest swimmers in the country will compete at the IAPS Finals in London later in the year.
Some events were combined to allow for a more competitive race in an attempt to help the swimmers achieve the fastest possible time. This meant that many of the races were mixed gender though they were not directly competing against one another.
Charlotte T (Y8), Annabelle (Y7), Alicia (Y7), Charlie (Y7) and Charlotte J (Y6) made the long journey with Mrs Felton and Mrs Warwick-Smith to King Edward VIII School. Thankfully, the snow stayed away and we arrived at the venue ready for warm-up. The St Hugh’s swimmers looked strong and it was great to see them holding their own in races. Our youngest swimmer and Y6 swim captain was up first. Charlotte chose to enter the 50m Fly which she also competed in at the recent county champs. She had a confident start off the block with an efficient turn and finish. Charlotte was pleased to finish first girl in her race.
Next up was big sister, Annabelle, who continued in similar fashion. Having achieved two medals at counties over the weekend (then being struck down with a bug and missing the second session), Annabelle was out to prove herself. She had a strong swim and despite being pushed by another county swimmer from Warwickshire, she finished first place.
Charlotte T was our third swimmer of the afternoon competing in the 50m Backstroke event. Charlotte would usually have opted for breaststroke but with a recent change to her technique by her club coach, she opted for backstroke instead. A confident swim seeing her finish as first girl.
Finally, Charlie and Alicia took to the blocks for 50m Freestyle. They found themselves racing against one another which added to the excitement for their teammates on poolside. Both swimmers looked strong with Charlie leading the race and Alicia on his back. A confident swim by these two with Charlie finishing first place overall and Alicia first girl.
The team enjoyed a well deserved McDonald’s tea on the journey home! We look forward to the results being released towards the end of the Spring Term. Fingers crossed!