East Region BAGCAT Championships June 2009
Mid Beds Swim Squad, who train at Saxon Pool & Leisure Centre, had its best East Region Championships to date by finishing second in the medal table, narrowly missing first place, by one gold. The Championships were held in Norwich, at the UEA SportsPark over the first two weekends in June. Mid Beds had 18 qualifiers in total, and amassed a total of 19 Gold, 2 Silver & 3 Bronze medals.
Caleb Hughes (13) won every event he entered (13 in total), with some tough races in the 100m Butterfly and the 100m Breaststroke. Jessica Jackson won three gold medals in the 100m Freestyle, 200m Freestyle and 200m Individual Medley. Both swimmers won the most all-round swimmer titles (BAGCAT) in their age groups. Shauna Lee retained her 100m Freestyle crown in the 13 years age group, and George Catterall won the 100m Backstroke in the 10 years age group.
Eleanor Wase claimed the bronze medal in the 11 years 100m breaststroke, as did Emily McConnell in the 12 years 100m breaststroke. George Catterall added a bronze medal in the 200m freestyle and a silver in the 400m Individual Medley.
Calum Eley had an outstanding meet, picking up his 100m and 200m Breaststroke national qualifying times, and making a number of finals. Brandon Nabarro made the 200m Individual Medley final in the 12 years age group, Amber Swales
Zoe Griffiths set some fast personal bests in the freestyle and backstroke events, as did Scott Neave in his 100m and 200m Backstroke. Jack Catterall swam an outstanding in the 400m and 800m freestyle events. Stephen Thom and Katie Rogers both swam well in their first regional championships, as both were very nervous, setting some good long course personal bests and moving up the rankings well.
Katie Barker, Jessica Caughtry, Kate Meechan and Sophie Bradley performed outstandingly in their 800m Freestyle relay (4x200) to finish in 7th position. Unfortunately, Katie Shoobert had qualified to swim at the championships but was too young to enter, as she is only 9 years!
Mid Beds Head Coach, Vicky Metcalf, would like to congratulate all on their achievements at the championships. ‘The swimmers really came together as a team over the course of two weekends, which is easily detectable by the results.’
Mid Beds Swim Squad would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Assistant Head Coach Ashley Morris for all his hard work, effort and enthusiasm over the last three years. Ashley will be leaving the club at the end of the season to coach swimmers in Dubai. The Committee, Coaches, Swimmers and Parents would like to wish him all the best in his new venture.