7 June 2023
On Saturday, five pupils travelled to the London Aquatics Centre to compete at the IAPS National Swimming Final. The team had done tremendously well to reach the finals with only the top 20 individuals and the top 20 relay teams in the country eligible to compete after the qualifying rounds.
With the event being held at such an iconic pool within the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, where so much history was made at the London 2012 Olympics, the pupils couldn’t help but be inspired as they entered the venue.
The U12 relay team raced first in both the Medley and 4x25m Freestyle relays. The competition was fierce but the team made up of Satoshi, Leo, Vincent and Josh raced tremendously well, knocking a whole 8 seconds off their previous qualifying time.
U12 4x25m Medley Relay: 1.11.00 (4th in heat – 13th overall)
U12 4x 25m Freestyle Relay: 1:02.22 (4th in heat – 14th overall)
Up next was the turn of the individual events.
Leo swam a brilliant time of 45.67 in the U12 50m breaststroke, which saw him just miss out on a place in the final.
Satoshi finished 4th in his first round heat in a time of 34.67, which qualified him for the final of the U12 50m butterfly, where he finished in a fantastic time of 35.35. This secured him 8th place in a seriously competitive field.
Leone cruised through his first round heat of the U11 50m freestyle in a time of 31.46 (3rd place), but still felt he could go faster in the final with a few minor adjustments to his start. In the final he reacted superbly to the gun and pieced together a great swim to finish in a PB time of 30.81, which secured him a bronze medal. Based on this time for an 11 year old this also ranks him as number 1 in the country.
A huge thank you to all the volunteers and staff that made the event possible and of course the excellent parental support!
