4th in English Relay Finals

by Charlie Holbrook-Sanderson

Dedicated sportsmen and women know that to hit the top consistently you have to train hard (or be massively talented and lucky!) and that the magic figure of 10,000 hours of coaching is a benchmark for this. The swimmers probably come closer to this than most sports as the Barracudas frequently notch up 10 hours each week. The College has often sent teams to the English Relay Finals and this year we qualified third fastest for the medley relay and 5th fastest for the freestyle relay. Even Alison Franklin was impressed with our focus in training and noticed how we hit our goals. 

We are not at the 'elite' level but we have just come 4th in the English Schools National Finals at Southampton. The team of Charlie Holbrook-Sanderson, Joe Ogier, Oliver Nightingale and Luke Belton were desperately disappointed to finish 4th in the Medley Relay - missing out on a medal by 0.4 second ; 4th best school team in England and disappointed! The margin between a medal and a 'must do better' is so fine at this level, but the 'professional' swimmers from Plymouth College and Millfield - the undisputed top two - were well ahead and in a different league. We were the top school in the final to not have a covered pool!

We did well to pick ourselves up to finish 5th in the Freestyle Relay in a fast and frantic final which again saw Plymouth College take the honours. So, 4th and 5th best in England: not bad for a smallish school from a small island!

I was very impressed with the team bonding and commitment throughout the weekend and felt this contributed to our well achieved performance. I would also like to thank Mr Aplin and Mr Morris for organising it and giving us that much needed support, especially in carrying out the "pizza challenge" after the racing.

 

 

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