| HH
|
National Speedo Round 3 (10th December 2005)
Harlow Penguins made the relatively short journey (30 minutes) to Southbury Enfield for the final round of this seasons National Speedo. On paper the Penguins were ranked 4th on current form against tough opposition from Camden, Cambridge, Teddington, Wandsworth, Runnymede (hosts), Shiverers (all the way from Brighton!!) and Greenwich. After two hours and 50 competitive races 4th place was secured with Camden Swiss Cottage the outright winners.
On the coach to the meet our swimmers were told that as well as achieving 4th place there were expectations of no dqs (we only had one), and a total of 230 points (we achieved 213). This season we have amassed a total of 18 gala points which is exactly the same as last years record 18 (in 2003 we only achieved 14). We have also achieved 612 league points which is 64 greater than last years amazing 548 total (474 in 2003). Last year we were rated as 9th best team in and around London (out of 48!!) this season we may have dropped to 13th or 14th but this is still a fantastic achievement considering the size of our club!
During the nights racing we won 6 races outright of which 4 were individual wins by Louis (Boys 15\u 100m back), Mark (Mens open 100m back), Senner (11\u 50m breast) and Kaz (15\u 100m breast). Our other 2 first places were secured by the 15\u girls relay consisting of Jodie, Ruby, Kaz and Louise who won both the freestyle and medley 4x 50m relays.
In addition to our wins we came 2nd in six races, 3rd in six, 4th in six, 5th in six, 6th in six, 7th in five and last in only six races. We also had one disqualification and we did not have enough swimmers to field an under 11 girls relay team (2 races).
A full set of times, positions and splits can be found here. Lesley will kindly update her personal database shortly.
Our homeward bound journey from the pool was not as quick as the 30 minutes it took to get there. After at least 30 minutes trying to navigate out of the car park (where are the traffic wardens when you need them!!) a coach full of high pitched swimmers and shattered parents endured a 40 minute wait on the M11 trying to get off of the slip road back to home - we should have known something was up when we worked out it was the same coach driver who brought us home from Ipswich (via Clacton) a few years beforehand!!!
Thanks to Carol (Girls Team Manager), Hayley (timekeeper), Eric (official), Alan Mitchell (Chief Coach) and Alan Canham (splits) for helping out in this gala match