Weekend 2 of the Regional Championships took place from the 27th – 29th May 2017 at UEA Norwich. It was the turn of our younger swimmers to compete and three of our girls had qualified. Mia Yates competed in the 50m and 100m Freestyle events, Frankie Tyler competed in the 50m and 100m Backstroke and Beth Young competed in all three distances in the Breaststroke in addition to the 50m and 100m Butterfly events. Mia has qualified for regionals before but for Frankie and Beth this was their first time and both were competing in the youngest age category.
The Saturday saw Beth compete in the 100m Breast and Mia compete in the 100m Free. Both swam really well and Beth qualified for the final with a swim timed at 1:26.57 while Mia did likewise with a swim timed at 1:03.80. The finals took place that evening. Beth improved her time to 1:25.48 and gained a silver medal despite being one of only two 11 year olds to make the final. Mia also did well to record a time of 1:03.94 and come seventh.
Sunday was a busy day with all three girls competing. Beth swam in the morning in the 200 Breast and 50 Fly. She recorded a time of 3:10.42 in the Breast to secure another final place and a time of 36.31 in the Fly which gave her 42nd place. In the afternoon Frankie took to the pool for her first race, the 100m Back and she swam it in 1:18.10 to come 14th. Mia then swam the 50m Free with an impressive time of 29.05 which unfortunately just missed a final place. Beth swam her final in the evening session and was cheered on to a bronze medal with a time of 3:04.20. Two medals in two days – impressive stuff Beth!
On Monday only Beth and Frankie remained. Beth started the day with her 50m Breast heat in which she qualified for the final with a time of 39.44. In the afternoon session Beth competed in the 100m Fly, getting a time of 1:22.75 and 25th place overall. Frankie then swam the 50m Back in a time of 36.63 to gain 23rd place overall. All that remained was for Beth to swim the final of the 50m Breast and she was clearly up for the challenge. She set of at an amazing pace and was soon in the lead, being cheered on by family in the stands and by Frankie and David poolside. She won the race as the only 11 year old in it with a time of 37.62. Beth is Regional Champion and a very well deserved medal was subsequently awarded to her.
All three girls had a fantastic time, performed well and represented the club brilliantly. Felixstowe Waves are proud of you all! David was impressed with all of you, both for your swimming and team spirit and was certainly overcome by that final performance from Beth. The girls would like to thank all the coaching staff that have helped them along the way and David in particular for his help and advice leading up to and during the weekend.
For full results please refer to the Gala page