Thirty three Swim Squad swimmers were racing strong this weekend!
Amazing, eh?
In case you missed the many incredible race results and stories from this weekend, here is a little recap. In this post you will find much positivity, with some great athlete success in …
- The Cross Mersey Swim
- Windermere End To End
- Ironman Wales
- Man vs Mountain
- Bala Triathlon
- Outlaw X
- Outlaw X Sprint Triathlon
- Shropshire Triathlon
An amazing weekend of racing, pushing limits and having fun!
The Cross Mersey Swim
I wrote about this event a few days ago – you can see the Cross Mersey Report here.
In addition to everything that’s been written and posted, I’m loving the impact this event made on our Squad. Swimmers are still sporting giant smiles, telling their lane mates all about it. Other swimmers who didn’t take part confessing to giant FOMO. The tales of the whirlpools, of the rapid water near the end of the swim, of conquering fear are still being heard around the poolside.
I also love the lack of ego during the swim. Swimmers were there for each other, not trying to prove how fast they can swim. A really wonderful event.
Windermere End To End 11 Mile Swim
A super performance from Swim Squad stalwart, Jan, to complete the 11 mile swim. What can we say about Jan that hasn’t already been said?
- 11 Miles Windermere End To End ✅
- Finished it with some strong butterfly ✅
- Finished 2nd in age group ✅
- Completed the Triple Crown ✅
- Finished 5th female skins in Triple Crown ✅
- Finished 11th overall (skins) Triple Crown ✅
Legend.
Also finishing the event with a strong, strong swim was Kayleigh – a regular at our 50m pool sessions earlier in the year. Kayleigh had been focused on this event all year, logging almost 400k of swimming in 2023 in the build up to this event. Prepared.
Ironman Wales
The legend that is Ironman Wales took place this weekend. Four of our Swim Squad coached athletes raced this.
Leon, his first Ironman. His first triathlon was only last year. He bossed it, pacing the race like a pro. 1.06 swim, 7.06 bike and a 4.57 run, giving an overall time of 13.35. ‘A’ goal achieved!
Alan, his second Ironman. His second Ironman Wales. Things didn’t quite go to plan for Alan, but he dug deep and found great strength to finish the race in a few minutes over 15 hours.
Graham, finishing another Ironman. I’m not sure how you can get a bike PB on the Ironman Wales course, but there we are. Strong performance throughout from Graham, finishing in 14.39.
Owain, like Alan, finishes his second Ironman. His second Ironman Wales too. This year, he took 1 hour and 23 minutes off last years time, finishing in 13.20. Brilliant.
We also had Tom racing. Tom approached us at the end of July, wanting some quick wins to help his swim, to help him beat the cut-off. He beat the cut-off (1.47 swim) and went on to have a great race (14.14).
Bethan, a regular at our open water swim squads over the past few years raced in Tenby again. A 1.15 swim set her up for a great day, finishing in 14.26 (and a sub-5 marathon).
What a day for them all!
Man vs Mountain
A big well done to Swim Squad swimmers, Helen & Nadine, for completing the Man vs Mountain adventure race this weekend!
What is this race?
This legendary mountain adventure returns for a final outing in 2023. This journey starts at sea level in the stunning Caernarfon Castle and weaves its way to the summit of Snowdon and down the other side into Dinorwic Quarry where we’ve thrown in an array of action-packed obstacles, including the infamous Vertical Kilometre and Walk the Plank quarry jump.
Awesome!
Bala Triathlon
We also had some Swim Squad athletes racing the Bala Triathlon.
Unfortunately, fog descended before the start of the swim, meaning the race was changed to a Duathlon.
Our swimmers were gutted!
Despite that, athletes put their disappointment aside, put in some great performances – even ‘enjoying’ the chaos of the 2.5k mass start run!
Brian, Paul, Carl, Phil, Adrian, Peter, Phil, Michael.
👏👏👏
Super racing!
Outlaw X
More great racing from our Swim Squad!
David took on his first middle distance triathlon at Outlaw X this weekend … and put in a super performance!!
David has been a regular at our Monday evening swim technique sessions, where he has fine tuned his swimming and seen a massive increase in pace. He has also been to many of our open water group sessions this summer, developing great open water skills.
David, who can usually be found at the front of our open water swim groups, had a typically strong swim on his way to a fantastic 70.3 debut.
Brilliant, David!
“Thank you Bry for all the support and the swim squad for helping me push through each session. To think back in April I was struggling to string a few lengths together, to be able to complete a 70.3 swim comfortably (1.9k in 36 minutes) really shows how good the Swim Squad is.”
Outlaw X Sprint Triathlon
A big well done to Ellie for racing – and winning her age group – in the sprint triathlon at Outlaw X this weekend!
Ellie (and her mum) has been a regular swimmer at our Sunday 50m pool sessions this year – and at our open water swim squads over the summer.
These sessions – as well as her other swim training – have seen her swim improve significantly this year.
And given that she won her age group by just 3 seconds, I reckon her commitment to improving her swim this year has been a worthwhile investment!
Well done Ellie!
Shropshire Triathlon
Another race to be cut and turned into a Duathlon. This time, blue-green algae was the culprit. Disappointing for our athlete, Lynne, who is a strong swimmer in her age group.
Nevertheless, Lynne stayed positive and performed really well on the day, enjoying her last ‘triathlon’ of the season.
Thirty three of our Swim Squad athletes raced this weekend.
Thirty three.
Racing strong.
And didn’t they do us all proud?
So yeah, that was quite a weekend!
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