Hard work pays off for successful Satellites

THE North Midlands Swimming Championships held over two weekends at Macclesfield recently saw great success for the Satellite swimming squad.

It was a worthy reward for all their hard work in training and was an early indicator of the successful season that surely lies ahead.

Head coach Ric Howard, himself an international disability swimmer, said in his swimming report: “It gave Satellite swimmers a chance to compete locally and see where they are in terms of fitness. Satellites went in with a very young team for this gala, many of them swimming for the first time outside of the club, and they were fantastic.”

Every swimmer swam at least 1 personal best with many swimmers posting a number of personal best times and winning many medals.

Many of our older swimmers also swam well, winning medals and trophies and setting a great example to the younger swimmers.

“It was great to hear that there was a real team atmosphere was on poolside which is part of my philosophy of how a club should be,” said Howard. “Although I could mention every single swimmer because they all performed, there were a few standout performances worth a mention. On the older side of squad we had Hannah Dawson who won several events, smashing PBs and doing justice to all the hard work she has put in the early season. Davina Christie and David Fryer-Winder also swam brilliant over the two weekends, winning events and hitting new personal best times, well done to them.

“At the younger end of the squad we had a few boys that are performing above and beyond my expectations, Reece Grady, Joseph Gibbons and Tom Prince are all swimming out of their skin, winning many medals and setting the bar high for the rest of the swimmers in their groups. This is a personal success within the squad as I have tried to bring in more young lads into the programme and I feel this is now working and we are seeing great results off it.

“A special mention must go to the coaches who work tirelessly to make sure that we have a constant pool of talent coming through the squads, so my personal thanks goes to Craig, Emma and Harry for all the great work, keep it up!

“I have saved this until last as a very special mention must go to international disability swimmer Megan Short, who broke her British Record in the S6 200m Butterfly, by a huge margin; this is the latest in a long line of success for Megan, who won several medals at the CP world games in August.”

Howard finished with a personal thanks and huge well done to every single Satellite swimmer who swam over the two weekends: “The club and I are very proud of you all.”