“Goldthorpe Pool (dfn): no parking, not enough poolside seating for spectators or swimmers and no diving in the shallow end…. oh, and the announcer was pants (she made Jim seem funny).”

OK, So let's get it over with - We should have won this Gala! A noisy deck and keen judging (there are other expressions which could be used here, but someone other than Jim, Cris and I might look at this website by accident . . ) lead to a record number of DQs, without which, we all know we would have won. Compulsory starts in the swallow end also had us at a disadvantage, with valuable seconds lost in takeovers. However, let’s look at the positives in this gala . . .

Personal Bests were few, probably due to the shallow starts, naff blocks and slippy tiles, which resulted in apparently slow times for half the relay swimmers, and this should be borne in mind when comparing results and times.

Individually, crowns go to Holly Lewis with 2 firsts in fabby times, beating the other swimmers by a couple of hours at least. Alex Cook and Matthew Hirst also took a first and a second place each in this age group, meaning that our ten year olds won us 5 out of Sharks 13 first places. Special mention should go to Katy Lindop, the only 14-year-old girl on the day. Kev got value from Katy, swimming her in every stroke except backstroke, from which she is banned (Yorkshire finalist), and she didn’t disappoint with a first (free), a second (breast) and a fantastic time in fly (35.48) for fourth. Katy also swam in four relays, on top of an early morning training session. In fact, Katy spent so much time in the water on Saturday that her mum had to iron out the wrinkles when she got home.

It was also welcome back to stalwart (isn’t there a cure for that?) Luke Osborn, who produced 2 firsts and a second, with fabulous swims against “The Pink Hat” and “Hairbear” (look out for them next time) in the open age group.

Despite cramped conditions for spectators and poolside, this was an exciting and close competition. The first three placings swapped at each points total, with Sharks, Borough of Barnsley and Rotherham Metro leaving Chapeltown trailing in fourth throughout.

The best galas for spectators are those where the final points depend on the outcome of the final, cannon relay, and this proved to be one of those galas. With double points awarded for this race, if we won and Rotherham came fourth, we would have just won the gala. However, even with Sharks supporters rooting for Barnsley and Chapeltown, and even with a brilliant swim from the cannon team members (Holly and Matthew gaining an important early lead on the first leg, Emily and Daniel holding onto it on the second, Katy and Sam swimming without a single breath between them on the third, and finally Hannah and Luke just managing to out-touch the Rotherham swimmer for first), we still just didn’t make it.

However, in a quieter pool, and without the in-pool starts, and some judging by Sharks officials, who knows what’ll happen next time?

A few stats for you: