Winter
Championships

Matthew Hirst and Holly Lewis multiple finalists at Yorkshire Winter Championships.   

With most of our top swimmers entered into the Yorkshire Championships with Doncaster Dartes it was left to Matthew Hirst and Holly Lewis to fly the flag for Sharks at the top County event this season. And they didn't disappoint. Both had qualification times high up the entry lists and stood a good chance of reaching a county final. Over the weekend both produced dramatic personal bests to get into two finals each.

(left to right) Matthew Hirst, Holly Lewis and Hannah Hirst

Matthew was first to swim for us on Saturday morning in the 10yrs 50m Freestyle. After a tap dance start you could almost feel Matthew dig in to his stroke with his usual determination. A half decent turn and a frenetic return leg had him home in 38.57, a personal best by a second or so and 17th over all in the heats.

Next event was the 10yrs Girls 100m Breaststroke. An excellent dive and start brought Holly Lewis to the surface at the front and then she settled into her looonnnnggg stroke with powerful kick and long glide. She stayed with the front through to the last turn when an acceleration took her a metre in front by half way and she touched in a huge personal best of 1.35.51, an improvement of almost 5 seconds, and 6th overall - earning her a place in the final. In the final, Holly did a further 1 second pb to 1.34.68, although this wasn't enough to improve on her 6th position. Holly's time also broke Charlie Squires' 3 year old club record by 3 seconds.

Alex Cook, swimming for Dartes also continued a return to form with a personal best time of 1.47.13.

Matthew Hirst then swam in 100m IM. With all our fingers crossed for his fly Matthew really worked hard after a much better start to come home in another personal best of 1.36.89 and 12th overall.

On Sunday morning Matthew Hirst had his best chance of a medal after qualifying 3rd fastest for the championships in the 9yrs 50m Backstroke. Yet again Matthew threw himself into the task with gusto. In the heats he pb'd by half a second to go into the final in 4th position and lane 7 with a time of 40.24. Another personal best of 40.50 in the final kept him in 4th place but it could not have been more then a fingernail keeping him from a bronze medal.

Holly Lewis was up on Sunday afternoon in the 100m Freestyle - arguably her no.1 stroke. Another quick (for her) start pushed her ahead from the start. She lead the whole heat but from the latter part of the 3rd leg she started to pull away to finish with clear water and a 3.5 second PB at 1.14.67 and 4th overall, another lane 7 starter for a final. With some impressive swimmers in the final Holly still worked hard to take another second off at 1.13.65 but was only rewarded with a 5th place for her efforts. Holly broke her own club record with these times.

Hannah Hirst (Matthews diminutive but dynamite older sister), swimming for Dartes topped a brilliant previous weekend at the Mets (3 events - 6 pb's) with a terrific swim in the heats of the 100m Breaststroke. After knocking nearly 6 seconds off in the heats of the Mets and then a further 1 second in the final she shaved a further few hundredths off in the heats at Ponds Forge to qualify 4th for the final. In the final her performance was astonishing with her forth PB in 6 days - another 2 seconds off and a time of 1.26.46 and a well earned Bronze Medal. Just to put this into context Hannah as improved her PB time by MORE THAN 2 seconds a length - and she was already fast. Breathtaking and one to watch.

Beth Edgar has been out of the pool more than in it over the past few months but nevertheless fancied her chances in the 11yrs 100m Backstroke. Despite the lack of training her skill at her number one stroke was evident from the off and she qualified for the final with a time of 1.19.79 - another personal best by a touch. She backed out of a planned swim in the 200 IM to save herself for the final. And it worked, too. Blowing a full second off her PB she also swam magnificently into a bronze medal position. Just what would she have done with a few weeks full training behind her?

Emily Fordham, another swimmer unable to train regularly recently, reminded us how natural she is in the pool with a blistering 1.18.50 in the 100m Backstroke, and a personal best by 2 seconds. Anna Laird's time of 1.23.22 in the same event didn't seem to reflect her effort, although it was less than a second outside her personal best.

The North Eastern Counties BAGCAT Championships will be held at the end of November. Holly and Hannah both have a number of qualifying times for this regional event and their performance this weekend bodes well for their appearance at Harrogate.

The next Yorkshire Championships are in March when 50m sprints and 200m distance events are run. Expect to see these swimmers working hard to do well then as well.

Note: Sharks Swimmers who swim under a different club name do not current have their times included in the Sharks database and therefore do not qualify for Club records or Sprint Ladder points.