Alton had a pleasing day at the championships, taking 16 senior girls, with a few good performances, which may lead to national qualification. The competition was particularly strong this year, with at least 15 other schools taking part. The atmosphere was already building when we arrived with loud music playing in the very impressive pool area. It is one of the very few 50m pools with electronic timing at both ends of the pool.

The seniors got off to great start with Nicky gaining second place in the Y11/12/13 Individual Medley. This was particularly impressive as she on only in Y11, so may well have been up against some Y13 girls! Hannah and Rebecca in Y7 both swam well, gaining 4th places in the 50m backstroke and breaststroke respectively. Francesca then achieved another 2nd place in the Y8 50m backstroke at the same time beating her personal best by two seconds, completing in a time of 35.27s. Abigail then swam really well to gain 2nd place in the 100m Y9/10 Freestyle and Nicky got another 2nd, being pipped by 0.02s in the Y11/12/13 Freestyle 100m.

First place gains automatic qualification to the Nationals, with the 2nd place getting qualification if the first place swimmer has already qualified, so these girls will have to wait for the official results to find out if they get through as well. We wait with baited breath! Well done to all.

Update

On Saturday 17th November, Nichola and Frankie travelled up to Coventry to swim in the ISA National Swimming Championships. Nichola came 2nd in her individual 100m front crawl; she won both the medley relay and the freestyle relay. Frankie swam very well, winning both the freestyle relay and the medley relay.

It was a very successful nation swimming championship, with London West, who Frankie and Nichola both represented, ending up as this year's national champions. Well done to both girls.