Barracudas clinch top spot
A spirited team performance saw Leyland Barracudas clinch our first set of silverware since returning to competitive swimming.
It all went down to the last swim of the competition as we came from behind to take the National Swimming League North West Division One Championship. Trailing by five points with only the relays remaining, we drew level before leading the mixed open relay from start to finish to clinch the title by one point.
Club Chairman, Jon Ward, said: “It’s been fantastic to get back to competitive swimming over the last couple of months and I know the swimmers have really enjoyed it. “It was a really tense competition with the momentum swinging to and fro before we secured the win right at the end.”
The National Swimming Championships was condensed this year due to Covid with Barracudas coming second in the first final at Sale before clinching the title in the second final at Ellesmere Port at the weekend and here’s how the evening unfolded. A strong start in the individual medley events followed by outstanding performances by our U11s saw us take an early lead after eight events. We then shared the lead with COSACSS with first place changing hands several times until halfway through the evening. It was from here COSACSS took an advantage and cemented first place, with us fighting hard keeping the gap to only a few points. Trailing by five points with only the relays remaining, we drew level with only one event remaining, the Mixed Open freestyle relay. Leading from start to finish Leyland beat COSACSS to win the relay, the match and division by only one point.
The evening started well with Leyland picking up 14 of 20 points after the first relays, with strong performance in the U11s and open categories. Johnny Wright and Megan Ellis won their 50m backstroke to give us an early lead. James Handford won the 100m open butterfly quickly followed by further wins for Johnny Wright and Yasmin Elliott in the U11 butterfly. Tom Arkwright had a busy evening winning the open 100m backstroke and freestyle as well as helping our open 4 x 50m freestyle team to victory in the last event. Findlay Warburton won the U11 boys 50m breaststroke, with further victories in the U15 100m Freestyle by Heidi Hailwood, and Amelie Elliott in the Open 100m breaststroke.
The U11 boys freestyle was certainly the event of the evening with all five swimmers falling into the water before the start. The swimmers from COSACCS and Satellite decided to continue their swim and raced down toward the first turn, despite being told to stay Sebastian Hailwood ignored chief coach’s advice and set off in pursuit. With the crowd wondering what was going on, the swimmers were called back and given a short rest before restarting the race.
Our consistency in picking up points on every stroke across all age groups accompanied with a high degree of discipline and good technique saw us as the only team with no disqualifications. With a winning margin of only one point, secured in the last event this was a genuinely fantastic team performance.
Chief Coach, Gillian Rankin, said: “It was a brilliant performance and I was a proud coachwatching on from the poolside. “It was nice to see the team gaining some reward for all their hard work in training and that dedication has really paid off. “The fact we came on strong in the relays to clinch the victory is testament to the teamwork, which is an important part of the sport.”
The final standings in Division One were:
1. Leyland Barracudas A
2. COSACSS (Stoke-on-Trent)
3. Satellite (Macclesfield)
4. Flixton
5. Holywell
6. Bebington
7. Everton
Leyland Barracudas B Team came third in the second final competition and finished the series in ninth position in Division Two. Our younger swimmers did the club proud with outstanding behaviour and great team spirit too.