Match Report – Micro ‘A’ Team (14 May)
From our Poolside Reporter, Jayne Elliott
Round 3 of the 2022 North West Micro League competition was a home match for the Leyland ‘A’ team. But how many volunteers does it take to support our swimmers and Head Coach, Gillian?
I counted 16 – most of whom I managed to photograph but there were a few – including Rebecca and Kate Roberts and myself who escaped the camera!
Our YAV volunteer Olivia Robinson and mum Lisa also part of our volunteering team
Held on Saturday, 14th May – which happened to be the same day that Liverpool won the FA Cup – we saw at least one swimmer (who shall remain nameless!) pleased to see that the referee kept things moving swiftly along with the use of overhead starts. Admittedly her motive for doing so was probably more to do with the fact that the officials, coaches and parents were all melting in the heat on poolside rather than wanting to get home to watch the football.
Despite being a home match, this does not give you an advantage when it comes to the lane draw and the ‘A’ team found themselves out in lane 1 in the full glare of the glorious sunshine.
Lane 2 was taken by Blackpool, Lane 3 by Wigan Best and Lane 4 by Preston leaving a spare lane which Leyland utilized by giving some of our younger swimmers the chance to experience a Micro match and for some of the ‘A’ team swimmers to get additional swims during the event.
Whilst those swimming in lane 5 were not competing as part of the competition their times were recorded by our poolside volunteers and by the time the final whistle blew on the Liverpool v Chelsea game Coach Gill already had the times input into her database!
To all the ‘spare lane swimmers’ I hope they enjoyed the experience – and the noise – and well done to them all.
Personal best (PB) times were recorded by Amelie Vescovi, Anna Dunbavin, Willow Slater Smith, Lucy Adam, Marissa Maher, Harry Watkinson, Esther Martin, Lucy Clarke, Charlie Singleton, Jessica Brunton and Lucy Roberts.
So back to the match!
Winning the first four relay events in a row I think it is fair to say that Leyland were dominant throughout. The team recorded a total of 20 individual and relay wins out of 47 events and 19 second places with only one disqualification.
Once again it is hard to single out individual swimmers when the whole team swam so well and showed fantastic team spirit. A staggering 40 personal best times were recorded with times and PBs all now logged onto Coach Gill’s database.
The final event of the afternoon was the cannon – always a noisy affair as the teams get behind their swimmers and Leyland ‘A’ finished with the win – well done Erin Morris, Thomas Owens, Elsie Kay, Max Roberts, Philippa Rankin, Finlay Metcalfe, Megan Ellis and Sebastian Hailwood.
Well done also to our lane 5/spare lane freestyle swimmers who finished ahead of Preston ‘A’ in the cannon – a great achievement! Well done Caoimhe Ruscoe, George Watkinson, Jorgie-Mae Jones, Rosa Dunbavin, Henry Hodkinson, Elizabeth Adam and Finlay Warburton.
At the close of the afternoon the results were:
Leyland ‘A’ – 146 points
Blackpool – 117 points
Wigan Best and Preston ‘A’ – 94 points each
Well done Leyland ‘A’ team who now go on to their final match to be held at Leyland on Sunday, 19th June – Father’s day!