Sprint with the Stars

4th January 20244th January 2024 Admin

Report by Elsa Thomson (Age Group Squad)

On Saturday 30th of December, 9 Barracudas travelled to Leeds to take part in the 1st ever Sprint With The Stars gala to be held up North. In the morning freestyle and backstroke heats there were plenty of PBs and Oliver, Elsie, Philippa, Bella and Beth all got into a final and were able to race against the Olympians (Kate Shanahan, Anna Hopkin and Matthew Richards). Each swimmer was announced on to the pool deck with pyrotechnics and lots of cheers of “Green Army” from the crowd.

In the afternoon the excitement continued with the butterfly and breaststroke heats and Grace, Athena and Elsa all got into the 50 breaststroke final together racing Abbie Wood but only Athena was able to beat her! Elsie, Bella and Beth all swam hard in their 50 butterfly finals and they all beat Emily Large in their races!

Quotes from the swimmers:

Grace

My favourite part was being with my friends and meeting the stars.

Elsa

My favourite part was racing against the Olympian and being with my friends

Athena –

My favourite thing was being in the breaststroke final (it was made even better with my friends being in the same race) watching the Olympians swim was good to see and I LOVED how much fun we had.

Beth –

I enjoyed racing against the pros and seeing them gradually getting closer to me made me try even harder than I was already. I loved being with my best friend all day and meeting all of the pros. It was a great opportunity and I had an amazing day.

Bella –

I liked beating Emily Large and nearly beating Beth. My backstroke 50 needs to be faster ha ha. I enjoyed being with my best friend all day and meeting all the pros. It was a very good day.

Elsie –

My favourite part was beating the Olympian and being with my friends especially when we were dancing.

At the end of the gala, we had a team photo with local superstar Anna Hopkin who used to swim with Chorley Marlins and Blackburn Centurions. Some of us jumped into the official photos with all the Olympians until we were asked politely if we could leave the pool deck.

Thanks to Shirley and Jenny for being fab officials, Greg and Steph for being poolside as well as all the parents in the stands with their cheers and bags of food.