Four of South Lincs Competitive Swimming Club’s leading members took part in the Swim England National Winter Championships at Sheffield last week – and produced stellar showings.
Ellisha Cookson, Mollie Briggs, Emma Croker and Rico Bringeman contested 20 events between them and produced a host of exceptional results over the three days of fierce competition.
Between them they picked up two medals, reached six finals, set four new county records and a huge 14 club records between December 3-5.
Head coach Keith Haynes said: “The meet has been a huge success for the four South Lincs swimmers.
“We have achieved two medals, six finals and the swimmers have set four new county records and 14 new club records between them.
“It is wonderful to see them all step up and perform so well on a national stage.
“It is back to hard work now as we prepare for the long course season and Summer National Championships and we have a lot of competition on route to these events.”
Day one saw Cookson start the campaign as she took to the pool in the 100m breaststroke.
A solid first swim saw her post a time of 1.11.55mins, just 0.30 seconds outside of her personal best (PB).
Less than 20 minutes later Cookson was in the 200m individual medley (IM) – and she clocked a new PB of 2.21.24mins.
Bringeman started off his day with the 100m butterfly (58.22secs) before taking on the 400m freestyle.
He touched home in a new PB of 4.07.09mins, which was also a new boys’ 16 years age group club record.
Bringeman closed out the day with the 100m IM, where an exceptional showing saw him attack all four strokes and he was rewarded with a big drop on his personal best time of almost two seconds to touch the wall in 1.00.09mins.
Not only was this a new club record, but also a new county record, bettering a mark that had stood for 20 years.
Briggs took on two demanding events on day one, the 200m butterfly and the 800m freestyle.
She rose to the occasion in each of her swims and posted her second fastest ever times in both races.
In the 200m butterfly her time of 2.27.64mins was a new girls’ 16 years age group club record, while in the 800m freestyle she finished in a time of 9.22.22mins – marking a significant return to form.
Croker began her three days of competition with the 100m freestyle. An excellent swim saw an impressive new PB clocked by almost half a second (56.50secs) as she qualified through to the junior final.
There, a very fast opening 50m put her in contention and she worked hard to maintain her speed as she claimed a brilliant bronze in a PB of 56.05mins.
Croker also got the action underway for the South Lincs swimmers on day two, this time in the shorter 50m freestyle.
Again, she produced a strong swim and posted a new PB of 26.28secs to qualify through to the junior final of this event.
She was able to step up and produce an even faster time in the final, touching home in a new mark of 26.19secs seconds to take sixth place and set a new girls’ 16 years age group club record and a county record.
Next up was Bringeman, who continued to produce excellent performances.
He was just 0.07 seconds outside of his PB in the 200m IM, before setting a new PB time of 2.05.39mins in the 200m butterfly to qualify through to the junior final.
In that final, his time of 2.04.70mins was another PB time, secured seventh place and was a new club record.
Cookson was next to step up to the mark for another two events on day two.
In the 50m breaststroke she flew down the pool to touch the wall in a big new PB time of 32.81secs to beat her own club record in this event.
Her second race was the 100m IM – a pure sprint event – and she powered to another club record of 1.05.35mins, which was yet another PB.
Briggs brought her campaign at the championships to a close at the end of day two with the 400m freestyle.
She once again posted her second fastest ever time in this event of 4.32.28mins.
Haynes said of her performance: ‘I’m delighted with Mollie’s performances at the Championships. They mark a significant return to form for Mollie and she should be very proud of what she has achieved.”
The third and final day of competition saw Bringeman get the action started with the 400m IM, where he qualified for the junior final in a new PB of 4.32.20mins.
He also swam the 200m freestyle, where another solid swim saw him finish just 0.90 seconds outside his PB in 1.56.25mnins.
To close out his weekend, Bringeman swam his 400m IM final to perfection, stopping the clock in 4.30.40mins – a new boys’ 16 years age group club and county record.
Cookson brought the curtain down on her weekend of swimming in the 200m breaststroke.
Working hard to maintain her pace, she touched the wall in a time of 2.35.69mins, taking almost three seconds off her previous PB.
Once again, this was also a new club record.
Team-mate Croker had two events on the final day of competition as she closed out the South Lincs action.
In the 50m butterfly, a tremendous swim saw her reach the final with a PB time of 28.20secs, which was yet another club and county record.
Next was the 200m freestyle, where a time of 2.01.59mins was another PB and enough to reach the junior final once again.
The 50m butterfly was her first final, as her second-fastest ever swim of 28.61secs sealed tenth place.
Better came in the 200m freestyle final, as she secured bronze in a PB effort of 2.00.75mins.
