Explore the triumphs and excitement of our recent Swimming Galas. Dive into the highlights, celebrating standout performances and notable victories!

Burnley Bobcats ‘Racing for Regionals' Meet

March 2024

Earlier this month we saw our swimmers take part in the first level 3 meet of the year, where we hotfooted it up to Darwen for Burnley Bobcats ‘Racing for Regionals’ Gala. Cue a collective sigh of relief from the parents when they realised we’d be returning to Darwen for the café with the ‘decent coffee and nice pastries’ (not to mention a bit of relief from those little air conditioning vents in the gallery – when it’s hot we’ll take what we can, am I right?!)

I’ll preface the below by saying brace yourselves – this might just be the swimming report equivalent of War and Peace…but with so many success stories, I couldn’t possibly miss anyone out, could I?

Session 1 and we kicked things off with the boys’ 400m IM. Surprisingly, not many nippers take part in this one – can’t think why? We did have one very notable performance from a young Dylan Gregory, who only went and smashed his PB by 8 seconds, securing himself a very worthy silver medal along the way. The second event saw our ladies take part in the 200m IM, where we had a few more entries, and the first of SIX EVENTS (in one day might I add!) for Izzy H, one of our newer recruits who is absolutely smashing it in senior squad 👊🏼. There were medals from Sofia who bagged herself a bronze in the 12 years age group, whilst Annabel and Tilly took home the silver and gold in their age group respectively - as well as hitting regional times in the process. Way to go girls!

Next up we saw Jacob and Dan take part in the gents’ 100m backstroke, where they both smashed their PBs, before a number of our ladies took to the blocks for the 100m freestyle where we had another 100% PB smash-rate (that is an official term, I’ll have you know) from all SIX of our entries, which included a fantastic Crosby gala debut from Matilda – and a gold medal to boot from Sofia!

Olly clinched the gold in the boys' 200m breaststroke with an impressive swim, before we saw Harry, Jacob, and Dan nail their PBs in the 50m fly, with Harry and Dylan both up at the medals table for their 3rd and 1st place finishes in their respective age groups. Team Crosby were certainly cleaning up at this point already! Just a few of our girls team took to the pool for the 50m breaststroke - no less than 9 in fact, and it would have been a couple more if wrist/finger injuries hadn’t plagued a couple of our swimmers. We saw some terrific swims from the younger ladies, where both Izzy and Aurora smashed through their PBs, and Eva and Heidi also put in a couple of worthy performances. There’s always tough competition in any of the sprints, but we still managed to grab a couple of medals with both Ella and Tilly nabbing spots on the podium, with their respective 3rd and 1st place finishes. Bravo ladies!👏🏼

The first event of Saturday afternoon saw Eva, Freya and Tilly take part in the girls’ 400m freestyle, with PBs across the board, and Tilly landing the top spot in the 13 years age group. Dan, Olly and Aidan absolutely owned the boys’ 200m free, with even more medals to add to the haul, before the girls smashed a number of PBs in the 100m breast – no podium visits this time, although Ella did finish just shy of the top three with her 4th place finish and 6 sec+ PB! She’ll have ‘em next time 😏💪🏼

Izzy was back in the water for the 200m backstroke for her fourth event of the day 🤯, along with Annabel who nabbed herself a silver medal and a 3 sec+ PB. We had a few more PBs in the boys’ 50m back, where Dylan was back at the medals table for the third time that day with an impressive 2nd place swim. The girls’ 50m free was buzzing as usual, with PBs across the board and a silver medal for Sofia (who managed to complete the full medal set in day 1! 🥇🥈🥉)

No rest for the wicked – we were back up the M6, bright eyed and bushy tailed for day 2, kicking session 3 off with the girls’ 400m IM where Sam showed us what she’s made of with her 2nd place, regional qualifying time performance 🙌🏼; Dan also grabbed himself a silver medal for his amazing swim in the boys 200m IM as well as a 6+ second PB! Then, it was Annie's turn to shine, pulling off an Izzy with her first event of six – she was joined by Jess and Annabel in the girls' 100m back, where both Annie and Annabel fell just short of a podium spot. Jacob, Isaac, Harvey, Dan, Josh, Aidan and Olly were up next in the boys 100m free, where we saw a number of PBs as well as another gold for Olly. And before long Ella, Annie, Annabel and Jess were on the blocks for the girls 200m breast, with both Annie and Annabel grabbing bronze in the 10 and 13 year olds groups, whilst Ella picked up her first gold of the weekend with her 13 secs PB swim! Looked like the Lamberts were having their own mini medal competition between themselves!

Dylan was our only entry to the boys 200m fly, where he snagged himself a cool silver 😎 before Annie, Lusai, Sofia and Jess battled it out in the girls’ 50m fly, with Annie grabbing the bronze in the 10 years group, and Sofia absolutely killing it with another gold in the 12 years! That girl is on fire 🔥. In the boys’ 50m breast we saw some solid efforts from the lads, with Harry on his sister’s tails with his 2nd place finish AND a 2 sec PB. Honestly, there’s nothing like a bit of sibling rivalry to spur you on!

Dylan and Olly were both back at the medal table as our only 2 entries for the boys’ 400m free, both grabbing gold in the 13 and 14 years groups; Annie, Ella, Annabel, and Freya knocked it out the park in the girls’ 200m free, with Ella and Annabel grabbing themselves bronze and gold respectively; and Harry, Dan, Harvey, and Olly smashed it in the lads’ 100m breast where Harry snagged himself another bronze, and Olly grabbed his FIFTH gold medal of the weekend 😲. Annie and Sofia were up next in the girls 100m fly, where Sofia took home the gold, Aidan went and smashed out a cracking 10 second PB winning him the top prize in the boys 200m back, before Annie and Sofia were both back at it in the girls 50m back where they each grabbed a podium place in their age groups for their superstar swims!

We ended the weekend on a high with some fantastic swims in the boys’ 50m free – I wonder if there’s some strategic reason to it being not only one of the most popular events as well as the very last of the weekend 🤨🤔 because the queue out of Darwen is not the one on a Sunday evening 😴🚗. Still, we had another successful run of PB busters, where Harry knocked a whopping 2+ seconds off his entry time, while Freddie and Isaac also made some impressive strides. Dan and Dylan zipped through with some blink-and-you’ll-miss-‘em swims, both achieving the elusive sub-30 mark, and Olly and Aidan put in some solid performances too. But a special mention must go to young Jacob Leung; looking determined as ever as he chased down that coveted medal (and maybe even a gold if he played things just right), he put in a stellar performance in the 5th heat. And despite some scoreboard issues during his race, the nail biting 13 heat-wait was totally worth it after he only went and secured a first place finish in the 11 year old group, with a 2-sec personal best. Talk about a finish to the weekend! 🎉

Once again, I think I speak for everyone when I say I was absolutely blown away by the incredible talent that our swimmers showcased over the course of the weekend. We took home no less than 38 medals over the two days, which included 10 bronzes, 10 silvers and an astounding 18 golds! And on top of that, the team only went and smashed their own records with a jaw-dropping 78 personal bests (I can vouch for that – I tallied them up myself 🥵) as well as 3 regional qualifying times 🤯. If that doesn’t tell you how amazing the sheer skill coming through the team is, I don’t know what will!

Southport Shrimps Gala February 2024

After somewhat of a hiatus (I blame the kids' busy social lives and numerous extra curricular activities hogging all of my time), we’re back with another gala report. This time we headed up the M57 to Knowsley Leisure Centre for the annual ‘Southport Shrimps’ gala. Now, if you’re new to the club it’s likely this was your first foray into the world of competitive swimming. Since it’s geared at our younger swimmers, it’s a great event for the nippers to dip their toes in, so to speak - even if it is ABSOLUTELY BONKERS. Picture this: 300+ kids from 8 different teams across our region all crammed into one very hot and sticky swimming baths, along with all of their coaches, team managers and parents. Not for the faint hearted! 🥵

Because it’s a 4 x 25m relay gala, it means that everyone gets a chance to swim at least one race – but that also means the gala team has to be ON IT to make sure each child is exactly where they’re supposed to be at any given moment. Not an easy feat with 30+ kids doing their best to run rings round you, so hats off to our poolside team! And yes (Jacob), that might mean you have to be poolside ready for your next event even if you’re not swimming for a few races 😏

We kicked off proceedings with the boys 12 years fly relay (they don’t like to make things easy for us, do they?!) and it was apparent that we were up against some stiff competition. Despite finishing 8th, the lads put in a great performance – bear in mind that all 4 of them were actually swimming above their age category! We managed a few places better in the girls event, where Annie Mc put in a superb swim on the final length to push us up into 4th place. The 11 years breast stroke relays was another tough swim for both our male and female teams, where again the girls pipped the boys to the post, placing 8th and 6th respectively. Looks like we had a good race between our lads and ladies on our hands!

Another hard-hitting event saw the girls 10 year medley relay team place 8th, but it was a solid swim from Orla Lawson on the final lap of the pool – well done Orla! Our 9 year old girls gave an amazing performance in the freestyle relay, where they placed 6th on the board – great job ladies!

The 12 year old freestyle relays were particularly tricky for both teams, but we had a some notable performances with a stand out swim from Olivia in the final length. Our 11 year old gents faired well in the fly relay, placing a worthy 6th place, before our girls team put in an impressive performance to nab 4th place on the board – shout out to Matilda Gregory for her brilliant swim! The Donoghue sisters were on form in the 10 years breast stroke and 12 years medley relays, where they both put in amazing swims and Lizzy managed to help grab us a much needed 4th place spot with her freestyle length!

After a tough few events, we managed to put some extra points on the board in the 9 year old breast relays where we had a fantastic comeback in the boys event (shout out to our breast stroke expert Sahil 🫡) to finish 5th, and an impressive effort from our girls team to grab 6th place. Emmie Parker showed us her cracking backstroke in the 11 year old girls medley, where the team pulled off a 5th place spot – superb ladies! In the final event before the excitement really kicked off (one word – CANNON), Edie showed us what she’s really made of (don’t let those little legs fool you) with a show stopping performance in the girls 9 year old fly – she managed to pull us back from 7th to 5th place in one single length 💪🏼 what are they feeding that child?!

And then we were onto the final 3 events – if this is your first gala, then you’d be forgiven for thinking WHAT ON EARTH IS THE CANNON??? Truth be told, I’m not really sure where the term comes from, and a quick Google didn’t provide me with any answers. I think the kids are supposed to be swimming so fast they look like they’ve been shot out of a cannon?! Think three 8 x 25m freestyle relays, with a girls, boys, and mixed team of all ages across all 3 races, all swimming at a ridiculously fast pace. We kicked off with the boys team where our lads grabbed 4th place, followed by – wait for it – a SECOND place finish for our girls team. We ended the afternoon with a brilliant performance from our mixed relay team where the team finished 5th (or possibly 6th) on the board – the excitement may have just got the better of me at this point 🥴

Despite being up against tough odds, we still managed to snag 7th place out of 8 teams – and considering nearly all our swimmers swam up at least one age in every event I think you’ll agree with me that we did absolutely amazing. And with some really solid performances across the board, from the seasoned pros to our fresh faces, I’ve got to say, the future of our club? It’s looking brighter than ever ✨

The results…

1st Leyland – 250 points

2nd Southport – 184.5

3rd Prescot – 172 points

4th Garston – 165.5

5th Everton - 153 points

6th Halton – 150 points

7th CROSBY – 91 points

8th Chorley – 81 points

Wirral Metro-Autumn Gala

For those of you who have been on tenterhooks waiting for details of the next poolside performance, fear not – it’s time to plunge headfirst into another gala report. This time, our nippers were making waves in their quest for swimming glory at the Wirral Met Autumn Meet. It was an poolside feast, full of PBs and a medal stash that’s testament to their unwavering dedication. So, following that pun-laden intro, I think it’s time to dive right in (I promise I’ll stop).

We kicked off the weekend with the boys 400m freestyle, where Dylan Gregory, Dylan Madican and Sean Flannagan all smashed it in their respective age groups and came out on top. That’s 3 gold medals already in the bag before any of the parents who had taken up residence on the balcony in their camping chairs have even had their morning caffeine fix. Boom!

Next up was the girls 50m breast where Annie McEntyre, Annabel Irvine, and Madison Rens delivered outstanding swims which saw them up at the medal table, swiftly followed by the boys 50m fly where we had more of the same from flutter master himself, Harry Davies, who took home bronze in the 10 year age group, as well as medal-winning performances from Luke Blackburn and Nick Castineira. Annie and Madison were both back on the podium with 3rd and 1st place swims respectively in the 9-10 and 15 year old age groups in the girls 100m free, along with Sofia Davies who scored her first medal of the weekend in the 12 years group.

Harry, Harvey Gilsenan, Dan Booth, Oscar Donnelly and Olly Lambert put in some rockstar, medal-winning displays in the boys 100m breast, and before long we were wrapping off the morning session where Annie, Sofia and Madison racked up a few more medals in the girls 100m IM.

The afternoon started off strong, with success in both the girls 200m free and the boys 200m IM. Olivia Nugent clinched third place spot in the girls 50m back, along with Annabel who secured another top tier place in the same event. We had no less than 15 entries in one of the most popular events of the weekend – the boys 50m free, where we had a flurry of PBs, and Luke, Dylan G and Finn Arnold all nabbed an elusive podium position. Finn was back at the medals table, along with Dan for their SUPERB performances in the boys 100m back, before Annabel went on to grab a solid first place in the girls 200m breast – she even slashed 6 seconds off her entry time as an added bonus! The final event of day 1 saw Aidan ‘miles-in-the-tank’ Kearney compete as the ONLY 14 year old in the mixed 1,500m free – and for the mathematically challenged amongst us (myself included) that’s a whopping 60 lengths of the pool. If that doesn’t blow your mind, then I don’t know what will!

Before long, those who drew the parenting short straw were trudging back through the doors of Europa pools, travel mugs in hands (god forbid we have to make a quick dash to the onsite café for a cup of dishwater flavoured tea), gripping their camping chairs ready to fight to the death for a spot on the top deck.

The first event of session 3 saw Dylan G bag himself a silver medal in the boys’ 400m IM, quickly followed by a 3rd place finish from Annabel in the girls’ 400m free. Harvey, Daniel, Oscar, and Olly were all up at the medal table following terrific performances in the boys 50m breast, as were Sofia and Sam Harrington in the girls 50 fly. There were some standout displays in the boys 100m free, including a first place finish for Sean Flanagan, and Sam was back on the podium after the girls 100m breast, along with Dylan and Finn in the boys 200m back. We brought the morning to a close with Harry, Luke and Harvey all adding to the medal haul with stellar shows in the boys 100m IM.

We racked up even more accolades throughout the afternoon, in both the boys 200m free and 50m back, before Ella Lambert aced the girls 50m free, smashing her entry time by a country mile and nabbing a bronze medal in the process. Crosby swept the podium in the boys 14 years 200m breast after Oscar, Olly and Nick took home 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. Well done lads! We brought the weekend to a close with the mixed 800m free, where Aidan was back in the pool along with Dylan M, Sean and Sam – all four putting in phenomenal, medal-winning swims.

Every single time I attend one of these events, I'm consistently blown away by the Crosby bunch and their incredible swimming skills. This weekend was no different—once again, they delivered top-notch performances. Keep an eye out to see how the team fares in the first team meet of the season as we head back to Huyton for the M&D round 1 gala. Until then, that’s a lap! (Honestly, I can’t help myself).

Liverpool & District - 2023

A new swim season seems as good a time as any to pick back up with our (in)famous gala commentary – but with Elliot putting himself into so-called ‘gala retirement’ (definitely not a thing) the torch has been passed on to me. Not one for formal introductions, I’m Jen and my two kiddos both swim for Crosby, and in a moment of sheer madness I offered to take over the gala write ups. So please bear with me whilst I do my best to acquaint myself with everyone. I’m not sure if I’m ever going to be able to recreate Ell’s fervent passion, but I’ll certainly give it my best shot!

We kicked the season off at Knowsley Leisure Centre for the L&D Gala, with some seriously good swimming – which included an amazing, long-awaited gala debut from Aurora Marshall.

First up was the girls 200m IM, with both Sofia Davies and Tilly Stevens putting in excellent swims and smashing out PBs. Madison Rens had an incredible 1st place swim in BOTH the 15 years and open groups, setting our Crosby swimmers off to a brilliant, medal-winning start.

Harvey Gilsenan, Oscar Donnelly and Nick Castineira came 1st, 2nd and 3rd in their respective age groups in the boys 200m breast – well done lads! Quickly followed by some warp-speed freestyle in the girls 100m, including some cracking PBs from Olivia Nugent (who wiped an impressive 14 seconds off her PB) and Annabel Irvine, and some outer-worldly swimming from Erin Silcock who only went and beat her PB by 1+ minute!!! Madison was back at the medal table grabbing gold in both the 15 years and open groups, after her 100m freestyle – adding to her tally of medals for the weekend before going on to smash out a first place in the final to boot. Absolutely amazing!!

Next up was the boys 50m free with PBs all round for Harry Davies, Jacob Leung, Isaac Arnold and Adam Morgan, and a 1st and 3rd place finish for Finn Arnold in the 14 years and open age groups. Smashed it boys! There were even more PBs for the girls in the 50m fly, with bronze medals going to both Sofia Davies and Samantha Harrington in their respective age groups. We had some superb swims in the boys 100m back, and Finn even managed to completely replicate his previous wins with a 1st and 3rd place finish in the 14 years and open age groups – before going on to grab a silver medal in the open final. Saturday morning was rounded off with a 2nd place swim in the girls 200m back from Annabel Irvine – and it’s at this point that I’m beginning to lose count of the Crosby medals, bearing in mind we’re only a quarter of the way through!

Saturday afternoon started off with more of the same in the girls 400m freestyle, where Tilly S smashed out another PB, and Madison grabbed a couple more medals in the 15 years and open age groups. There were some impressive performances from the Crosby boys in the 50m backstroke, with PBs from both Noah Atkinson and Isaac Arnold, and yet MORE gold medals from Finn in the 14 and open age groups. Young Aurora Marshall then took to the blocks for her inaugural gala swim in the girls 50m breaststroke, keeping any debut performance nerves under complete control – or in Elliot’s word was completely “COOL BEANS BABY”. Tilly had a great swim in the same event and was back up at the medal table, after her 2nd place finish. We finished off the first day with more medals in the boys 200m free, with silver and bronze going to Aidan Kearney and Finn in the 14 years group (Finn proving yet again that he’s really at home doing those longer distance swims).

And before we knew it, we were back at it for Sunday morning’s antics where it seemed Toby Dwyer was trying to squeeze in as many events as possible – an incredible 4 in one session and barely giving himself enough time to get out of the pool before he was called by marshalling for his next swim. I feel

tired just thinking about it! Aidan and Oscar took 2nd and 3rd places in the boys 200m IM, with Aidan even smashing out a PB. Fantastic lads! Jess Harrington had a terrific swim in in the girls 200m breast, coming 3rd place in the 15 years age group. Harry D, Jacob L and Aidan knocked out some more PBs in the boys 100m free, with Finn and Aidan taking 1st and 2nd in the 14 year group (nope, I’ve definitely given up trying to count just how many medals our Crosby lot have had now!). There were PBs in the girls 50m free from Aurora, Erin S and Esmee James, and more of the same in the boys 50m fly, with PBs from Harry D, Jacob L, and Nick C. Harry and Finn even grabbed bronze in their own age groups with some impressive swims!

Annabel I and Jess H took 2nd and 3rd place in the girls 100m back in their respective age groups, with Annabel smashing out yet another PB. Toby had a great swim in the boys 200m backstroke (his FOURTH event of the morning) matching his PB, whilst Finn took home another gold for his performance in the same event. Tilly had a really strong swim in the girls 800m freestyle, before Madison went on to grab 2 more medals in the 15 years and open groups. Well done girls!

The opening event of the afternoon session saw more success from the boys in the 100m breast, with PBs from Isaac and Oscar D. Oscar and Nick C took home the gold and silver respectively in the 14 years age group, and Oscar even went on to bag himself another 1st in the open age group final. Amazing lads! There was more triumph that afternoon in the girls 100m fly with Sofia Davies grabbing bronze, whilst Aidan took the gold in the boys 400m free as well as the bronze in the open age group for the same event – along with a massive PB!! Erin S bagged herself yet another PB in the girls 50m backstroke, and the boys 50m breast had no less than FIVE PBs from Harry, Isaac, Harvey, Oscar, and Finn, with Isaac, Oscar, Finn and Nick C all visiting the medal table for the same event. The final event of the weekend saw more victory from the Crosby girls in the 800m freestyle, with PBs from Eva Duncan and Tilly, whilst Annabel took 3rd in the 12 year age group and Madison had double success with 1st place in both the 15 years and open age groups – kudos girls!

I think it’s safe to say that ALL our swimmers were absolutely fantastic over the course of the weekend, with PBs across the board and a medal haul to be incredibly proud of. Watch this space for more success from the following week’s events, when our swimmers took to the blocks over the water at the Wirral Met Autumn Meet. Until then, over and out!

Southport Shrimps

Do you know what, i know i moan about shrimps a lot......but it IS great!!

FIRST off though, before i start any other nonsenseI owe a GIGANTIC thanks to our brand new gala team. Inspite of this being their first gala poolside with us, they were amazing!! Even after sending the first group of kids down for the event we all noticed that something was amiss. Looking with confusion at our tiny 9yr old boys and girls freestyle team we couldn't help but noticed the distinct size difference between our lovely, cute swimmers and everyone else's HUGE mustachioed(even the girls) swimmers........then it dawned on me, they changed the swim order of the gala last year and I had sent Brian the wrong teamsheet!!! Got to be honest, my mind went blank for a second.....not the ladies though! Everyone of them sprang into action with Laura and Claire grabbing race list off other teams and reorganising our own kids into the right races. Even Nell and Millie at the poolends had to calm me and Brian down as we were fenging kids from one end of the pool to the other and correcting our mistakes. So first and foremost sorry and thank you, THANK you, THANK YOU goes out to Laura Madican, Claire Lambert, Nell Phillip and Millie Griffiths, we would have been knackered without you all!!!!

I'll bet the other teams wished we hadn't sorted it out as straight from the off, the kids were up for it. We always use this gala to give the kids on the fringe of the squad a chance to show us exactly what we're missing and that's what they did with both boys and girls fly team managing excellent swims. The girls came on a hard earned 2nd place but the lads went one better with a very convincing win. This really set the tone for the rest of the team with all teams having excellent first swims. With so many new swimmers we are never quite sure how they will perform but they never let us down. We had brand new, first time gala, never seen that bloke in the white t-shirt, how high are THOSE diving blocks swimmers and we had some more experienced but, new to the club and new to the country swimmers with us for this gala and everyone of them were brilliant. So much so that when the points were announced after the first 16 races we found ourselves in joint 2nd place with Southport just behind leaders Leyland. The kids kept knocking out great swims with our 12yr old boys and girls teams setting a fantastic pace all the way through. This really inspired both our youngest teams and they continued to swim way above their experience levels. Moving into the halfway stage the kids where not surprised to learn that they had pushed past the Southport team and claimed 2nd place as their own. Unfortunately Leyland had also kicked on and despite some incredible Crosby wins, had opened up a healthy lead over us. The nippers took on the challenge to catch the run away leaders and struck back with back to back wins by our 12yr team. The rest of the team responded and we where in the top 3 of the 8 races!! We moved into the most exciting and LOUDEST part of the entire gala.....THE RELAYS!!!

The lads literally(.....not literally) blew the rest of the teams out of the water with an very dominant win with Harvey coasting into the wall to complete the swim. The girls had a little more competition in their swim an where VERY unlucky to come away with a fourth placed finish. The final race loomed and all the kids where eager to get the final win. After the ref let them loose, it was BEDLAM....in and out the pool!! The noise was incredible and the swimmers fed of it. With every new swimmer In the pool the lead was swapped between Leyland, Southport and ourselves right up to the final where Leyland and Crosby pushed to the front to decide the final winner. Right into the final 5m it could have been either of us but on the final touch.......we where JUST edged out for the win.

Before I let you know the score I feel that we need to mention how absolutely brilliant our youngest team were in the gala. A few of them have been waiting for their time to shine and some of them are STILL to young to be swimming in galas, but everyone of them were incredible and really means that we have a great team for the future so a huge well done goes to the -

Ladies 9yr team

Lola Horan, Ava Kier, Jess Donoghue, Aroura Marshall and Edie Leung(likes to known as Eddy??)

Gents 9yr team

Thomas Cowell, Noah Atkinson, Harry Davies and Jacob Leung

A incredible performance from you all!!!

Right...the points!!

1. Leyland - 248pts

2. CROSBY - 210pts

3. Southport - 180pts

4. Prescott - 164pts

5. Garston - 137pts

6 Halton - 120pts

7. Everton - 79pts

8. Chorley - 74pts

Lancashire County Championships

Unfortunately for the first time in many years, i actually had something better to do with my 3 Lancs weekends so i missed the vast majority of what was an INCREDIBLE event for our club. So i will have to keep my report to lots of vague gushing about fantastic swims and finger wagging at a few odd finishing positions and short??

This was BRILLIANT!!

We had over 20 swimmers representing Crosby swimming club, resplendent in their fantastic purple hats. All the way from old lady Sam Harrington(who swam in practically EVERY session) to new swimmer Sofia Davies. Every Crosby kid was an absolute credit to our club and represented us all brilliantly. From the 1st weekend right through to the last, every kid was at their best.

Ethan Kelly and Madison Rens where our absolute stars and they both looked like they had mugged MR T by the end of the competition(no way the kids know who Mr T is?!?). Although Maddie And Eth brought home tonnes of medals, they where by no means on their own. With (cue a nice list of names) Luke Curyn, Sean Flanagan, (second favorite Dylan) Dylan Madican, Finlay Arnold, Will Irvine, and Dylan Gregory(he's my new favorite Dylan). We had plenty of other kids having amazing weekends with tonnes in finals and loads of kids hitting PB.

As i said before, i wasnt there for the vast majority of the event but the kids where always well looked after, with Brian, Suzanne and Tim ever present. It wasn't as good as if i was there...but the kids were good enough not to let it show.

Before i sign off i think i need to mention 2 things

1 - I dont think they like Finlay Arnold ???

On 2 occasions Finn had to argue his position with the officials after VAR proved he had got second place instead of third.

2 - I have a new favorite Dylan!!

New Dylan is a new arrival from Formby and he had a FANTASTIC Lancs. He got into tonnes of final and was hitting PB's with practically every race. He didn't share any of delicious snacks, but i'll let that one slide for the time being. I spoke with my old favorite Dylan and he was completely oblivious to the status i had awarded him....so all's good!!

so to give him his full title, HUGE well done goes to Dylan Gregory for a great performance

As i said at the start, we had over 20 kids swimming for Crosby at this Lancs event and that is the biggest amount that i have ever known. Within that number we also had a very impressive number of finalists(really impressive considering it was a 6 lane pool!!) and medalist. Lancashire swimming have not publishing the final club positions yet, but you can absolutely guarantee that our nippers have again come out top against all their local rivals. It just shows how all the hard work is paying of and how well the kids are doing!!

Unfortunately Brian will now expect that every year.....so get a wriggle on!!

Arena League Final

Have you seen that bit on Apocalypse Now where Martin Sheen is lying on his bed, staring blankly at whirling fan on the ceiling in a drunken stupor, but instead of hearing helicopter gunships in his head, all Brian could hear was kids swimming and coughing!!! So when you see him at poolside and he has that far away look in his eye, please bear in mind that he was at the 2022 Arena League Final.........He's seen some things man..........he's seen SOME THINGS!!!!

To say that from sending our team sheet on Thursday to actually finishing the gala on Saturday looked like something out of the opening scene's of Saving Private Ryan might be taking it a little far but i'm sure you get the picture.........and don't even get us started on the route the SatNav took the driver on on the way there........DRAMA!!!

So unfortunately this is going to be another one of those reports where I didn't really see an awful lot of our swimmers as I was officiating on another lane......but I can make some stuff up and see how we go..?? To be honest with the amount of drop-outs and alterations to the team at poolside we where truly worried that this event might actually turn into a fight just to stay in the division for another season, but strong starts from Madison and Ethan went someways to calming our nerves and then the relay teams performed exactly has they had in every other round picking up 2 wins out of the 4 events. I would honestly put our 13yr and 15 yr relay teams up against anyone at the minute and be disappointed if we didn't come away with a win!! This put us in great position moving into the individual races and dispite Esme McEntyres nerves at doing the backstroke turn both her and Issac Arnold both brought home points. Tilly Stevens was up next and had a tough race in the breaststroke. Junior captain Will Irvine made light work of the competition in his race and brought home our 1st individual win which was very closely followed by Sean Flanagan in the 15yr backstroke we kept on adding points to the total nicking positions here and hitting even wins with Fin Arnold taking a easy win his backstroke, so when the 1st set of points tally were announced after 20 races there was a general air of confusion as dispite a really strong start we where judged to have amassed only enough points to stick us in DEAD LAST?!?! This must have been a mistake as we should have been at least 4th...... regardless, we still had a gala to swim. Moving into the business end of the gala we started to gain alot more ground and racked up quite a few more impressive 1st places with Dylan Maddican adding to Fin, Sean, Ethan and maddies great individual. We also started to turn 4 and 5th places into alot more 2nd and 3rd place but one swim that really stuck in the mind was Isaac Arnolds 2nd place finish on the breaststroke. To be honest I've always looked at Isaac as a backstroker like his brother and was just hoping for a solid swim without a DQ to keep a point or 2 totting up. The whistle went, he got up and the block.........and he was off like a rocket, He burst off the block in 1st place and was keeping all the swimmers in his wake right up to the turn. Coming down for the touch he was being to tire and one or 2 other kids where starting to make up some ground. Moving under the flags for the last 5 he was just about hanging on for the win but the other swimmers where gaining with each stroke. Three lanes touched at what looked like the same time and as we checked the timing board Isacc had managed to hold off all but 1 other swimmer to get as a unexpected but excellent 2nd place swim. Well done mate!!!
We always finish well on the relays and this time was no different. Our youngest swimmers were very unlucky with their swim but will take a lot of lessons into next season. Our 13yr and 15yr teams where outstanding as ever and both brought home wins for the team, but the open cannon was the most exciting race of the night. Straight from the dive Cockermouth took a slender lead, and kept adding a little more distance over the next 2 changeovers. For the final changeover we had Lazarus himself risen from dead for just this final. Luke Suarez had already had a great backstroke swim in the medley relay earlier and was looking to round the night off with a win. With Cockermouths final swimmer already in the water and just about to hit the halfway mark, Luke dove in. With his characteristic dive and transition he had already cut the Cockermouth lead in half and was only just about a body length behind on the turn. Another turn and great transition meant even more of the lead was eaten up and stroke by stroke he was catching. It was just as if the girl knew that she was going to lose if she didn't do something quickly and give it an extra something to hold Luke at bay, but it wasn't enough because stroke for stroke he was catching up!! Coming under the flags Cockermouth still just held a very slender lead, but as they both crashed into the wall we all had to check who got.......Cockermouth......JUST!!!! That was an incredible end to a panic-stricken and stressful..... but hugely entertaining gala.

Onto the final points -

1. Cockermouth = 247pts
2. Wrexham = 226pts
3. CROSBY = 208pts
4. Blackpool = 194pts
5. Stretford = 191pts
6. Leyland = 175pts
7. Prescott = 135pts
8. Hoylake = 123pts

I think that everyone can agree how FANTASTIC that result really is. We have not only beaten our local rivals, but we have also managed to out perform quite a few city clubs with huge performance squads. Hopefully we can take this momentum into the M&D's in the new year!!

Wirral Metro Christmas Gala

This is always a BONKERS gala but this year it seemed to be more bonkers than usual. I think it was easier to get Peter Kay tickets than it was to get a seat in the balcony over the weekend!!

None-the-less we marched fearlessly on as we ALWAYS do VERY WELL at this gala. We started off very well with both Aiden Kearney and Sean Flanagan doing us proud in the 400m free. Unfortunately Aiden has now fallen foul of the dreaded Wirral 14yr+ medal allocation.......always seems INCREDIBLY unfair to us that one!! Aahana Manglam and Tilly Stevens where next up in the ladies 200m I.M and again where both incredible. We continued with these great performances right thru the weekend with the kids constantly smashing their PB's and going backwards and forwards to the medals table. If it wasn't for Wirral Metros own swimmers they might as well have just poured all the medals in Brians bag!! We welcomed a few new swimmers into the Crosby team at this event and they where all BRILLIANT!! Ella Lambert was uncharacteristically nervous before her first event but after a few words from Brian and a clip around the ear she was amazing in both her 50m free and 100m I.M races. Jacob Leung was another newby and was completely "COOL BEANS BABY" for his 50 and 100m free races. But we really need to give a special mention to young Harry Davies. He was obviously nervous as he went up for his first ever competitive swim but at least he would be flanked by equally nervous lads on either side to push him on and help him out.......or so he thought!! God bless him if he didn't have to complete his first race all by himself with the eyes of the entire crowd boring into his tiny nervous body.......i was dying to laugh......but as a responsible adult(??) how could i?!?! Well up he got, skinny little legs trembling with each step and getting himself ready for the start, i was just praying he wouldn't false start. The referee blew her whistle to get him up and onto his block, blew again to get him ready to dive off and then BEEP......nothing......looking from side to side to check what the other none existant lads where upto...turns out....not a lot!! then he BURST into life!! BOOM, he was away. with the cheers of the crowd ringing in his ears he blew all the other swimmers out the water and even dispite giving everyone a 2sec headstart he STILL managed to get a 3sec PB, well done mate!! I can only imagine how nervous he was but he never let it show,

WELL DONE H.

You done yourself and your team mates proud!!!

We had some fantastic swims over the weekend with loads of PB's and medals earned and more importantly TONNES of Lancs times achieved. The kids are ridiculous with how flippant they are getting these times but they are incredibly hard to achieve. So even if the kids only got a single time, they should feel very proud of themselves!! From our younger ladies, Sofia Davies(Harrys big sis!!) and Annabelle Irvine hit lots of great swims and Lanc times and will be joined yet again by the Stevens sisters who where both incredible. We will have plenty of lads representing Crosby at Lancs as well, including Will Irvine who after completing his 400IM confirmed that he hates freestyle AND anyone that swims it.....harsh but fair mate??

I think we should give one of the lads a special mention. If you look at him in the photos he looks like an extra from a gangsta rap video in the 90's. He was fantastic all week and blew everyone out the water a with some brilliant swims. So a huge well done to Finlay Arnold for a great weekends swimming!

From a coaching point of view we where very happy with all the kids performances. Brian commented on quite a few occasions on how happy he was with the swims and how smooth and easy all the kids strokes looked. Another huge positive was our lack of DQ's. It's always a fairly DQ heavy gala and this event was no different. We certainly didnt get away scott free but we were certainly under 5 DQ's for the entire weekend......possibly the best out of EVERY club.

Huge well done to everyone that took part for the club

and carry on the great work after the hols!!

L&D Championships

Now this really will be a short one as i was officiating all weekend, so could only really watch one lane. But i will tell you what i did just about notice from the corner of my unbiased eye.

With "Wigan Future Stars Meet" re-scheduled to confusingly clash with the L&D's, we found ourselves short of a number of our normal kids. Regardless, we still had a fantastic squad of kids representing us. We also welcomed two newbies to add to the ranks and both swam REALLY well. Olivia Nugent had good swims on the Sunday but Artem Bolotov in particular really announced himself with lots of medals and finals and incredible swims all through the weekend. The ladies 400m freestyle were incredibly unlucky not to pull off a very unexpected win on the Saturday morning. Southport where given a proper scare and only narrowly beat our girls by a literal FINGERTIP to claim the title......UNLUCKY girls, although with the size of that shield i'll bet Brian was secretly MADE UP!!

We had great performances all weekend with Madison Rens doing plenty of damage during her brief visit. Sam Harrington's and Sianna Rens names where regually being called to the medal desk so i presume that they both had very good weekends.

All in all dispite missing a large number of swimmers, the kids where incredible. Hopefully we take this form into the last gala of the year and hopefully you all have your entries for Wirral in.

Huge well done goes out to every one who swam for and I hate Sam Harrington

......she knows what she did!! haha

M&D Round 1

Arena League Round 1

As coaches we went into this years competition with a little more trepidation than we are certainly used to. Recent performances from the kids have really given us a fantastic platform and the confidence to go with it, but we didn't do fantastic in last years competition and the quality of the opposition had markedly gone up this season!! Brian noted that this was the quietest Crosby coach journey that we had ever had, so maybe the nerves where getting to the kids as well.........or it was that a few of the parents had bunked on and didn't want to get shouted at by their parents.......who knows??

Maddison Rens and Ethan Kelly(Joanie & Chachi from now on!!) Got us off to a great start and certainly went a huge way in settling some nerves with great performances in the opening 200m IM race. Maddy always keeping the leaders in touching distances during her fly and back sections of the race and then really pushing on with her favourite breast and free sections of the race. Making it look easy at the end and scaring the life out of the leaders with a brilliant finish maddy managed an Incredible 3 place finish!! Ethan was up next and very similar to maddy......not a huge fan of the Fly and;the back section..... in fact I would go as far to say that Ethan HATES backstroke!!! But again he always kept the leaders close moving into the breast and free Ethan started to eat away at the leaders and making up positions. His usual fast finish was as brilliant as ever and was unlucky only to finish 4th In a very close event. Our youngest swimmers where up next and a little bit of nerves where creeping in, But they all put that behind them and got off to a great start I the opening rely race. Sophia Davies got them underway with a great start. Isaac(spelt right I think?!?!) Arnold up was next and with another great swim we where still with the pack. No one team was pulling away and we where right in there with them all the way. Adam Morgan followed and we where still there. Annie McEntyre was last in for the team and she was amazing. We managed to get a point from the race but with a bit of work with the kids, we'll definitely start to move up the finishing order of a very close race!!our 13 year old team and if I'm being honest I'd put them up against anyone!! Finlay Arnold got us of to a great start and handed Will Irvine(in his brand new racing pants) a very handy lead. Will took this lead and built on it with an amazing breaststroke leg. Handing over to Maeve Bunclark for the fly leg who was amazing at maintaining the lead when some of the lads got in and when Tilly Stevens got in we where all confident that we would being home our 1st win of the competition...... and they did...... in some style!! Bear in mind that it took us till about halfway thru the gala to trouble the top of the board last year, then you can imagine how happy the team was!! Our 15yr olds where up next and again they had a fantastic chance. In first was Luke Curnyn and the strength of competition certainly hadn't got any easier from last year, but yet again we where RIGHT up there!! Maddison Rens was in next and kept us In the pack with another good swim, passing over to Maisie Stevens who swam amazing to pass the final leg to a Casey Delaney. As per Casey's usual teenage amdram antics(.......not just Casey to be fair.....happily point the finger at all our teenagers!! Haha)he seemed in complete shock that he was even in the race and looked not best pleased that he might actually have to get into the water at all!! But I think it might have just been a cunning plan to shake the competition off?? Diving into the last leg, Casey immediately started to real in the races in the other lanes. Turning to home he was catching 2nd place with every stroke untill under the flags we where less than half a body length AND CLOSING!! As they touched the wall we were ONLY just edged out to an amazing 3rd place. Our open swimmers finished off the first set of relays with a very close run in the medley Tyler Delaney lead the chage with a great rum in the backstroke and passed over Caleb Griffiths for the breaststroke, again we were always within touching distances of the main group and it was all still to fight for when Sam Harrington took over fir the fly leg. Passing it over to Aahana Manglam and turning for the big run into home, all clubs where in with a shout!! In an incredibly close run thing we where very unlucky to be pushed out to 7th position in the end but a great race from all. Georgie Cameron and Isaac Arnold were our first individual swimmer into the water and they where both amazing in their first Arena league race. We need to remind Georgie that she is a fantastic swimmer and to try and relax a bit and she will come right on. Isaac is already coming right on and is starting to show signs of his brothers backstroke.......not a bad thing at all! Our 13yr breaststroke team came next with Tilly Stevens leading the line. Yet again thus was an close run thing, with Tilly nipping at the heals of the other swimmers. We can finally see the extra training starting to take shape as Tilly never let up for the entire race but despite a strong show was somehow beaten to seventh place. Super serious, new pants Will irvine took the next race and i don't know what those pants are made of, but he was........incredible!!!! Right from the dive, he NIALED it. From start to finish, he smashed it giving us our second FIRST place finish. Well done mate!!! Our 15yr backstrokers where next and building on her great swim and Wirral last week, Millie Griffiths had a good swim if only I could coax her back to Liverpool.......not happening unfortunately!! Sean Flanagan was in next and he pushed hard all the way. The race was tight from start to finish, with turns and transitions being key to final positions it's definitely an area we can improve on to pick up a few positions here and there. A strong race and a fifth place finish for Sean this time round. The points where announced for the first time and after 10 events and the City clubs had started to shape the first 4 positions, but we found ourselves in 5th place comfortably ahead of the other local clubs in the gala. Events 13 and 14 welcomed our open swimmers back to the pool and both Sam Harrington and Caleb Griffiths took on the 100m fly. Both swimmers looked good and pushed hard all the way to the end earning seventh and sixth place finishes. Sophia Davies was In next for the 11yr 50m fly. Pushing hard all the way she was always in with the leading pack but as we came into the last 10m you could see all the extra training kicking in, but still coming away in fourth place was an amazing race. Adam Morgan was drafted in at last minute to fill in and was amazing getting the team a very hard earned point to add to the tally. Our 13yr backstrokers came up next and Trudy Delaney hit a fantastic PB on the way to a useful point for the team. Finlay Arnold was devastating in the next swim......for 75m!! He let the rest of the field sort of semi catch up with him but was still far to strong and brought home another FIRST place to add to our tally. Keeping the points totting up was our 15yr fly team. Excellent races from Maisie Stevens and Luke Curnyn added more points to the tally. Our open team where not having it there own way but we nonetheless kept adding points with every race. Aahana Manglam and Tyler Delaney were next in the water with the backstroke and again kept the points adding up. The points where announced again and we where maintaining our position just behind the city clubs but comfortably ahead of the nearest local club. In next was Eilidh Bennet for her Arena league debut and another good swim from both her and Issac Arnold in the 11yr breaststroke kept the points adding up. Lexie Bruns took on the 100m fly for our 13yr old ladies and and swam an excellent race in for the gents was man of the moment Dylan Maddican. Dylan is absolutely smashing it in the pool at the minute and he absolutely kept up the momentum with our 4th FIRST place finish of the night. Leading from the word go, the result was never in doubt! Not to be out done Madison and Ethan were up next for our 15yr freestyle team. Madison with a fantastic swim notched up our fifth FIRST place finish and just missing out in an amazing race was Ethan. With Ethan lightning finish he always has a great chance and turning for the final 25m he built and built and built his pace right to the wall. An incredible race and only just missing out on the win coming home in a brilliant second place. More much needed points from our open age breaststroke swimmers with Sam Harrington and Luke Curnyn having great swims. Sofia Davies and Adam Morgan kept the points moving on the right direction. The points where announced again and we were still managing to keep our lead from our nearest local club rivals. Maeve Bunclark and Dylan Maddican swam next the 13yr 100m freestyle. Both had great swims with Maeve being narrowly pushed to fourth place while Dylan had a bit more luck and again was in brilliant form and brought home our sixth FIRST place finish. Wrapping up our 15yr olds was Madison Rens and Ethan Kelly in the 100m breaststroke. Maddy was incredible from start to finish pulling ahead from the start and really building on that lead for the entire race leaving no doubt who would bring home the win. Another Madison swim and another Madison win making it seven FIRST places. Ethan didn't quite have this one his own way with some top breaststrokers in the northwest on with him he was always going to have a race on his hands!! From start to finish this was a proper race, Ethan pushing the leaders with every stroke and catching with every turn and as they turned into the final lap it could have to any of swimmers!! This time it wasn't Ethan race and although he pushed them with every stroke, he just could catch them and had to settle for a brilliant third place! Finishing the individual races where Sam Harrington and Casey Delaney in the open age freestyle. A brilliant 5th & 6th finish came in handy for the points tally and set us up fantastically for the relays. Our 11yr medley team got us underway with a brilliant performance and where unlucky not to finish higher in their final race. Our 13yr free team where up next and REALLY looked I the mood!! Finlay got them away and to be honest, after that, there was NO catching them. Incredible performance from the team all night and they brought home our eigth FIRST place finish!! Not to be outdone the 15yr medley team were eager to finish their own night with a bang. Sean Flanagan got the team off to a great start before passing over to Madison Rens for the breaststroke. It was all neck and neck across the pool at this point and still anyone's race. Luke Curnyn was up next and a few of the teams started to pull away to fight out for first place. After another great swim, Luke let Maisie Stevens crash in the final leg and a fantastic swim by Maisie lead us into a second place finish. Our open age freestyle team rounded off the night and the sixth place finish didn't quite do the race justice. It was one of the closest races of the night with the lead switching with every length and swimmer. We were always in the fight right to the end and can feel a little gutted with that final position. So as the nippers got ready for the coach we waited for the scores to be announced. As to be expected, the first 4 places were taken up by our big city rivals who all boast fantastic swimmers across all ages and in every stroke. But in the smaller local clubs, we had not only managed to maintain our kead but we had built on it and extended it quite considerably in the last quarter of the gala. With a few tighter turns and quicker take overs, who knows what the kids can do?

As we waited for the points, we all the coaches got together and said how immensely proud we all where of the entire team. Every member of the team was exceptional on Saturday night, from our Arena league debutant in the 11yr old team all the way thru to our golden oldies......18yr olds. It was fantastic to see all members cheering their teammates on in every event and with seven FIRST place finishes in the gala, I actually think we got more wins on Saturday than we did in the entire league LAST year!! Huge mention must go out to a few members of the team who stood out in what was a brilliant team performance. The entire 13yr old team will give any club a run for its money and Madison Rens and Dylan Maddican where unstoppable all evening so huge well done to you all

The points!

1. City of Salford = 271pts
2. Warrington = 246pts
3. Southport = 230pts
4. Trafford Metro = 208pts
5. CROSBY = 164pts
6. Wrexham = 143pts
7. Stretford = 129pts
8. Prescot = 112pts

Wirral Autumn Met

Session 1

It feels like an absolute age since we have last done one of these and if I'm 100% honest, I was quite looking forwards to seeing how the nippers are getting on........and then you get there and that weird sticky heat that only Wirral can provides hits and you remember.......God I've got 2 days of this!!!! Haha

Anyway...... All the kids looked in great form and eager to get the show on the road. Getting the show on the road where the Harrington sisters.....like the Waltons but with swimming. Jess got us underway and was the victim of an over eager judge(....who DQ's someone doing a 400IM!!) While Sam was unlucky to finish just outside the medals on 4th place. Up next was super serious Will and new boy Madican. He's been with us for 12mths now....but its stuck, sorry....not sorry🤷. These two are really building up a fantastic rivalry that really pushes the pair of them on. From the start, Dylan went off like a rocket and I've got to be honest I thought, there's NO WAY he can keep that pace and Will will start to claw back at his lead.....didn't happen!! Dispite a fantastic BRONZE medal performance Will struggled to make headway on Dylan incredible GOLD medal race. I asked Will later if he was bothered. He said "No, i hate freestyle and i hate everyone that does it!!.........fair point, well made??? Rounding off our interest in the 400 free was super duper Ethan. As ever, he was incredible and inspite of knocking nearly 10secs of his entry time he was still not best pleased.......bet his mum and dad can't wait for Christmas!! Haha

The girls 50m breaststroke was next and we had some performances. Standing out was Annabel Irvine with a brilliant swim and huge 8sec PB!! The lads returned with the 50 fly next and again PBs where getting battered all over the place. Our team of terrifying 13yr old lads where at it again with Finlay Arnold claiming a BRONZE and Mr Madican claiming the GOLD spot. 100m freestyle for the ladies saw lots of Crosby swimmer's back in the water. Hiedi Lindley got us off to a great start with a PB and Madison Rens finished off with her first GOLD medal of the event. Gents 100m breaststroke saw every lad smash their PBs. So a huge well must go to Adam Morgan, Harvey Gilsenan, and Nicolas Castineria. Topping it all off was Finlay Arnold who brought home a SILVER medal and the man the myth the legend Oscar Donnelly. Not only wooing us with his smooth swimming in the pool but also snake hipping it out the pool with his kenny G rifts on his sexy sax......think his dad would prefer Kenny Dalglish though?? Annabel Irvine and Aahana Manglam where you next for the 200m backstroke. To be honest, we all thought Aahana was I'm the wrong heat or it had just been a while since she'd done the 200...and sure enough she was incredible, taking a lead from the start and looking like she was cruising from start to finish(not once looking behind her before she went for her turn!!) She smashed her PB by almost 8secs. In the same heat Annabel was having an incredible race as well. Taking on the rest of the field and pushing hard with every lap. It was another race where I thought our nipper had gone off to fast and would die at the end but no, lap after lap Annabel kept it up and all that hard work was rewarded with a great PB and a GOLD medal to show off. Millie Griffiths finished the girls off and was quite pleased with her time in the end. Suffering with a few injuries and illness just before the break, Millie was expecting to put a huge amount of time onto her PB, bit she didn't........and she was glad........so I was glad.......easy!! As we don't have parents that dislike there kids enough to put them into the 200 fly(yet!!) We finished out the morning session with the ladies 100m IM and yet again we where very well represented. We had some great swims from the ladies with Jess and Sam Harrington managing new PBs and Madison Rens picking up an obligatory GOLD medal(well done maddy) the best swim has to go to Sofia Davies who knocked an incredible 20secs off her PB and was unlucky to finish just outside the medals......they'll come kid, don't worry!!

Dinnertime!!! You guessed it, we where STARVING!! After the feast of 1 toasted bagel before we left the house many hours ago had disappeared and started to leave a empty space in my soul. We started the customary pilgrimage to chopstix in the shopping center. On the way there, I quitely noted to myself the abundance of new fauna scurrying around bins, flying in the sky and clamouring across fences with gay abandon and thought......that's strange!!! As we made our way towards the food court, Moo could hardly contain her her excitement!! I'll get the large rice box with salt n pepper chicken, Korean chicken and sweet and so......... oh no, the shutters were down and the lights where out in her beloved chopstix!! We could see the rage building inside and comments like" I'm sure its just shut today" where met with an icy glare.......moo was not happy!! Burger King was a poor substitute and we had to placate her with assurances that it would be open tomorrow......meanwhile that nagging suspicion that something was amiss wouldn't go away???

Session 2

Just to ensure that everyone's dinner was properly digested, we got underway with the ladies 200m freestyle. Tilly Stevens got the ball rolling and absolutely smashed it. Knocking almost 4secs off her PB with a very confident swim, it was great to see that the additional training is starting to pay off and very unlucky to finish just outside the medals. Madison Rens finished of the ladies interest and was in the unusual position of not being the favourite.......and it didn't bother.......obvs!!! Going of from the start at a great pace she had a constant annoying shadow in the lane next to her. Moving thru the 50m and then the 75m the girl the the next lane continued to keep pace and was starting to make it look like a race. As they both turned for the 2nd part of the race it started to take its usual feel. While the other girl started to feel the pace, maddy just kicked on and started to increase her lead turn after turn. Finishing with an 2.05 3sec PB was a fantastic achievement and the GOLD medal rounded it off nicely. Both our 13yr old boys where incredible in the 200m I.M Nic Castineria and Oscar Donnelly both smashed thru their PBs and brought home medals for Crosby. Both in the same heat they both pushed each other on but it was Oscar that came away with the GOLD at the end of a great and Nic taking the BRONZE medal home. Annabel Irvine was the star performer for the ladies 50m backstroke team adding a SILVER medal to her haul with a great swim. A huge shout to Eva Robinson who knocked a very impressive 3secs off her PB!! The lads 50 freestyle was next. Always a popular event as even I could probably knock 50m out.......although please don't ask me to prove it!! Every lad that took part knocked time of their PBs. Great swims from Aidan Kearney and Oscar Donnelly saw them breaking through the 30sec barrier, but topping them all with an incredible 27sec GOLD medal swim was Finlay Arnold. Absolutely fantastic swimming lads!! Aahana was our sole competitor in the 100 fly and as ever a great swim and a great PB! With the day slowly drawing to it end and the lure of my couch getting stronger with each passing event we moved onto the lads 100m backstroke. Getting the lads of to a phenomenal start was Adam Morgan who entered with a time of 2.22, but went on to absolutely destroy that time by hitting 1.44.03 in his heat. Now I'm no mathematical genius, but even I know that that's LOADS..... well done mate!!! But yet again Finlay Arnold came up with the goods on his favourite backstroke. A 3sec PB and 1.07 swim was enough for him to claim another GOLD medal.

In days gone by that would be it for Crosby. We would look into the desperate eyes of the other coaches as we quickly......... even guiltily cleared away our things. Silently mouthing our heartfelt......... sorry, sorry, sorry to them as they settled in for that 1 swimmer who thought it would be a great idea to do a 1500m.......just to see if they could?!?! Well now, WE are those coaches, WE are the ones with silent PLEADING eyes..........help us.......PLEASE HELP US..........

Sean Flanagan was our special little soldier for this monstrous endeavour and he had a great time swimming up and down and up and down and up and do......you get the idea! Joking aside, Sean was amazing. It really is a hard race and considering he has never done it in competition before and didn't know how to pace himself it was even more impressive when he managed to knock 15secs off his time. Well done mate!!

Session 3

Ready, willing and very able Aidan Kearney got Sunday underway with an incredible performance in the 400 I.M. Not only by taking a fraction of his PB.......40secs, but also by starting us off with a GOLD medal. Sam Harrington had a great swim in 400 freestyle with a PB and a BRONZE medal for her troubles. The lads 50 breaststroke followed and yet again medals and PBs littered the Crosby kids. Harvey Gilsenan was first to the medal table with a well earned BRONZE medal. Not to be outdone was our 13yr old lads. Both Oscar Donnelly and new boy Maddican or enjoying some incredible form at the minute and both are getting stronger and stronger with every competition!! Oscar chased Dylan all the way and was only beaten by .05 to the GOLD medal. The ladies 50 fly was next and again the girls where incredible. With such strong competition medals where always going to be hard to come by but they all still managed plenty of PBs. Dylan Maddican was at it again in the 100 free. An amazing race saw him pull in another BRONZE medal but was so very inlucky not to break the 1min mark, missing out by .32 of a sec!! The Stevens family took center stage for Crosby in the 100m breaststroke. Both Tilly and Maisie brought home PBs and BRONZE medals for their dad. Barley dry from his 100m freestyle race, Aidan was back in the water for his 200m backstroke race.......someone needs to have a word with this kid over race management!! He showed NO signs of fatigue as he again hit a PB and a SILVER medal to add a very impressive collection amassed over the weekend. The final race of the session was the lads 100m I.M. we had 3 lads competing and with both Hosh Bradburn and Nic Castineria knocking off over 15secs and nic being particularly unlucky not to bring home a medal. But then we come to poor old Oscar who's time it would appear that his mum plucked out of THIN AIR!!! Poor lad was put in the golden lane and was swimming against lads that looked like aquaman!! He never let that bother him though and was never very far from the leaders, nonetheless it was a bit to much to ask for the lad.......but, for all that effort he did get his reward and came home with the GOLD medal, it just might take a few more years for him to get a PB though!!

Dinnertime.....was not looking forward to this! That nagging suspicion was replaced with dread as soon as we pulled on our hoodie and went on the hunt for viddles. Moo had done some research during the morning session and it turns out that chopstix is closed.......for EVER!!! The look that my little angel gave me as she read the text.......have you ever seen the omen......when they drive little Damien towards that big church for the first time......well, it was something like that! You'd think I was the bloke from the RSPCA that looked into the decline in native Birkenhead wildlife!! Well, she settled on another Burger King and a apple crumble and custard for after tea and a steely gaze into my very soul!!

Session 4

I'm getting sick of singing this lads praise but here I go again. New boy Maddican smashed the 200 free!! From the start he was off and it was a case of not IF, but just how much time he would smash off his time. Coming home on a 2.09 he destroyed his PB by almost 30secs bringing home a SILVER medal I the process!!! Aidan Kearney had to take a back step for this one as he only managed to knock 6secs off his PB and collect the BRONZE medal......really quite scary those 13yr lads!! Ethan Kelly wrapped up the event with another GOLD medal and eas agonisingly close to breaking 2mins barrier by 01.18 secs.......amazing mate!!! Up first for the ladies was 200I.M. Annabel Irvine and Jess Harrington got us underway with mixed fortune's. Jess managed a great 5sec PB while Annabel came home with the BRONZE medal, so everyone's happy.....I think??? Some great performances up next for the lads in the 50 backstroke with Isacc Arnold not being out done by his brother and swimming his way into the m&d team with a great performance. Oscar Donnelly was at it again and walked away with another SILVER medal for his swim. The ladies 50 free was next and amongst some fantastic performances we manged to hit some hard earned PBs for Eva Robinson, Sofia Davies, Millie Griffiths and Maeve Bunclark. With Maeve snagging the GOLD medal, I think we can call that a job well done!! Nic Castineria was our only swimmer on the 100 fly and he hit a great PB. The ladies day was finished up with tge 100 backstroke and again we are lucky to have so many great swimmers. Both Annabel Irving and Eva Robinson hit great Pbs with Eva knocking 7rcs off her time but it was Annabel that came home with a final SILVER medal to round off an incredible weekend. Harvey Gilsenan was our only swimmer for the 200 breaststroke and he didn't let us down!! Dispite him not having his best swim of the weekend, it was still good enough to earn him his final SILVER medal of a very good weekend!

Again with the daft races Sean........again!! Haha only kidding. This one's easy its only 10mins each race......EASY!!

To be fair, he SMASHED it!! Again, with no real training on the event but still a 30sec PB and our final SILVER medal for the weekend!!

A HUGE well done to wvery kid that swam for us this weekend. Everyone of you absolutely nailed it. You might not of all brought home medals and one or two of you didn't manage to hit your PBs. But EVERYONE swam the best that they could. As coaches we couldnt be happier with you all......... But, we have all noticed that a lot of you are coming away from great races and not being happy with your times. From a coaching perspective this is absolutely ridiculous!! Even when your knocking time off( sometimes HUGE amounts!!) your still coming away from your races dissapionted. Every race is an opportunity to learn from mistakes and identify possible places to improve. The amount of pressure you are putting on yourselves to achieve certain times or swim in some way is ridiculous. You are all incredible swimmers and you should all take a lot of pride from how you are all getting on.

Don't we'll let you know if there is something that needs working on!!Untill then, MAKE THE MOST OF SOME GREAT SWIMS!!!

Training

Well its time to get back to it people!!

Quick reminder that training will resume on

Thursday 8th September at 7pm

for our Top Squad members,

with all members returning on

Sunday 11th September

See you all there!!

Nationals

An incredible bronze medal for Ethan in the 400m Freestyle. Got to be honest, i thought he's messed it up after the first 200m!! but in true Ethan style he powered through after 200m and was unlucky not to get a silver!!

Well done Ethan, AMAZING end to an AMAZING season!!

Our 2 stars performers, So many great swims and so many finals. ABSOLUTELY

INCREDIBLE

you two!!

I know that i speak for everyone when i wish these two all the luck in the world as they go for Nationals this week. They have both been incredible for us all year and now will go and smash it again at Nationals

Ethan Kelly

400m Freestyle

200m Freestyle

200m Breastroke

200m I.M

100m Freestyle

Madison Rens

200m Freestyle

200m Breaststroke

100m Frestyle

200m I.M

These 2 are absolutely incredible!!

Just getting to this event means that there are only 25 other kids in their age group in the whole of Great Britain RIGHT NOW, that are good enough to get in the pool with them at Ponds Forge.

They should be absolutely buzzing with confidence as both of them are in great form. Hopefully they can take that confidence and form into a final or possibly even a medal as they are both capable of ANYTHING!!

Good luck to you both from us all and see you soon!!

Fun Night

Who is that kid and why does he look like the camera is about to steal his soul??

Answers on a postcard and send to Cros......

After yet another game of pool volley ball descended into farce, Kaia took her ball and left!

Proper action shot......I'm getting quite good at this!!

No, you go

No, YOU go

NO, YOU go

NO, YOU GO

.........oh god, ONE of you GO!!

There where kids that we hadn't seen for MONTHS that manged Lazarus like recoveries just to show up for fun night. I wouldnt mind.......it's not THAT MUCH FUN?!?! haha

Freya Doran

Now this is getting ridiculous!!

I'm starting to think Andy and Freya are just driving around lakes and rivers looking for unguarded podiums for Freya to stand on.......i mean, she's not even got her wet-suit on in this one!!! haha

Yet again Our open water nutter has smashed it!!

Female champion 2022

Open age group

3km Big Welsh Swim!!

Absolutely amazing yet again Freya!!

M&D Final

Now THAT was the perfect ending to our season!!

We always knew that this gala would be a completely different kettle of fish from the qualifying rounds and we where right!! The other teams looked stronger....the other kids looked bigger.......the other coaches all looked like Pepe Gaurdiola and Jurgen Klopp had had a secret love child and then manifested in swim coach form!! But the kids never flinched, they kids were absolutely incredible from start to finish. From the first relay they just grew in strength and and from the time 13yr ladies entered the fray we didnt lose another relay. The group of kids that we can put into these relays is really impressive and there isn't a week link at any point and the nippers that we can draft in at a moments notice is incredible, as demonstrated by Nic Castineria who arrived as a reserve on the day only to be called straight into action due to one of the lads late injury(not a bad sub to bring on by the way!!). By the time the relays where over we had manged to give ourselves a very healthy points cushion which we knew we'd need as the other teams have some very strong individual swimmers that would start to eat away at our lead if we weren't on top of our game. Starting the individuals really well, we pushed on with great swims from the usual suspects. Finlay Arnold(sporting a pair of white Crocs no less) Madison Rens, Ethan Kelly and ladies captain Sam Harrington all picking up valuable wins but as i say, we didn't have it all our way. Despite some great swims from the kids we couldn't manage maximum points in every race because of some really good swimmers in the other teams. Most of the time we always managed to finish inside the top 3 positions so we were never too far away and always kept the points toting up. After 24 events we had a healthy 7 point lead on Prescot, which was just as well as they where starting to eat away at our lead. We just about managed to keep them away with more great swims from the team and some exceptional 1st placed swims so by 40 events the lead was down to only 3 points.......but we where just about to start the relays again!! The kids where ready and they rose to the challenge yet again!! Starting with the 11yr girls, who took a very unlucky tip of the finger.... half a millimeter...... tippy tonguey 2nd place finish and we just grew and grew and grew taking 7 1st places on the bounce !! The kids made it look easy at the end but it was by no means the case. Prescot and Bridgefield have some incredible swimmers in their ranks and Everton have a really talented group of young swimmer in the group, so the nippers have done amazing to win the M&D final for the 2nd year on the bounce.

On to the final points

1st Crosby - 231pts

2nd Prescot - 215pts

3rd Bridgefield - 175pts

4th Halton - 161pts

Joint 5th - Garston & Everton - 133pts

We really are lucky to have such a fantastic group of kids swimming for us right now. With INCREDIBLE senior swimmers like Luke Suarez and both our Captains Sam Harrington and Caleb Griffiths leading the lines backed up by EVERY swimmer in both the 13yr and 15yrs squads and with our youngest swimmers learning with every event that they take part in we are looking strong for the years to come. But NONE of this would have been possible without the support of the entire Crosby swim team. Even if you weren't lucky enough to make the squad this year, you have pushed every member of the team to be the best that they can be and you have done it in the best way possible, with a smile........well mostly, not sure if we manged a smile out of

SUPER SERIOUS WILL??

Just remember that there is ALWAYS next season and EVERY swimmer has the chance to claim a spot in the team!!

Wirral Metro Summer Sprints

I think its going to be best if i'm just honest with everyone and say that i wasn't exactly at my best for this one. I was at a 21st birthday party the night before(dont get invited to too many of those anymore!!) an lets just say i was in a celebrating mood after what the kids managed a few hours earlier(love it when i can blame someone else). Lets just say that the alarm going off at 7am WAS NOT MY FRIEND!!!! I dont need to say that the kids where incredible and the amount of medals they won was incredible. I truly believe that some clubs hate seeing Crosby represented so well at these galas. Sorry that this one is so short but dispite me thinking that i would start to come around after dinner .....i...... was........wrong and spent most of the afternoon session feeling sorry for myself at poolside. Nippers nialed it though and i've put some photo's on the other page.

Promise i'll be better for the next one!!

Freya Doran

Our very own open water nutter has been at it again!!

This weekend Freya Doran competed in the Ivan Percival open water 1 mile swim. Freya is absolutely smashing it at the minute and has took that form into the Open water where she manged to beat away all the competition and come away with a open age first place win to become the 2022 champion!!

Well done Freya!!!

Crosby Club Champs

Oh My God,

How brilliant are our KIDS?!?!?!

We have stuck the whole thing on the back burner for the last few years for obvious reasons, but we where really keen to get it going again as it NEVER fails to deliver. The younger kids are ALWAYS terrified at the start asking about one MILLION questions-

Where do i go?

When is my race?

How long for my race?

Whats my race?

Whats that man doing with that thing?

Why do the older kids smell like that???

While the older ones are all super cool and just sitting there chatting away to their mates and eating flapjacks .....but you know in their tiny teenage minds they're thinking that there's NO WAY that Jimmy's going to beat me this time......last time was DEFO a fluke!! Cant forget the middle ones obvs..think they enjoy it the most though. We had some excellent heats in both the boys races and i we always have some surprise performers who come out of nowhere and really steal the show but as ever the the Jnr squad 100m I.M kids really stole the show. Every kid was terrified with the prospect of 100m I.M. Not 1 of them thought that they could possibly complete all 4 different lengths and some of them where convinced that they where

GOING TO DIIIEEEEE,

if they had to do it(drama queens!!). Every one of them where incredible! Cheered on from start to finish by the older kids at the pool end and by the parents on the balcony the noise was brilliant.

A HUGE well done goes out to all that took part in the event and we will hold the results until our presentation afternoon/evening on Sunday 31st July at Marine Football Club.

Before i go i would just like to say a Massive thank you to everyone that helped out poolside to make the event happen. Couldn't have done it without the help everyone and a special big thanks to our very own Crosby MC Simon Donnelly who kept you all entertained from the balcony

THANKS EVERYONE!!!!

I have taken a few photo's and stuck them on the gala page for you all to look at if your interested

M&D Round 3

The early start didn't effect the nippers in any way whatsoever. We kicked off as usual with the relays and with 8 events we manged 6 wins and that really set the tone for the day. We are incredibly lucky at the minute that we have real strength right through every member of the team and real competition behind those kids always pushing for a chance, but what makes us even stronger is the kids team spirit. Every member shouts for every swimmer(.....actually think some of our swimmers where supporting some of their mates from other clubs as well!!! Haha) and there is a real sense of pride to wear that blue hat!! There isn't much to report apart from the excellent swims from our youngest members. Both the boys and girls welcomed new kids into their ranks with Eilidh(Pronounced A-lee.......???? Its another one of those beautiful Irish names that there is no way on gods earth you could ever pronounce without the help of a disapproving parent looking on.......like Siobhan....... and Niamh!!!) Eilidh looked right at home as we tried her out on the breaststroke and Rock Stevenson(his real name is Finlay Bivon but we decided at his trial that we already had enough Finlays so we decided to rename him Rock Stevenson......because it was dead cool!!) Who would have to wait until the freestyle relay for his chance. The older kids absolutely smashed their own relays with both our 12/13yrs &14/15yrs boys and girls teams really REALLY impressing. We moved into the individuals again with a very comfortable lead and we just continued to build up our points tally with every race. Again, our youngest swimmers are getting more and more confident and our older kids like Luke Surarez and Lottie Rens(who had to be reminded what the scary big wobbly blue thing was before we could tempt her in for warm up!) are still just smashing It. There really wasn't an awful lot to report, our kids done exactly what Brian expected them to do. I am going out of my way not to mention any kid in particular as everyone swam really well, but there are defo 2 kids who swims stick in my head and I feel that I would be doing them a great disservice if i didn't mention them.

The first one is Issac Arnold who made a welcome return to the team in the 10/11yr backstroke. Not happy with the standard 50m race and as Issac is probably one of the nicest lads you will ever meet, he decided to give all the other lads in his race a fighting chance by weaving from side to side of his lane and coving almost an extra 10m in the process!! This was a very bold strategy from young Issac that this time, didn't quite pay off......this time!!

Next was New Boy Madican, who has been swimming incredible recently. He capped off a fantastic performance at regionals and lots of expectations with arguably a much heavier burden to carry? With our super serious jnr captain Will Irvine pulling a sicky and only being able to manage stopwatch duties at the end of the lane it was down to Dylan to step into Will curiously big shoes and take on butterfly responsibilities. I'm told that at poolside he was pumping himself up right up until the race started and he may have gone a little to far. As the whistle blew to get the swimmers ready, Dylan was unwilling to wait till the starter blew that pesky whistle to start the race and would start when HE was ready!!! Unfortunately, the ref was unimpressed with Dylans eagerness and would insist that he started with all the other kids.......mizzbag!! Dylan managed to put that behind him and finished the race with an excellent 3rd place finish.

So yet another fantastic performances from all our swimmers. Our youngest swimmers are getting stronger and stronger with every gala that they compete in and are starting to to pinch positions in relays as well as there own individual races. While our senior swimmers are just smashing It. We should comfortably make the A final in a few weeks, but I'm sure that Brian will drum into the kids that we certainly shouldn't get complacent with these wins and we really need to focus and be in the right frame of mind when we get poolside for the gala.... which after watching the kids and how they swim, I'm sure they will!!

Well, on to the points

1st CROSBY - 260pts

2nd Bridgefield - 202pts

3rd Prescott - 191pts

4th Penguins - 173pts

5th Bootle - 130pts

.........Absolutley AMAZING!!!!

Strength & Conditioning Training

The kids from FAME had just arrived from class for the final practice for the BIG end year dance competition.

Remember Fred

It's heels, click, spin, twist, jump and THEN press up!!

Caleb You know that the whole number rest on your shoulders. When you do the ROBOT the roof will come ofa dis place, baby!!

And........

JAZZ HANDS.....

NAILED IT!!!!

M&D round 2

Well that was impressive!!

Missing a few key swimmers and welcoming in some new squad members we weren't banking on a performance like that. We started off, as ever with the medley relays. Our 11yr old girls showed a few nerves at the start with Sofia Davies particularly worried about her backstroke finish. Well, nothing to worry about!! Brilliant legs from Nancy Humphreys and Esme James gave Annabel Irvine a chance to take a run at the leaders and she very nearly pulled it off as well with an incredible 2nd place to get the ball rolling. Debut swimmer Warren Jensen got the lads11yrs underway and manged to keep the lads in the race before passing onto Luke Blackburn for the breast and Toby Dwyer in the fly. When we get Toby pushing that kick he's going to fly through the water!! Adam Morgan charged down the final 50 and the lads where unlucky to finish in 5th place. Our 13yr old where up next and both have got incredible teams Trudy Delaney got the ladies off to a great start and handed the rest of team a lead that they never let slip. Tilly Stevens passed onto Freya Doran in the fly, leaving jnr captain Maeve Bunclark smash in our 1st win of the event. Not to be out done the lads took up where the girls left off!! An incredible backstroke from Finlay Arnold again gave the lads a great lead that jnr captain Will Irvine opened with the breaststroke before passing onto Nic Castineria for the fly and finally Dylan Maddican romped home for an emphatic win!! Not to let the lads bask in the sunshine for to long, the 15yr old girls recorded an even more impressive win in the very next event. Aahana Manglam got the ladies off to a flying start(tell you what though, if she looks for that wall one more time I'm gonna........??) Elise Bruns flew down the lane next for the breaststroke and passing the lead to Maisie Steven for the fly and an excellent 25m meant Rebekah Duncan didn't have yo push to hard but none the less she nailed it giving us an amazing 3 wins on the bounce!! The lads were in next to show us what they had and to be fair the 15yr old lads are developing into an INCREDIBLE team!! Sean Flanagan got off with a great backstroke race with Luke Curnyn making his debut swim in the breaststroke leg. Passing the fly leg off to James Rogers it was neck and neck between 3 lanes. James managed to keep the lads in contention and passed us off to Casey Delaney I a very good position. Casey dove I and immediately started to eat away at the competitions slender lead, but with him only having 25m to catch up it was always going to be tough ask. But coming under the flags Casey had closed the space and it was anyone's race.......but not ours THIS time. An incredible race was rewarded with an vet close 3rd place for the lads. Winding up the relays were our open age swimmers. We were missing quite a few swimmers from our open age group.. .....you'd think they all had something better to do......don't worry, none of them had anything better to do, just work!! Sianna Rens got us off to a flying start in the backstroke and passed a great lead onto Madison Rens who does what she does best and opened up a healthy lead for Elise Bruns to push on in the fly with ladies Captain Sam Harrington bringing home a comfortable win. Not to be outdone, the lads got off to an amazing start with Luke Suarez out like a rocket for the backstroke start before passing onto Luke Curnyn for the breaststroke. It was all very very tight and George Spence kept us well in contention with the fly leg before Tyler Delaney brought us home for an Incredibly close 2nd place!! Annabel Irvine got our swimmers underway in the individuals with the 50m freestyle. A great swim from start to finish saw her bring home a well earned first place. Adam Morgan was up for the boys and he is growing in confidence with every swim he does!! A very good swim was an awful lot closer than the 4th place finish would have you believe. Our 13yr backstrokers where up next and Trudy Delaney got off to great start with a brilliant transition and broke out with a slight lead. Keep the pace fast she hit the turn still in first place and again managed to break out with a slight lead. As we got under the flags the group gad closed in on trudy and she was very narrowly pipped for the win but still managed a fantastic 2nd place. Aidan Kearney was making his M&D debut and showing all the confidence that his recent form deserves he got off to a great start. Always in contention and always right up with the pack he gave a final push in the final 15m and broke away. Racing under the flags it was very close and a great debut was rewarded with another 2nd place for the 13yr olds. The 15yr old breaststrokers where up next and Rebekah Duncan took to the blocks for the ladies and Zien Mukhtar up for the gents.Again, great swims from both saw well up with the winners and both managed a 3rd place finish. Our open age fly swimmers were next up. Sam Harrington was amazing in her race and led from start to finish. Luke Surarez was up next for the lads and another great start put right out in front. It was all closing up around the 25m and another good turn saw him just leading again. As the race was closing and the swimmers where under the flags it was impossible to pick a winner but at the touch we just missed out on win but a great 2nd place was good enough! Our young'uns were back I next with both Sofia Davies and Noah Goodwin and both had great swim despite some early nerves from Sofia and Noah asking directions halfway through his swim. Great swims from both Maeve Bunclark and Nic Castineria in the 13yr old breaststroke gave us another second and 1st place to add to our tally with Nic leading from start to finish and Maeve always running tight to the leader. Elise Bruns and Luke Curnyn were in next for the the 15yr fly. Excellent swims from both kept the points moving in the right direction. Sam Harrington took to the pool next and much like her fly swim, she was incredible and easily won her race. Casey Delaney didn't quite have it all his own way and in a very competative race with some very good swimmers he managed a very impressive 3rd place. In next was our youngest swimmers, gaining more and more confidence with each race Nancy Humphreys and Luke Blackburn kept the points moving in the right direction. Our jnr captains were up next and both Maeve Bunclark and Will Irvine came in with excellent 3rd place finishes. Maisie Steven's was in fine form with the 14yr freestyle and came in in a very useful 2nd place...Good job Brian's got more faith in her than she has!! Casey took to the blocks for the boys and again a very competitive set of lads kept this race very tight. All through tbe race there was nothing to pick from about three lanes. With the lead changing half a dozen times on the home stretch it was impossible to pick the winner! But someone did and this time Casey had to settle for 3rd place. Sianna Rens was back in great form for the 100m backstroke. Not In the greatest swimming place and a little low on confidence recently.......well not on this performance. Few. Start to finish, Sianna was immaculate. Great start, great turns and transitions and great swimming in between. It was nice to see Sianna back I this type of form again. Tyler Delaney followed in next and really pushed a great race against some very strong swimmers giving us another second place finish. Esme James and Toby Dwyer finished thing up for our 11yr old individual swims. Not quite sure where we keep getting these amazing fly swimmers from but with Esme getting a first and Toby JUST being pipped into second, they are definitely keeping our fly places well stocked. Tilly Stevens and Oscar Donnelly wrapped it up for the 13yr with the 50 free. Tilly was again unlucky and had to console herself with a second place, while Oscar in his M&D debut was unlucky not to match Tilly in a very close race. Either way, we'll certainly take a third place. Always strong on the backstroke we had Aahana Manglam crushing everyone for the 15yr olds and making tbe win look easy, while Sean Flanagan still isn't sure how we never took the win in his race. Madison Rens was last in for the ladies and she completely owned the pool when she got out. Another win chalked up for Maddy in the breaststroke. Luke Curnyn was up against some VERY tough competition in his final individual but length after length he kept tbe leaders within sight and brought away a very useful 3rd place. We were already in the lead by this point but what the kids done in the next 8 races was incredible!!

• 11yr free girls relay - FIRST
• 11yr free boys relay - THIRD
• 13yr free girls relay - FIRST
• 13yr free boys relay - FIRST
• 15yr free girls relay - FIRST
• 15yr free boys relay - FIRST
• Open free ladies relay - FIRST
• Open free gents relay - FIRST

Absolutely incredible......and they weren't finished yet!! There really isn't much I can say about the ladies cannon. From the first swimmer to the last swimmer they all blew their competition away and romped a very easy win. The boys however did not have it all their own way. I'm still not even sure that I can take that we didn't take tbe win away with us?!?! It wS certainly more interesting than the girls event with the lead continually changing hands on each length. We were right up for the win right the way but so where 3 other teams!! I'm told that we missed out by millimetres.......Still don't believe it though!! Haha

1. Crosby - 193pts
2. Halton - 173pts
3. Prescott - 159pts
4. Penguins - 131pts
5. Bootle - 92pts

These kids absolutely smashed it ......again!!! With a few of our first choice swimmers unavailable we called in a few of our subs........these "subs" would be first choice swimmers at most other clubs and they all showed absolutely why. Iur youngest swimmers are getting more and more confident with every race and event and finally we continue to be able to attract some very talented swimmers who really seem to enjoy swimming with us. All in all we ate looming very good fir the next round. Incredible performance from EVERYONE!!

Wirral Metro"OMIGONE" Gala

Saturday

I've got to be honest I didn't really see an awful lot of our swimmers as I was officiating so ill keep it to bullet points of what I did see

1. Phoebe dived in and never lost her hat......but she did however lose her goggles.
Lexie nearly chocked on a pumpkin seed......sweet revenge for all us meat eater who've had to put up with her judgey eyes for weeks!
Esme McEntyre said she felt sick.......and she was right as well!
Ethan and Casey are building an amazing rivalry.
Millie has got the best backstroke turns in the WORLD!!
No one could find the Ocean!!

Sunday

The day started well with the ladies 400m freestyle. Unusually we had 2 competitors in this event. Our resident long distance and open water weirdo Freya Doran, who was as bubbly and enthusiastic as ever.....and our very own resident misery guts Maddisoon Rens who's face of abject misery when we told her it was time to go to marshalling was absolutely the highlight of my weekend so far!! Freya got us underway and with one of the smoothest and easiest strokes at Crosby continually strolled to constant 40sec 50's .....I think she has more in the tank but maybe it is because of that nice easy style?? A great swim and a fantastic 13sec PB lead to a brilliant 5.15.63 and an was very unlucky not to get a well earned medal with her 4th place . Up next was Maddy and with this being the first time to ever compete on this event the nerves where understandable but as usual the nerves where put to rest as soon as she stood behind the block. Getting off to a really fast start it was inevitable that she would slow down and settle into a more comfortable pace. Hitting 34'swas more like it and again Maddy smashed it finishing on 4.29.15 and our first GOLD of the day. New boy Mad....I can't call him that anymore!! Dylan Madican got the 200 IM underway and with a great start in the fly put himself into an early lead, losing it a little on his back but a great breast leg set him up for the freestyle finish. Neck an neck on the last turn and swimming for home he just didn't have enough to pull away and lost the heat win just at the end. Crosby SUPERSTAR Ethan Kelly was next in and yet agian was faultless in his race......well apart from his backstroke.......that wasn't faultless!!! But he hates his backstroke so it OK. Well dispite his horrific backstroke leg he still smashed it bringing home a another GOLD medal to add to his collection. Up next was the 50 fly. I'm not going to lie but these 50 races fly past and its impossible to really tell you anything......they swim dead fast this way and then they swim dead fast that way!! We had laids of swimmers and loads of great swims and PBs!! Phoebe Brown went first and inspite of losing her goggles just before the race still managed to swim a great race.... bit less breathing next time I think! Annabel Irvine was up next and added another PB to a great weekend. Dispite just finishing the 400m free Freya Doran swam an incredible race and smashed almost 3secs off her PB. Maeve Bunclark was another one to hit a fantastic PB but the best swim went to Madison Rens. Almost breaking the 30sec barrier and bringing home another GOLD medal. The lads took over for the 50 freestyle and again a huge amount of PBs took a battering!! Freddie Adams was in first for his debut race and he absolutely destroyed his PB by almost 12secs, not bad for a 50!!! Aaron Kelly hit another great PB with Oli Lambert, Oscar Donnelly, Sham Harave, Aiden Kearney, Dylan Maddican and Zien Mukhtar also hitting PBs. We also managed a few medals in this fast and furious race with Adam Morgan adding a bronze medal to his haul and we managed a 1, 2 finish in the 12yrs group with Will Irvine taking home silver and Finlay Arnold grabbing a GOLD and breaking through 30secs in the process. The ladies took over for the 100 backstroke after a very short break and we had to wait quite a few heats for Annabel Irvine to take to the water. Growing in confidence with every race Annabel looked really good with great turns and transitions on every length . Again another event where the PBs took a hammering with Grace Blackburn(.....craziest backstroketurn in the whole world!!!), Jess Harrington,Trudy Delaney and Aahana Manglam all knocking a few seconds of their times. Swims moving back to the lads in the 100 breast and we had quite a few interesting races to watch for these. With Keshav - Chuck Norris - Harave getting us underway it looked like he had managed to land himself in the wrong heat. With a lot of faster kids pushing off from the the start and taking a decent lead on him we all thought he would get destroyed, but although they took that lead on him he never let it effect his own race and instead of opening up a bigger lead Keshav managed to always keep the other racers in his sights never letting the gap widen and towards the end of the race was even starting to close in on his competition!! All those efforts where rewarded with a bronze medal that I don't think he took off for the entire rest of the day......even during his next race!! Oliver Lambert was in next and Oli hasn't been swimming at his best of late.....not quite feeling it I suppose?? Not this time though, this time he went out from the start with an excellent start and dominated to race from start to finish and never gave the other swimmers a chance...... to be honest, it was nice to see the old Oli back and with a PB and a silver medal to boot With Shaman Harve hitting a PB we were having an incredible event so far but the race of the day came next. With Oscar Donnelly lining up next to Zein Mukhutar I know where my money was going. The start of the race went exactly as I thought it would go with Zein taking a decent lead and keeping Oscar firmly I the rear view mirror. As they turned for the 2nd 50 that object in Zein rear view mirror was DEFINITELY closer than it appeared......Oscar was closing the gap!!! Stroke by stroke he was gaining and it looked like he might just have enough to take an unexpected victory! By the 75m turn they where almost neck and neck with Zein taking the turn first and after a slightly better transition came up JUST ahead of Oscar. Pushing all the way down the final run Oscar was catching and under the flags for the last 5m none of us knew who would take it. With only 0. 05 secs separating the pair we had 2 great swims and Zein can feel relived to have won it this time........till next time??? Finally we had Jnr Captain Will Irvine and Dylan Maddican to round us off Dylan has been in incredible form just of late but this one just wasn't his race but with I'm sure he won't let that sit for to long. Will on the other hand actually looked like he enjoyed this race and so he should have. This time he made it look easy with a great start and every time he came in for his turn he was I and out quickly nailing his transition. All that was rewarded with a gold medal and an even more impressive 3sec PB. I knew it was getting near dinner because Millie was starting to tell me exactly what she was getting from chopstix which started to get me question the lack cats, rats and pigeons around the pyramids shopping center??? Who cares, the salt n pepper "chicken" is delicious!!! Anyways........back to racing with the ladies 200m breaststroke and a suprising entry to get Crosby underway in the shape of Tilly Stevens. Tilly has just started to come onto a little form in recent weeks but I thought that she wouldn't have the stamina to do a full race pace 200 breast. Well she proved me wrong!! To be honest at the start of her race I was watching the wrong kid with a black hat and i was thinking the worse......but this other kid in a black hat was NAILING IT!! Looking strong and pushing on with each length the kid was incredible. Imagine my suprise when on the turn I looked down and It was only our Tilly!! I've got no idea where she pulled this race from but she smashed every length!! A 7sec PB and a gold medal came from nowhere but it was great to see Tilly dominating again. Slightly overshadowed by Tillys swim was Isabella Jones in same heat, but a 8sec PB is certainly nothing to be sniffed at and with ladies captain Sam Harrington also crashing 8secs off her time I think we can call that an excellent event for us. Right off for din di... hang on......who's that in the final heat of the 200m backstroke!!!! Aaarrr Aidan , I'm starving!!! Well you'd better make it worth the wait, I've got some hot breaded vermin and rice with my name on it!! After what felt like an age (always does when the first kids start a 200......any 200!! You are normally looking at a 9yr old from Bebbington and thinking NO WAY he's going to finish the first 50, let alone the full 200 but they always get there in the end......EVENTUALLY!!haha) it was Aidans heat. Now don't know what his mam and dad are feeding him but Aidan is absolutely smashing it. After not the greatest start, i thought he'd gone off way to fast and sure enough he slowed down but into a settled into a great rhythm and great pace. Nailing all his turns and hitting good lengths on his transitions with every length meant he still had plenty of energy in reserve for the final 50. Looking good after the turn he put everything into the run for home and seemingly picking up the pace all the way in. An excellent race was rewarded with a very close silver and an even more impressive 8sec PB......right, where's my rodent surprise!?!?!

Not gonna lie,

That was delicious!!

Freya Doran was in first for Crosby and I'm not going to take all the credit for Freyas 24sec PB but without blowing my own trumpet to much, I did tell her that I reckon she could swim faster after the 400m and she smashed it in the 200. As I say, not all the credit because Freya swam about a bit......but defo most of it!! With PB's falling all over the place from all our ladies, I think that we can start to expect to field a few more 200 free swimmers in the next gala. Jess Harrington was the next to hit a PB with serial 200m dodger Lexie Bruns, and Aahana Manglam all joining her. We had a great race with ladies Jnr Captain Maeve Bunclark and Maisie Steven. Maeve is absolutely smashing everything at the minute and quite rightly gave the 200 free a go. Ending up in a heat with the nicest kid in the whole of swimming I was wondering how it would turn out. Maisie is having a bit of a time at the minute with not quite being to hit the times she's setting for herself and not being best pleased about it!! So much like Maeve, a change is what was called for. From the start they where both side by side and same as with Tilly I was surprised with Maisies pace. None the less stroke for stroke Maeve was right at her side and I was expecting her to kick on at any moment. As they both turned for the final 50(everything good happens in the final 50!!) It was was Maisie that kicked and started building a lead I was expecting Maeve to push on and make a charge at the end but if anything Maisie had timed it brilliantly and kept extending her lead right through to the end. A great confidence booster for Maisie after a great swim but with that being the first time Maeve has done the 200, a lot for her to be happy about as well!! With the other Stevens sister bringing in a gold medal for her 200 free I feel that it's only fair that I give her a mention as well. Yet again another great swim from Tilly and another confidence booster given that she also managed a 5sec PB. Up next was a magical event. It's one of those events where you can make practically half your swimmers disappear for half an hour just by saying the magic words "Go to marshaling" you should all try it in the house and see what happens, Paul Danies had got nothing on a couple of tried swim coaches?? We had a huge amount of kids competing and yet again they never let us down. I starting to think that young Adam Morgan is only doing swimming to beat his big brother. Well for now it's Dan that still has the upper hand in the Morgan residence. Both the lads hit excellent PBs with Adam just missing out on a medal. Archie Weindling and Oliver Lambert both may has well have had the pool to themselves in the next race with both of them picking up medals and Oli hitting another PB. This is the best I've seen Oli swim in a while and it was really good to see him take away a bronze medal. Archie is another of our swimmers that can do no wrong at the minute and his Silver medal proved that. More PBs for Dylan Maddican, Oscar Donnelly and Zein Mukhutar all proof that although the lads are JUST missing out on medals they are all moving in the right direction. Super duper Ethan Kelly and Super serious Jnr Captain Will Irvine rounded off the Crosby interest and with great PBs and GOLD medals for both the lads I even got another smaole of Will......I felt blessed!! The ladoes 50 backstroke was up next and much like the previous event we had a huge amount if swimmers. Isabella Jones, Annabel Irvine, Grace Blackburn(we need to have a look at that turn Grace!!) Sam Harrington, Aahana Manglam all hit great PBs and with Millie Griffiths and Siana Rens struggling for form but still swimming well we have a lot to be happy about with our ladies backstrokers. Both Trudy Delaney and Madison Rens manged to walk away with medals. Trudy taking the bronze and maddy with the gold( didn't see that coming??haha) all the ladies where incredible!! The final event for the lads was the 100m free and with an incredibly tough weekend of racing behind them they all managed to pull it together one last time. It's is always a tough event this one as practically everyone can do 100m freestyle, even me if there was a Hollands meat and potato pie at the end of the lane! So we started off with Oliver Lambert who rounded off a great weekend of swimming with a great PB. Oscar Donnelly who us having a great time of it lately also managed his own PB. Following the lads came the usual suspects of Aidan Kearney, Shamal Harave,Finlay Arnold and Dylan Maddican all with PBs to mop up the weekend. Last but not least was Casey Delaney, but without his partner in crime next to him, pushing him on we were all biting our nails to see if he could manage to propel himself but knowing that Casey was counting sheep 5mins prior to us sending him to marshalling the signs weren't looking good!!! He stood behind the blocks with a vacant look in his eyes(amazing how he can convey that behind goggles!!)and stood up as lethargically as only a 14yr old lad can when the whistle blew. You could have cut the tension with a rusty bread knife as we waited for the starter to let them loose........and they where off!!! Turns out we had nothing to worry about!! 57secs and one gold medal later he only went and nailed it. Well done Casey larrrrr!! Our last swimmer of the weekend was Sianna Rens in the 100 fly and I can tell you there was an awful super secret packing up of chairs and tidying up of of banana skins and sweet wrappers while we waited for her heat. Another one of our swimmers struggling with form at the minute, Sianna got of to a great start. Up with the pack for the 50 and well in contention for a good finish. Hitting the turn for the final 25m Sianna was starting to tire a little and the pack starred to pull away. Still finishing well(...... with only one of those weird little kicks she does) she can still take a lot from the swim. She's not a million miles from where she used to be and it's still only a lack of pooltime that hits her stamina and finishing places!!

Now that was a very busy gala for Crosby and long may THAT continue. We took nearly 50 kids to compete in various events, from our seasoned old timers like Caleb and Madison all the way down to absolute novice competitors like Wes Phillips and Rachel Manning. Everyone of them was amazing and really represented our club amazingly, not only with how they performed in the pool -which was incredible- but with their behavior and attitude around the venue. We have plenty of new swimmers that are ready to take up where our senior are leaving off, with Annabel Irvine and Sofia Davies really catching the eye for the ladies and Archie Weindling and Adam Morgan doing the same for the lads. Add all those nippers to the rest of our squad and we are looking like we will be in great shape for years to come. I must also mention that some of our swimmers are REALLY starting to get the rewards for putting in the hard hours in the pool. Every time Aidan Kearney swims at the minute he absolutely nails it. Being in a very very tough age group at Crosby and always being on the fringe of the team, he has never seemed to let it bother him. He has just got on with his swimming and is now starting to reap the rewards for his efforts and has forced his way into the team. Another lad that is currently enjoying a brilliant time is Oscar Donnelly. He managed to give himself a bit of an injury just as we where getting back to training and it really seemed to hit him hard but over the last few months we have seen the old Oscar come back and he's another swimmer that has pushed himself into the team. Representing the ladies is our very own open water NUTTER!! Freya has always been a very pretty swimmer but she has just starting to add that little bit of speed into her races and it's really starting to pay off and is other swimmer that will make her way into the team for the next M&D gala. Well done all of you!!

Southport Shrimps

That was MENTAL!! I forgot how absolutely nuts shrimps was. Mind you what can you expect when you have 40 excited nippers at what is normally their very first gala .........and the heat, something I also failed to remember was just how hot Prescott gets at poolside!! I'm going to be completely honest with everyone here and confess that I can't remember an awful lot of what happened. It just seemed to be one of those galas where stuff happened around you and we just had to try and keep track of what was going on, so please forgive me if my nonsensical reporting isn't up to its usual low standards ......kids seemed to enjoy it though?!?! I will just have to pick out the things that really stuck out in my head so please don't feel to bad if I miss out your nipper.

The kids where again up against some VERY tough opposition in the form of Southport and Leyland Barracudas. These are both city clubs that insist that all their nippers trian upwards of 9-10hrs a week while our jnr squads kids are limited to 2.5hrs and our top squad clocking in with 4.5hrs. Nonetheless what we lacked in pooltime we would make up in enthusiasm, ear splitting support...........and constant badgering of coaches asking when their race was!! We got things underway with our 12yr old boys team which was a huge alteration from the last time the gala was run and caused quite a stir with our less prepared teams....only kidding Everton, you know we love yeh!! And some of that additional training was immediately on show from our city teams(.......they take all the fun out of watching kids struggle on fly!!!) Even with this additional training on show our nippers always gave an excellent account of themselves with some incredible individual performances from some of the kids surprised even us. With event 4, the 10yr girls breaststroke seeing one of our newbies taking to the water we were more concerned with how young Tilly Turton would react to whole thing rather than where we would come in the race. But it was as though Tilly had used all the races before her as advice, took in she needed to know and smashed it because she was absolutely amazing in her swim and will go from strength to strength as she beds in with us. Over the next few races we welcomed in quite a few new Crosby team members. Some have been with us for a bit of time like Olivia Nugent who dosent really know quite how good she could be Esmee James who I think all us coaches know is a little dynamo that will always give us 100% and Ocean Sadowski who's fly and free races where incredible. We also welcomed some literally brand new, straight out the box swimmers and much like Tilly beforehand none of them looked in anyway out of place!! Georgie Cameron and Elidh Bennet have both been with us for only a matter of weeks and both really showed very few nerves dispite being thrown into action so early in their time with us. A big mention on the ladies side must go to Lucy Delamere, Rachel Manning and Emily Samara who have been waiting to make their starts for us for a while but for various reasons haven't made it but fell straight In for team and on the lads side we had Keshav Harave who has been waiting for his chance for a while Adam Morgan who is getting better and better evert session and Issac Arnold who was always shouting and supporting all his teammates....even the girls and we all know that they stink!!. Another big mention must go to the youngest members of the team......our 9yr olds. They were incredible!! Annie McEntyre looked like she had been waiting for this for an age and was so eager to get involved that I'm amazed that we kept her out the water as long as we did. Ella Lambert was brilliant In every race......particularly the ones that she hates, Freddie Jones surprised himself that it turns out he can actually do another stroke other than breaststroke and Isla Russell who is another swimmer that hasn't been with us for a very long time but she was amazing and we can't wait to see how she gets on over the next few months. With the usual suspects of Tilly Stevens, Sophia Davies and Annabelle Irvine for the ladies and Joshua Ashcroft, Harvey Gilsenan and Tom Dixon for the lads all doing extremely well all day, one person stood a little above for their efforts for the team. He was doing all strokes and swimming up and back down untill he was literally exhausted and even then he got up and done the cannon!! So a big special mention goes to Noah Goodwin. Well done mate, hopefully we can give you a rest between races for your next game. So on to the results. In an amazing performance the nippers managed to finish in 4th position which is an amazing achievement in what will be many of the kids 1st ever gala.

1. Leyland - 217pts

2. Southport - 192pts

3. Everton - 155pts

4. CROSBY - 133pts

5. Chorley - 112pts

6. Presscot - 106pts

7. Halton - 101pts

8. Garston - 78pts

Lancs 2022 Sessions 9-12

Session 9

No dramas either getting to or getting into the pool this morning, sooooooo........setting the pace for Crosby was Tilly Stevens in the 50m breaststroke. A great start saw her rise into the lead with the chasing pack hot in pursuit. Passing the 25m mark the race was heating up as the pack closed around Tilly, not quite managing to keep her lead she finished on a great time of 44secs. Again the lack of pooltime being the difference between a spot in the final and a run through a muddy field in the Wirral. Our Maddy was in next and in a curiously happy mood she skipped off to marshaling in high spirits. Think someone had said that there was a load of posters of Tom Holland over there or something??? Straight of the block with a fantastic dive saw maddy smash through her heat and into the final with a brilliant 35sec. The boys where in next for the 200 free( oh god, that means we're almost up to the 1500's!!) With Casey Delaney getting us underway. Starting strongly and maintaining his position in the pack Casey was always in with great chance of a medal. Good turn after good turn( not great turn BTW, something for club I think!!)kept him with the leaders but it was in the final 50 that saw Casey come to life. A turn and 32sec sprint down the final stretch saw Casey cruise through most of his competition and finish in an incredible 2.07.72sec and just miss out on a bronze medal. Big Ethan was in next and even in an with a such a strong group of much older swimmers Ethan always looked comfortable. Straight out from the dive he always maintained a good position In the pack and with every turn he looked stronger and stronger until we hit the final 50 and with usual ethan style he picked up his pace and dispite an challenging swim was picking the pace up until the wall. Finishing in 2.05.74 was easily enough for Ethan to walk away with another GOLD medal to add to whats been a very good lancs for Ethan and with 3 more sessions left, who knows what else he can get!! With Madison making the final for the 50 breast, we where all curious about what her warm up would be while waiting for the 1500's to finish. Would she be on poolside skipping and doing tuck jumps to keep the muscles warm and then move to a series of land warms to keep the muscles starched and ready to spring....like a TIGER?? .....or would she sit on her a€$e watching ticktock and torturing Casey and Millie?? I'll let you all guess which one she plumbed for. Anyway...... a great start and transition off the block saw maddy break the surface in 2nd position and chasing the leader all the easy into the 25m mark. A slight dip in concentration allowed the pack to close in but maddy quickly got it together again. Looking stronger and stronger as the race went on,Maddison crashed into wall in 36.17sec earning herself a bronze medal in tbe process. A delicious meal of tuna pasta,, hand delivered by my loving wife was enough to tide me over din dins . Figuring out that we had 36 heats of 50 free straight after it almost made me bring it back up!!

Session 10

Jnr Captain Will Irvine got the afternoon underway with a really good swim I the 50 free finishing on a time of 30.74secs, just short of sub 30 pre race target. We had a double header following him with new boy Madican and bed head Finn in the next heat. Finn got off to a brilliant start and was half a body length infront by the 25m mark. He looked like he start to slow a little by the 35m and who else but new boy Maddican was starting to quickly eat away at his lead . Stroke for stroke they where matching each other right up to the end when Dylan just took the win and a place in the final. With a time difference of 0.07 (Finn 30.14/Dylan 30.07) between our 2 lads you can see just how well the lads have swam. Matty Blackburn in debut lancs championships got away to a fantastic start. Head down and fast strokes from start to finish gave matty a brilliant time of 27.46sec. Casey Delaney ess up next and what is becoming habit that we are going to have to deal with, Casey was faster on the way back than he was on the in!! None the less he still managed a great time of 27.53secs just missing out on a place I the final. Ethan followed up with another fantastic swim on his way to the final. Smooth all the way, he made the 27sec swim seem very easy indeed. Our final swimmer was Luke Surarez and another trademark brilliant start from Luke gave himself a lead that no one catch. Finishing on 25.74 was a great swim especially considering that he has been ill all week! Moving onto the girls 100 back we had 2 swimmers in Crosby blue hats. Millie Griffiths was up first and and as ever she nailed her start and was in with the pack coming up to the turn you could draw a line right the way across all the swimmers as they turned. Another excellent turn and transition from Millie saw her break out at the front of the group. Heading toward the wall and Millie gave it all for a final push. Finishing on 1.17.77sec gave Millie a 4sec LC PB, so lots to be happy about with that swim. Aahana Manglam was our final lady into the water and again a great start saw Aahana break the surface with the pack and match all the way to the 50m turn......it was at this moment that Bob nearly made me cry. She powered into the wall smashed her turn and swam away beautifully.......without once looking back to see where the wall was!! I could have left poolside a happy man at that point.....but I didn't . A great finish saw Aahana narrowly missing on a final position but with with time of 1.15.70secs still plenty to be happy with. The lads 50 free final was all that was standing in the way of my Gin and Taco Bell reward for a day at poolside. New boy Madican got us underway for the 14yr olds. Straight off the start this was a very close race.....well, apart from that Sutcliffe kid who basically swims as fast as a bloke that is.... at the minute every is fighting for second place with him......FOR NOW!! Again there really wasn't a lot to pick from right the way through as every lad in the final is a great swimmer. Dylan was right there till the end and even managed to match his qualification time of 30.07sec exactly. Ethan was our final swimmer of the day and yet again another brilliant swim of e7.45secs saw him beat his qualification time but finish just outside the medals this time........sorry but there really isn't alot to write about a 50m race. They all swim dead fast, in one direction. Another fantastic day wrapped up for Crosby with plenty of pbs and medals in the bank. Final day tomorrow and we all know what that means........Krispy Kreme!!!!

Session 11

Final day of a brilliantly successful lancs championships see the lads 50 breaststroke. Setting the tone for the lads was new boy Madican. Enjoying a fantastic championships this year and in brilliant form meant that he went in full of confidence. Unfortunately a little wobble on the block saw a very harsh DQ for Dyaln. In our opinion the starter was holding the kids a little to long which resulted in a large number of kids suffering the same fate. None the less he still managed a great time of 39secs and we can build from that. Nic Castineria followed in the next heat and dispite a slow start really got moving in the final 25 and hit 38secs on his way to the way to a spot in the final Jnr Captain Will Irvine swam really well hitting 39sec and only narrowly missing out on a place in the final...although from the look on his face you would have never have guessed it. Our very own Jnr Captain sets some very high standards for himself at times. Ethan Kelly as strong as ever and smashing absolutely everything in front of him enjoyed another great swim and with a time 34.37secs easily booked a place in his final. Gents Captain Caleb Griffiths was our last swimmer for the breaststroke and a great start saw him well on contention for a place I the final. But yet again, the lack of training really showed in the second half of the race. A finishing time of 34sec will certainly be hugely improved if we can get some pooltime for Caleb. Ladies captain Sam Harrington took over for the girls in the 200 free. A great start saw Sam taking her first turn with 33sec on the clock. Keeping a good pace with 37 second lengths meant Sam was never far from the leaders and when she turned for home on her last length she still had enough left to sprint down the final length clocking in with a brilliant 35sec length and finishing time 2.23.47sec gives Sam lots to be happy with that swim. Madison Rens was up next and only just managing to get over the dissapiontment of yesterday's bronze in the 50 breast(........bless her!!) Anyway, she managed to put that behind her focus on the job at hand. A great start put maddy right in with the leaders and turning on 33 kept her there. Hitting consistent 45sec lengths put her In great position for the final length. Coming in to the 25m we were expecting a bit of a kick from maddy but it tiredness and competing over so many weekends had taken its toll, but still managing a very respectable 35sec lengths on her way to 2.13.66sec and silver medal finish. We had 2 lads waiting for their chance In the 50 breast final. Nic Castineria was up first and he got off to a great start. Moving down towards the finish Nic was struggling to make an impact on the leaders pack but always kept pace with them. He was a little unlucky with his finishing position but his time of 38.30sec was still excellent and gives him a lot to work with. Ethan Kelly finished the Crosby interest for the morning session and yet again he nailed it. Right from the start he eas pushing for a first placed finish. It was JUST kept away from him this time but I'm sure that a 33.40sec swim and a Silver medal will make up for it.

Session 12

Having been informed that I was getting a roast dinner( we really really talk about food a lot at poolside!!)when I got home, I was anxious for the final session to get underway. But waiting over 2.5hrs after the finals for the first race to begin seemed cruel!! The always popular 50 free was first on the afternoon agenda and we where very well represented with 5 Crosby girls all making the cut. Tilly Stevens got us underway and with the best swim she has had in this seasons championship she managed a very good 32sec swim. Ladies Jnr Captain Maeve Bunclark was up next and after a great start and strong swim she managed to hit a place in the final with a very impressive 30.66sec swim. Millie Griffiths followed Maeve and after her trademark dive start and transition she nailed her swim looking strong for the entire race. Ladies Captain Sam Harrington had an amazing race in her heat being one of the first kids at break 30secs. Madison Rens wound up our interest and yet again had a brilliant race. Hitting 28sec on headway to a final place. The last event with any Crosby swimmer in was the 100 backstroke and with Finn Arnold and Jnr Captain Will Irvine swimming our chances to hit even more finals was very high. Out first went Finn and in the the first 50 he absolutely blew away every swimmer in the pool, the second 50.......not so much. It was still an incredible swim and Finn cruised into the final with a 1.12sec swim. Jnr Captain Will Irvine was our final swimmer in the heats and as usual a great swim from Will, not even exposing his bum to the entire world watching on YouTube while doing his turn was enough to keep him out the final. Without much of a break Will was called back into action to compete in his final. After a change of clothes that would have made Superman jealous he was back on the blocks. Nailing his start he was always up with the leading pack pushing for a medal. Coming off the turn and chasing down the lane for the wall we couldn't tell where the medals would end up......apart from Sutcliffe obvs!! Will was still chasing with 25 to go and it looked like the speed of the race turnaround had just caught up with him as he looked like he couldn't quite kick on. But with a 1.13 91sec swim he could be very pleased with his swim. I have to mention poor old Finn. Unfortunately Finn had to pull out the final as he wasn't exactly tiptop after his heat. Don't worry mate, with that backstroke this won't be your last lancs!! Moving onto the ladies finals we had Jnr Captain Maeve Bunclark and Madison Rens in the hunt for medals. Maeve set the tone from the off in her final. A great start set her up brilliantly and she just kept motoring right theu to the end. Smashing 30.38sec was enough for Maeve to take the silver medal home with her this year. Tough act to follow but if anyone could do it, Maddy could.......and with that start she just might!! Maddy was up out and into her stroke and taking the lead by the halfway mark. It was nip and tuck right the way through and the medal places changed places many times in the final 15m. Sure enough though at the end Madison was taking the bronze medal home with her with a brilliant time of 28.27secs. And that brought to an end an INCREDIBLEY successful Lancashire Swimming Championships for Crosby. We finished exactly how we started with medals and finals. Our kids have been outstanding throughout. In spite of very limited pool time and silly qualification times we still took a large amount of swimmers with us. Everyone of them were an absolute credit to our club and everyone of them represented exactly what we want all our squad members to try and achieve. We had lots of first time Lancs swimmers that all achieved incredible times. We had PB after PB smashed most times right after each other in finals. We had so many finalist which considering that we were racing in a 6 lane pool was even more impressive. If we were running at the normal 8 lane lancs, we would have had even more finalist!!!
And the medals.......so many medals!!! Right from Finn in his 1st ever lancs smashing a Silver medal in his race, right through to Ethan and Madison who are just absolute medal machines. They where all outstanding

Lancs 2022 Sessions 5-8

Session 5

Session 5 hadn't even began and Millie was already moaning about why we had to be poolside at 8am. Her warm up wasn't untill 9am and she was not best pleased!! But we needed to get our spec sorted so I'd be right in front of the camera to show of my beautiful hair and beard ....obvs......tsk.....kids!!! It's not like had anything better to do or that she would be doing anything different......ticktock......ignore dad..... exactly the same!!!
Trudy Delaney got Crosbys interest underway in the 50 backstroke. A great start and a very comfortable race gave Trudy a well earned heat win with with a 36sec long course PB she has a lot to be happy about with that swim, if we can just get some aggression into that kid she'll fly down the pool!!! Up next was Millie Griffiths and yet again a fantastic start with an incredible transition brought her up at the front of the pack. Leading the heat all the way through to the end and finishing with on a brilliant 36sec long course PB. Again with Millie the stroke is perfect but we just need to start pushing the stroke rate and again we'll have another flyer! Our final entry was AahanaManglam. A great start and confident finish put Bob right up there right through the race. With a 35sec finish Aahana was unlucky not to make the final this time. If we can only stop her looking for the wall at the end of the lane I'm sure we can start to knock time off in each lap!! The men, the dudes the specimens, the big fellas .........the boys where up in the 100m free style next. As ever we where very well represented with some very good swimmers. Up 1st was new Crosby swimmer Dyaln ( better make the most of that title, he won't be getting it much longer) Madican. After a start that saw him struggle first position at the first turn he turned well and powered thru to a strong finish earning himself a place in the final. Enjoying some incredible form at the minute must have given Casey Delaney a lot of confidence and it showed right through his heat. A 59sec finish saw Casey comfortably into his final. With Ethan Kelly finishing Crosbys interest in the event hopes where high for another finalist. But Ethan had a shocker!! He came to the block and his skins split and tbe only thing he had to replace them was a pair of itsy bitsy teeny weeny tiny bright yellow budgie smugglers. He dove in and his goggles snapped, in the confusion he broke out in breaststroke realised his mistake, had a complete meltdown and ran into the changing room in tears in his tiny yellow underpants...........nar, just kidding.He smashed in a 59sec and cruised into his final. Ladies captain Sam Harrington was our final swimmer for today's heats. In a bold move Sam shunned the traditional warm up of getting into the pool and swimming in favour of her now legendary poolside warm up, which consists of her waving her arms about a bit and then she does some weird lungey thing to wrap it up. A high risk strategy for the 400m IM but only time will tell. The 1st 100m fly was enough to tell me that Sam and her warm up working just fine. Smashing in 1.16 for her 100m fly saw her turn in 1st place moving into the backstroke leg. The rest of the girls where starting to chip into Sam's lead but another great swim saw her finish in 3rd place moving into the breaststroke leg. Never Sam's favourite stroke but after her performance in last weeks 200 IM it was nothing to worry about! Dropping back, the 100 breast was taking its toll but with the 100m free next she hung on and kicked away strongly. Picking up a speed as she came into wall with a very good 5.49.89. Finishing off the morning was the finalists. With the promise of a delicious mystery sandwich being delivered for my diner by my wife I was quite kean to get them underway. New boy Maddican was up first up on the block and knowing the mistakes from his first race he didn't make the same ones again!! A great dive saw him up with the leaders right from the start. Turning in a line they all powered through to the flags into the wall. Finishing with a NEW PB of 1.05.62 was an incredible for Dylan and he was unlucky with his final position as you could have threw a towel over all the lads finishing 2nd place onwards. Up next was Ethan Kelly.......in some appropriate swimmers this time. A great start had all the lads in a row with Ethan turning in 28sec and putting pressure on the leaders. Racing to the finish and speeding up in true Ethan style he hit a huge PB with a finish time of 58.74sec and o ly just missed out on a medal finishing te morning session for Crosby was Casey Delaney looking to fix any small mistakes made in the heats. A fantastic start and first 50 set up a very exciting finish. Again the race was so close it was hard to pick the winner until we looked at the board for conformation. Only narrowly missing out with a medal and finishing 4th Casey, I'm sure will be happy with his time of 59.55sec.
DIN DINS!!

Session 6

The ladies opened up for us this time in the 50 fly. We were as ever very well represented with 3 of our girls hitting the time. Tilly Stevens got everyone off to a great start with an excellent swim. Not quite hitting her time but I'm sure that when we get her back to training properly it will all come back. Up next was ladies captain Sam Harrington. Having forgone her new age poolside warm up and instead opted for the more traditional swimming in the water warm up, we where a little concerned on how she would fare?? Needless to say, we didn't have anything to worry about. Sam had an amazing race and almost manged to beat her long course PB on the process. Wrapping up our interest was Madison Rens in what Is not one of maddys normal races. Always good when the kids try different strokes and distances....but I think maddys just showing off now?? Managing a 31sec in only your 1st long course 50 fly is incredible maddy and we'll keep pushing for more! With the girls handing the pool back to the lads for the 100 breaststroke, we welcomed back the most handsomest men in Crosby.......Brian and myself.....obvs!! Nicolas Castineria was in the water for us first. With nics limited pooltime due to an painful knee for the last few months we were a little concerned on how he would get on. Right from the off nic was motoring and lead his heat from the start to finish. Leaving any worries about his knee behind him he hit a new PB and finished In 1.26.80 narrowly missing out on a place on the final. Hopefully we can get some more pool time with nic and those times will tumble even more. New boy Madican was up next and again another good start saw him hit the turn in 40secs, speeding down the and finishing in 1.25sec saw him qualify for a second final of the day. Super serious Jnr Captain Will Irvine was up for Crosby next. He seriously stood in marshaling waiting for his race, then he seriously stared at the blocks waiting to dive in then he seriously smashed his heat!! Racing against much bigger kids is something our swimmers are getting used to and Will is no different. Again another lad smashed into the final. Ethan Kelly was waiting in the wings to wrap up the Crosby heats and almost looking like he didn't have to get out of second gear from the moment he dove in, he cruises into his final with a 1.15sec. After what felt like an eternity waiting for the 800m free to complete ( who does these races.....what looney does these races???.....keeping an eye on you Doran!!) We finally got to the business of the 100m breaststroke finals. If I'm being honest, these finals have so far lacked a certain something. Not that the kids haven't deserved all the medals that they've got or that they all haven't been worthy winners(although there was one final with just one kid in it. No brianer who got gold in that one. I know its terrible but I half wanted him to get DQ'ed just so I could see what happened next??)they just seemed to be missing a certain something??? That was certainly not the case with these ones. Jnr Captain Will Irvine and new boy Maddican got us going. Will started extremely well and was chasing down the leader at the 25m mark, closing in all the way to the turn until he the captured the lead under the flags. Unfortunately he lost the lead straight after the turn and had to chase the leader down aga...... hang on........who's that in lane 5??? Dylan literally came out of KNOWHERE and was pushing Will with every stroke for 2nd place while Will was pushing the leader for the win. The 3 of them had pulled away from the group and by the last 10m it could have gone anywhere!! As they came under the flags they where all still pushing for the win but when they eventually touched we still had 2 Crosby medal winners. Will came in on 1.23.99 earning himself a hard fought Silver while Dylan smashed in a 1.24.67 earning himself a brilliant bronze. Ethan was memorable in a different way. Ethan might not have the greatest starts in the world( it's relative, his start are brilliant!!) But he can't half swim after that. Up against the best breaststrokers in the Lancashire region right now and lads that he is more than aware of how good each of them are, ethans start wasn't his best. As ever though he managed to pull back any open water between him and competion by the 25m mark. It was then then Ethan just tore them all to bits. Stroke by stroke by stroke Ethan just pulled away and pulled away. With the quality if lads in the pool with him this was an incredible display. Finishing on 1.14.13sec bringing home GOLD and almost 2secs ahead of the next place finisher. A fantastic end to another great day for Crosby

Session 7

Apart from the M62 entry ramp being unexpectedly closed which prompted a scenic tour around the lesser spotted rural areas of Halewood and panicked looks at my depleting fuel gauge, the journey here was uneventful and certainly more enjoyable than having Millie moaning about the warm up time......Caleb was fast asleep and completely oblivious to my quite swearing about who closes motorway entries without notice and isn't this where horror movies are filmed, who knew we had farm's out there?!?! The gents took charge first with Finlay Arnold making his debut at Lancs. It seemed like he was a little nervous as rocked up for the warm up in his devil may care bed head best. But he didn't let that effect him in his heat. He literally left all his competition for dead!! Posting an excellent PB of 33sec and qualifying easily for his first final. Next up in the same heat was Jnr Captain Will Irvine and new boy Maddican. Another great run from both the lads also saw the cruise into the final making it 3 out of 3 13yr old making the final, well done lads!! Up next was llLuke Suarez and after a great start he managed to maintain the pace right through to the finish being the first swimmer to break the 30sec mark by posting a 29.79sec. Gents Captain Caleb Griffiths finished out the Crosby interest and after a great start powered right through to the end. Still looking for his best form since he returned to swimming, he still managed to hit 30secs. More pool time I'm sure will sort those times right out boy!! With only 2 girls in for the 100m free style event it seemed like we where definitely short a swimmer or 2. But with the entry times being what they where we would have to make do with our 2 ladies. Up first was Ladies Captain Sam Harrington and after a great dive and a great first 50 she hit the wall, turning on 30secs. Pushing down the final 25m it was anyone's race. Hitting the wall in 1.06.04 Sam just missed out on a place I the final. Another great swim from our ladies captain. Our final swimmer in the heats was Madison Rens and as ever Madison was fantastic. Not looking on tip top form as she made her way to marshaling she found something from somewhere and produced another great swim. Turning on 29secs and powering into the final she finished with a 1.01.84 and looked in great medal form. Mind you, still not happy when she came back.......starting to think it might be me??? Luckily maddy didn't have to cope with me for long as her final was up first. To be fair after that performance she looked a lot more.....energetic going up. Chatting with her competition on the block is never something we encourage but maddy plays fast and loose with Crosby rules and who can argue when you perform like this. Right from the off maddy was at the pushing from the front again breaking 30 with her first 50 she turned down to the finishing straight. Catching the leading swimmer with every stroke maddy had seemed to find another gear and was pulling nearer and nearer. Coming to the 10m mark we couldn't tell which swimmer had the lead but we knew maddy had the momentum!! Turning to check the board it looked like maddy had left it JUST to late and was pipped into a very close 2nd place. Brilliant race Maddison!!Just waiting for the 50m backstroke final and with 3 Crosby kids in the same final, I was thinking to myself about which kid to shout for. Its like with your own kids when you defo have a favourite but you have to pretend that you like them all the exactly same.......but you DEFO have a favourite!! Should I shout new boy Maddican to try and make him feel really welcome at the club or should I shout for bed head Finn in his debut or super serious jnr captain Will.......decisions decisions decisions. At the blocks it looked great seeing 3 yellow Crosby hats in a Lancs final something that the lads and the club should be very proud of!! A great start by Finn saw him up and out early with the rest of the pack chasing him as we moved towards the halfway mark Will and Dylan where making up ground on the leaders but maintaining his push for medals was Finn. All the way to the flags he was in real contention for a debut gold but as they touch the wall to finish he was just edged out into 2nd place for incredible silver medal. Following close behind but out of the medals was Will Irvine and Dylan Maddican. An excellent race from all the lads and it turns out the Finn is my favourite after all........ who knew?!?!

Session 8

With the prospect of 3 heats of 1500m freestyle to look forward to with no Crosby swimmer's and an hour of my life that I would NEVER get back i was somewhat torn on if I even wanted our kids to get to the finals.........of course I did........honest!! Anyway.. ..off we go!!! Nic Castineria got the lads underway and we where hopefully that his limited training wouldn't have to much of an effect but judging by his showing in the breaststroke we thought he'd be fine......and he certainly was!! A poor start left him chasing the pack but by the 25m mark he had caught them up and was looking like he was just getting into his stride. He powered through making all his competition look like they where stood still and managed a very respectable 33secs giving him another shot in the final. Casey Delaney was out next. Another great start kept him in with the pack and finishing strong gave him a great time of 31.41secs. Considering that this is a relatively new event for casey I think we have a lot more to come. Finishing up was gents Captain Caleb Griffiths . Another great dive and start saw him take an early lead but again the lack of training very quickly caught up with him. Unable to push on, the chasing pack closed on him and then overtook. Caleb still managed to hit 28secs so with additional training those times will definitely start to tumble. Tilly Stevens took up the challenge next in the 100m breaststroke and a fantastic start saw dominate the first 50m. Again though, with Tillys lack of pooltime she struggled to keep the pressure on. Although with a 1.38.20 finish, there's a lot of positives to take from the race. Ladies Jnr Captain Maeve Bunclark was up next for her first event this year. No one was more surprised than us when Maeve pointed out that you can do a race that's longer than 50m...... who new Maeve??? Just as we where getting used to this bombshell news we where happy to find out that she had qualified for this seasons event. A great start and comfortable pace for the first 50 put Meave in 4th place for the sprint back to home. Again another excellent swim saw Maeve comfortably at the wall in 4th place with a time of 1.31.20. I think that there's more to come in this event and we'll see how far we can push her on in the next few galas. Ladies captain Sam Harrington in her 4000th event of the championship was in next. Before this championship I never even knew that Sam was a happy breaststroker. I always had her pegged as a free and fly swimmer until I saw her doing the 200IM and she nailed her breaststroke legs so I was quite interested to see how this would pan our. Straight from the dive Sam was out In front. The chasing pack was closing in and by the turn Sam was down to 5th place. A great turn saw her back with the leaders and gain with each stroke. Coming I to the final touch Sam was starting to fade but by the touch had made up a position and finished In 4th place with a 1.28.99. Madison Rens wrapped up our interest in the breaststroke and as ever she smashed it. Turning on the 1st 50 at 37 she was in a great position for the final run to the end. Looking like she was in cruise control and smashing into the final with a 1.18 is something Maddy seems to find easy and it was no different today. With the 1500m sandwiched between the heats and the final we all knew we had a long wait till the finals where up so we kept ourselves entertained with a wholesome game of charades and pin the tail on the donkey and whist......I don't even know what whist is......I think I might have blacked out??? Maddison was up first in the final and having qualified as 2nd finalist we where hoping for another great performance. A good start but it looked like maddy was taking it easy for the first 50m and allowing the girl next to her to push on and she did exactly that!! Opening up a decent lead by the turn maddy left herself a lot to do. But she seemed to realise what she had to do and started to eat into her competitions lead. Every stroke was having a noticeable effect and as they came into the flags maddy had cut the lead to about half a meter. Just leaving herself with to much to do Madison had to make do with a Silver and a 1.18 finish, not to shabby!! Nic Castineria was out final swimmer of the weekend and he had his work cut out for him if he was going to trouble the pre-race favourite who managed to book his final spot with a time of 28secs.......not bad for a 18yr old never mind 13!! With the advice from Brian to gey up out of his transition and into his stroke faster he stood waiting on the blocks. Sure enough when the race began Nic flew out and was up and onto his stroke. Keeping pace with the pack all the way through to end and touching in a new PB 33.40sec Nic had an amazing race.
So that was session 8 and and weekend two complete. Yet another AMAZING weekend for our swimmers with plenty of PB's, loads of finals and tonnes of medals!! Now it was back to ours to order that doner kebab I've been dreaming of for days!!

Lancs 2022 Sessions 1-4

Session 1

On what was a curiously under subscribed first session at Lancs that certainly appeared like it would have benefited from a few more swimmers in the pool and spectators in the balcony, we still had 3 Crosby swimmer's in contention for medals. With the 400m freestyle ladies starting the event our club captain Sam Harrington set off the Crosby. Setting off at a great pace from the start and constantly on the heels of her competition Sam swam a strong race with excellent turns and transitions with every length. Finishing strongly with time of 5.11.30, Sam should feel very happy with an excellent race. Up next was boys Jnr captain Will Irvine in the 200m breaststroke. Taking everything as super serious as only Will can he watched with a little concern as his age group competitor posted some very good times in the heats before him. Waiting behind his block for his race and doing himself an injury with gee up slaps to his chest( always makes me laugh) Will knew had to put in great performance to stand a chance of coming away with medal. After a great dive and straight from the off Will was up with the leading pack of racers . Turning strongly and getting maximum distance with every turn he was always up with the pack. For the entire race he looked comfortable and in in control and as he turned for the final stretch managed to put on a final sprint that would prove to be enough for him to come home in 1st in a time of 2.59.94 and bring home Crosby's first medal of the event........GOLD medal no less!!! Our final swimmer of the morning was Ethan Kelly and again another anxious watch from the sides as his age group competitors where posting some great times. But yet again Ethan done what Ethan does best!! From the off Ethan was in with the pack. Again excellent turns and transitions saw him maintain his place with older swimmers but as ever with Ethan it's the final 50 where he really turns it on. After the final turn Ethan just started to turn up the pressure on all the other swimmers and I'm sure was still picking up speed when he crashed into the wall with a time off 2.39.96 which was easily enough to see o his nearest rivals by almost a full 10secs. With another GOLD medal to add to his haul he doubled Crosby's medal count for the 1st session........not bad going all in all!!

Session 2

Now that's more like it!! Plenty of kids in the pool for warm up. But i suppose they're right when they say be careful what you wish for.... 16 heats and nearly an hour of 200m backstroke and not a single Crosby swimmer in sight!!so the first swimmer in the pool was our gents team captain Caleb Griffiths. With him just starting to get back to fitness Lancs might have come a little early for him but only time would tell. To be completely honest as his dad I would have been happy if he managed to finish without throwing up, but to be fair he had a brilliant race. Straight from the off he looked strong and kept the pace with the leaders and managed to turn on his first 50 in 29 secs. Racing up to the finishing line we were all expecting him to start to fall away but with each stroke he actually looked stronger and stronger!! Finishing with a very encouraging 1.02.95!! Hopefully that will come down if we manage to keep him training!! Ladies captain Sam Harrington was up next in the 200 IM and after her land warm up regime we where all expecting an exciting race!! To be fair after her performance we might start adopting it as the new go to warm up procedure for future galas!! Always a strong fly swimmer Sam smashed out her first 50 in 32sec turning in 1st place. This is where old Sam would start to fall back but it turns out that Sam is actually quite a good backstroker and powered through turning in 2nd place ready for the breaststroke leg.......never Sam's favorite!! But again Sam definitely surprised me with a very strong breaststroke leg hitting the turn for the final 50 in a strong 2nd place and it must be said it looked like a comfortable 2nd place!! Moving into the final 25 Sam was always up with the leading pack and yet again finished with a brilliant time of 2.44.31. Finishing off the days competition was Madison Rens(.......i could almost taste the gin and chip butties by this point!!) In one of her favorite events..... favorite is a relative term for Maddy, it just means a little less pre-race moaning!! But as ever, when the moaning stops and the racing starts Maddy is amazing! Starting off a little slow in the fly and backstroke legs of the race (something we'll be working on at club Mrs Rens!!)but still well in contention, we moved to the strongest parts of Maddy's IM race. Turning into the breaststroke leg and eating away at the leading pack with every stroke Maddy looked in good position for the final 50. Stroke after stroke Maddy was catching up but she just left herself with a little to much to do. Consoling herself with a age group GOLD, I'm sure that she will get over it.

An excellent finish to an excellent days swimming from the Crosby kids

Session 3

Opening the the days swimming was Ethan Kelly in the 400m free( he's creeping closer and closer to that coaches dread of the 1500m!!) As ever, Ethan was in fine form and dispite only swimming the event twice before in competition timed his pace just right and came in with a brilliant SILVER medal. First up for the ladies in the 200m breaststroke was Maisie Steven's. Struggling with a bit of confidence at the minute Maisie wasn't really looking forward to her race, but in normal Maisie fashion when the race was ready........so was Maisie!!! Starting well and keeping pace with the pack. Pushing all the way but tiring a little at the end it was nice to see Miaise swimming well again. Hopefully that will give her a little bit of confidence back. Finishing up Crosby's morning session was Madison Rens and as ever no one is a harsher critic of Maddy than Maddy!! With an excellent swim from start to finish Maddy smashed in another GOLD medal performance.

Session 4

Jnr squad captain Will Irvine got us underway for the last session of this weekend in the 200m backstroke. Starting strongly(although we need a little work on the dive) he was pushing the leading group from the off. Always maintaining a quick comfortable pace and nailing every turn and transition meant that he could really push through and accelerate onto the wall for an excellent finish. Coming in with an Incredible long course PB of 2.33.56 and another SILVER medal, Will can be very proud of a excellent swim!! Up next for the ladies was Elise Bruns swimming in the 100m fly. After an amazing performance In the Arena league Final a few weeks ago I would hope that Elise was going into the event full of confidence!! A good start saw Elise turning at 35sec and well in contention. Moving towards the final 10m and under the flags the other girls just started to pull away. None the less,with a finish time of 1.16.37 she can be very proud of a great swim. Ladies captain Sam Harrington completed our ladies races for the weekend and again another great start saw her turn on 32secs. Moving down to the finish, it looked like a weekend full of great swims started to take their toll. Even with that Sam still managed an amazing time of 1.13.89. Up next in for his second swim of the afternoon in the gents 200m IM was jnr captain Will Irvine...... I think he just showing off?? An amazing first 50m fly saw Will turn in 2nd on 34sec. His next 50m was an amazing backstroke which saw him comfortably maintain his position moving into his breaststroke leg. Always the strong breaststroker Will powered down the 3rd 50( always been Lee's favorite 50!!) Keeping the heat leader in his sights. Finishing on his least favorite freestyle Will started to show the effect of his brilliant backstroke from earlier. Not quite falling away but unable to push the leader he still managed an Incredible PB and a BRONZE medal. Completing Crosby's weekend was Ethan Kelly and after a great swim in the morning and a carefully prepared dinner of nothing but boiled chicken and broccoli with a protein shake to wash that miserable concoction down( only kidding, think he had a happy meal and a strawberry milkshake??) Ethan was well ready for the race. Confident after watching all the times posted by his peers he nailed his 50 fly hitting the wall in 30sec. Another strong swim in the backstroke saw him a great position for his breaststroke leg. Moving through the other swimmers with ease into second place ready for a final charge to what was a very comfortable age group win in 2.22.29 and another GOLD medal.

That brought to an end the 1st weekend at counties and I can only say WHAT a weekend for the Crosby swimmer's. Well done to everyone and hopefully we can expect more of the same next week!!

Round 1 M&D's

Im going to have to hang on with this for a bit as i think all our points have to be recalculated. But what i can say is that all the kids where absolutely AMAZING. We had a huge amount of NEWBIES swimming for us and everyone of them performed like they had always been in the squad. The 13yr old girls team was TERRIFYING and stole the show with incredible performance from everyone of them. Hopefully get the points soon......think we might have won rather than drew on the re-count??

Welsh Winter Nationals

Look who's been smashing it again!!

Yet again an absolutely AWFUL performance from Ethan Kelly

Not happy with battering everyone in Liverpool, he traveled all the the way to Swansea in Welsh Wales to batter them at Welsh Nationals!! Managing not only to reach the final in EVERY event he competed in but he also took medals in EVERY final!!!

Gold - 50m Free

Silver - 200m Breast, 100 Free, 200 IM & 200 Free

Bronze - 50 Breast & 100 Breast

Who would have thought that we had our very own king of the Valleys?!?!

Well done Eth, Blown us all away AGAIN

Arena League Final

Now this was MORE like it!!

I think that i speak for everyone when i say that that was a lot more enjoyable. We started off with Madison Rens calming us all down with an incredible 200!M win in the first race and Caleb Griffiths getting a hard fought 5 place in his race.....sure a bit of training will sort that out for next year!! The kids where right up in practically every event with some incredible performances right across the squad. Yet again Ethan and Maddie took plenty of 1st place finishes in their races but this time they where joined by the excellent Casey Delaney you added a win in the 100m free. Also along the way we where clocking up ALOT more 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishes which kept us in touch with the city clubs. This time we had so many incredible swims from so many members of the squad that it is really hard to pick any one out. With Trudy Delaney pulling on her Crosby hat in anger for the first time and swimming the 100 breast. Archie Weindling looked like he had blown any chance of a place with a poor start in the 50m breast, coming up in dead last place at the end of his transition. But when he broke the surface he just went off like a ROCKET!! Almost immediately he started to reel in swimmer after swimmer after swimmer and was only JUST pipped at the wall to an amazing 2nd place. Sean Flanagan, again with another poor start (something we might have to look at??) came up in last place for his 100m back but by the 1st turn had started to make up ground on the leaders. After every turn Sean was picking off place after place. Again as we where coming into the finish Sean was just getting stronger and stronger and if the pool was 5m longer we would have taken another 1st place.

But my swim of the entire gala was Elise Bruns. Not one to blow her own trumpet and not seeming to be half confident in herself as we are in her, she approached her 100 fly with a bit of a "Lets just see how we get on" attitude. She flew out of the blocks, transitioned perfectly and broke out right up with the leading pack. On the turn she turned in about 4th place but their was literally NOTHING in it. Keeping right up with the rest of the swimmers and never letting any of them pull away from her she waited till her final turn to make the move. Never mind tiring after the first 75m Elise found a different gear and just POWERED right through the rest of the girls finishing in an incredible 2nd place!!

AMAZING Elise!!

When the points where tallied at the start of the gala and right up to halfway we where still in touch with the leaders but the city clubs were starting to pull away. We still thought that we could possibly come away with a 3rd place finish as the second half started as we certainly had Blackpool and Wrexham in our sights. After the last set of individual races with some great results the penultimate set of scores where announced and we DEFO thought that we could catch catch them as there where only a few points separating us. Going into the relays with new found confidence the kids started off incredible and the young'uns started us off well with a brilliant win in the freestyle relay. The whole team performed excellently and recorded some incredible swims. We waited for the final positions to be confirmed and where a little surprised by the 5th place finish and the gap between us and the rest of the teams. But to be fair we didnt really care. The whole team had just swam incredible and EVERY club that finished above us was a city club that DWARF our kids pooltime and training!! We far out performed all the local clubs that we swim against and hopefully next year with an uninterrupted season we can have a real crack at and cause even more upset?!?!

1st. Windsford - 233pts

2nd. Trafford Metro - 203pts

3rd. Blackpool - 173pts

4th. Wrexham - 171pts

5th. CROSBY - 159pts

6th. Prescott - 137pts

7th. Hoylake - 96pts

With the upcoming M&D's, the kids should take an awful lot of confidence from this gala and hopefully replicate the same level of performance where the outcome will hopefully be a lot different!!

Wirral Metro Christmas Gala

Firstly i'd like to give a quick apology for the next 2 reports. Same as everyone, I've been up the wall just before crimbo and haven't had a chance to sit and do the report and to add to it, I've lost all the results and little notes i take during the galas when we where cleaning the house. So these reports will be short.....probably better?!?! haha

Wirral was as ever a hugely successful gala for Crosby, despite not taking all our usual nailed on medalist and being lucky enough to have a large number of first time competitors. We had debuts from Kiai Robinson(we wont discuss goggle gate!!), Eva Robinson, Nancy Humpreys, Pheobe Brown and Aaron Kelly (sorry if i missed you out, but i'm sure you'll let me know if i have!!) so we are looking very good for the future. Everyone of these nippers got tonnes of excellent experience and will go into their next events with alot more confidence.....except Nancy......Nancy dosent NEED anymore confidence!! Haha One of the biggest things the coaches take from these events are the amount of DQ's we get, Wirral has always seemed like a DQ harsh pool for most other teams but as a club we always manage to come away with VERY few disqualifications for our nippers and even with our newbies we still managed to keep that record.

Another Crosby debutante Was Dylan Madican who was swimming in his Crosby blue for the first time since joining us a few months ago. He swam in quite a few events and definatley gave us some very interesting problems with the upcoming M&D galas!! The usual suspects ALL chipped in with plenty of medals including NEW medal winner Archie Weindling. So a big well done to

Elise Bruns, Milly Griffiths (DEFO spelt right that!!), Ethan Kelly,Dylan MAdican, Will Arnold, Casey Delaney, Tilly Stevens, Aidan Kearney and Sean Flannagan with Jnr captains Meave Bununclark and Will Irvine both chipping in and Ladies captain Sam Harrington rounding it off.

Even though they where our medalists it dosen't quite tell the whole story. Every nipper managed to smash huge amounts of time off there PB's and gave themselves huge boosts towards the next galas and plenty of kids managed to finally achieve hard fought for Lancs Qualification times which have been few and far between this season, so a huge well done goes not only to our medalists, but to EVERY member that managed to improve their times !!

There are only a few races that have stuck into my head since the gala but one of the big ones was definitely Casey Delaney in his 100m freestyle and not just because when he's in marshaling is just about the only time i cant hear him!! He has been swimming really well for the last couple of months and then managed to round the year off in INCREDIBLE style with an unbelievable 57.95!! Huge well done to Casey for that one

The other swimmer that sticks in my head is there not just for a single event but for how they performed throughout the entire weekend. They Where incredible in event after event AFTER EVENT!! If he didnt medal, he PB'ed every time he raced and more impoetantly he looked strong and comfortable in every race he competed in. Over the last few months he has really pushed on with trainng both with us at Crosby and with City and you can really see it all starting to come together. So this time the swimmer of the weekend goes to

Aidan Kearney

Well done mate, You had an incredible weekend!! Sure it will crash on through next year!!

Arena League Round 1

That was every bit as tough as we thought that it was going to be with clubs like Bolton Metro, Cockermouth and Southport lining up in the lanes next to us, but we always had GREAT faith that kids would give ANYONE a race!! If anyone was under any illusion at just how good the teams we are now swimming against where then that question was certainly answered in the first couple of races.

As ever we kicked off the Arena league with the open IM swim. We had 2 excellent swimmers staring us off with Madison Rens and Club Captain Caleb Griffiths trying to set the tone. Maddy set us of well with 4 excellent swims and kept on the toes of the leaders all the way thru the Fly and the Back strokes. As ever Maddy started to make up some ground with her always strong breast and really drove home on the Freestyle finishing in a very respectable forth position. Caleb followed into the pool next and despite his limited pool time this year managed a great swim and was never far from the leading pack. But as the race started moving to the freestyle(never Caleb's favorite!) the other lanes started to pull away. Coming in in sixth is certainly not something that Caleb is used to but looking past the final position he had a very strong race(by the way, 6 will become a VERY familiar number across the report!).

Next up was a few Crosby swimming Club newbies. With Annabel Irvine, Archie Weindling and Harvey Gilsenan being led by OLD hand Tilly Stevens in the 11yrs freestyle relay. Yet again our kids where where in it all the way and kept up with the leaders right up until Till brought us home for the final leg and again we ended the race with a very unlucky 6th position. The VERY strong 13yr olds came up next in the Medley relay and with Millie Griffiths, Jnr Captains Will Irvine and Maeve Bunclark and Ethan Kelly fired up for good race they didn't disappoint!! This was an incredibly tight race from start to finish with the lead changing hands on many occasions between a few of the clubs but yet again we had to settle for a very close 6th place finish. Next up was our 15yr freestyle team and with Brian putting them through their paces at Crosby on the Thursday evening session we were confident that Sean Flanagan, Maisie Stevens, Madison Rens and Casey Delaney smashing training relay we were all eager to see how they would do in a competition. As expected they absolutely smashed the race and managed an incredible 1.53.53!!! Yet again they all swam fantastic with Maisie even doing the unthinkable and kicking the entire 50!! but again 6th place was where we found or swimmers at the end. Rounding off the 1st set of relays where are open medley swimmers. Again we were very well represented with Tyler Delaney, Rebekah Duncan, Harvey Martin and Lottie Rens all pulling on their blue caps. Another close race, another great performance from all.... another 6th place finish.

With the first set of relays out the way, we moved into the individual swims. As ever we handed over to our youngest squad members to get us underway and with 2 of our brand new team swimmer as well!! Anabel Irvine and Archie Weindling both showed ZERO nerves as they stepped up for their 50m backstroke races and finally got a different result than 6th!! Posting excellent times, both managed to run in in a very hard earned 5th position. Our 13yr Breaststrokers where up next and Jnr captain Maeve Bunclark went in first. Another hard race and another 6th place. Ethan Kelly was next in and didnt only go and record our first win!! Yet again Ethan smashed it, he was chased all the way but managed to hold all his competitors off till the end. Well done eth!! Our 15yr Backstrokers came in next and both Sianna Rens and Sean Flanagan had excellent races and both brought home 5th place finishes for the team. Club captains Sam Harrington and Caleb Griffiths were in action next for the 100m fly with Sam having an excellent race and pulling off a 4th place finish while Caleb had it a bit tougher but still managed to run in 6th. Annabelle Irvine was back in the pool with Joshua Ashcroft in the 11yr Fly. More strong swimming from both saw points added to our total. Millie Griffiths and Will Irvine have both been looking strong in training and both had excellent swims in the 13yr backstroke managing to finish 5th place and 4th place. Our 15yr Fly swimmer were in next and both Elise Bruns and James Rogers swimming well, Elise particularly with an incredible 5th place. Sianna Rens and Tyler Delaney rounded off our first half with great swims in the open backstroke. Thee points where announced for the halfway point and i as we expected we where in 6th place with 57 points but we where hot on Blackpool's heels who where only 2 points ahead of us on 59. Tilly Stevens and Archie Weindling where in next and both smashed their races, with Tilly being edged out at the very end for a win and Archie running in 4th. Millie Griffiths and Nicolas Castineria both added more points in the 13yr fly. Madison Rens and Casey Delaney both had excellent swims in the 15yr freestyle with Maddy again unlucky not to get the win at the very end. Our open Breaststokers came in next and both Rebekah Duncan and Caleb put in excellent swims always adding to our tally. Tilly Stevens and Harvey Gilsenan where in next for the always close 50 free. Yet again Tilly was in the thick of the action and was again just pushed out at the very end but still managed a strong 3rd place for the team. Harvey showed a few nerves on his very first individual race,but still managed an impressive swim to calm his nerves. Lexie Bruns and Ethan Kelly we next up for the 100 freestyle and another win for Ethan was just what the team needed and got. In true super-sub form, Lexie was drafted in at the last minute on poolside as our 1st choice was wasn't ready to swim. Just like Superwomen Lexie threw off her hoodie and pulled on her capNgoggles and smashed it. Well done Lex!!! Our 15yr breaststrokers came up next and Madison Rens was again in incredible form and brought home an excellent 2nd place. Will Irvine took up the challenge of swimming up an age group for the lads and he never let it show. From the minute he dove in it was always going to be a big ask to keep up with this caliber of swimmers but he manged it anyway!! Rounding off our individuals was Lottie Rens and Harvey Martin for the 100m Free. Lottie was incredible as ever and looked really strong after all those Uni swims, bring us an excellent 4th place. Harvey tried to make it as difficult as possible for himself with almost dislocating his knee off the dive but then waiting to the final turn to really, properly, DEFO dislocating it!! Despite this, he still managed to finish before going off to the hospital and spending the rest of the night in A&E!!

Thanks Harv.......i think??

After a few excellent races we came into the the final set of relays with a bit of confidence back. Our 11yr olds finished their gala with the medley. Every one of these nippers where outstanding also considering that with most of them it was their first gala for the club they all swam incredible! Annabel Irvine, Archie Weindling, Tilly Stevens and Harvey Gilsenan managed to keep adding to the final points tally with a hard earned 6th place. Our 13yr olds followed with their final freestyle relay and Millie Griffiths, Maeve Bunclark, Will Irvine and Ethan Kelly went one better with a 5th place finish. Our 15yr olds wrapped up their Medley relay with a 6th place finish so anther job well done from Sean Flanagan, Madison Rens, Sianna Rens and Casey Delaney. Wrapping up the entire gala we had Tyler Delaney, Sam Harrington Lottie Rens and George Spence(in for old wobbly knee caps). and again another good performance added points to our final tally.

The Final Points

1st Wigan Best - 233pts

2nd Preston - 208pts

3rd Southport - 190pts

4th Cockermouth - 190pts

5th Blackpool - 127pts

6th CROSBY - 114pts

7th Prescott - 108pts

As we said at the start, the standard of competition was incredible. The scoreboard doesn't quite tell the whole picture. Not in one single race where our kids completely outmatched, not in one single race where our kids ever out of the race. The biggest difference between our kids and the nippers from the bigger clubs is pool time. Most of these kids have the option of 17+ hrs a week in the pool, with access to gyms and specialist training, while most of our nippers get 4.5hrs a week!! Every one of our kids where amazing and i'm sure they will remind everyone just how good they are in the final in a few weeks

On to our swimmer of the gala. After a statement like that you can imagine how difficult it is to choose just one swimmer and the option to pick the entire team again would be a valid one. But, we did have some standout swimmers in our group that definitely need to mention. From our youngest squad members we had Annabell Irvine, Archie Weindling, Harvey Gilsenan and Joshua Ashcroft that moved straight into the team like they had always been there and put aside some early nerves to perform brilliantly. But top of that group would have to be Tilly Stevens who caused all sorts of problems to the other teams. Well done Till!! Madison Rens was her usual amazing self with great performances in all her swims and Sam Harrington has gone from strength to strength and really seems to be enjoying her role as the Ladies captain.

But one swimmer stood out from all these great swims. Not only getting us our first win and then going on to get another win in his next event he also helped his relay teammates to some excellent finishes. Ethan Kelly is swimming absolutely incredibly at the minute and is just smashing it every time he gets in the pool. Well done Ethan and in Brians words "Absolutely terrible race mate!!"

Winter Regionals

I know that the kids compete with City for Regionals but as far as we're concerned they'd rather do it with us!! soooooo........

A huge well done to Sianna Rens, Club captain Sam Harrington and Madison Rens for competing in this years North West Winter Regional Championships!!

All swimmers we're amazing but yet again Madison stole the show(even though she looks like a bit of a loon in that photo??) with her multiple finals and even managing to win medals in both the 100m AND 200m IM

L&D Championship

Well, this one's going to be a little easier to complete as i can't say that we where actually allowed to watch an awful lot of swimming.With fears and restrictions being what they are at the moment, we where only allowed 1 coach at poolside while the other coaches had to marshal the kids inside what was DEFO an inadequately heated sports hall while they waited for their races. Not that kids cared, give them a giant space and a load of vending machine bouncy balls to run around in and they will duly oblige! Also i was helping officiate at poolside so on a personal high note, i got to DQ a load of 9yr old kids for no reason and made them cry......GET IN!!!

But what i could help but hear was all the amazing success that the kids managed poolside. All the nippers managed fantastic PB and for the most part walked away with a pennant or even better a medal ......or even bettera, you where Madison Rens!!

So although i cant describe to much of what actually happened i can certainly give a few mentions out to some amazing all round performances

We had a few kids entering their first gala and gave absolutely NO indication of nerves whatsoever!! Issabella Hamer and Toby Dwyer had a great swims. Keshav Harve with Dan and Adam Morgan had a great start to their competitive career and walked away with a pennant each but Annabel Irvine was the star for our newcomers with incredible swims and was rewarded with numerous medals and pennant
Just when we all thought it was safe to go for dinner we had 2 LUNATICS competing in the 1500m and 800m events. Freya Doran was first up for the 1500m and made the whole thing look incredibly easy dispite never swimming the event before AND our Ladies Captain Sam Harrington followed that performance the next day with a PB in the 800m. Incredible performances ladies but lets NEVER do that again!! haha
Jnr Captains Will Irvine and Maeve Bunclark took their usual haul of medals with some fantastic swims.
Gents Captain Caleb Griffiths who swam 3 events....got 3 gold medals....to cool to go for the 100m fly final though
Millie Griffiths who won the best backstroke transition in the WORLD competition.....judged by me!! (they were incredible though love!!)
Dylan Marshal smashed a incredible PB on his 400m freestyle.
The Bruns contingent that not only had a fantastic time in the pool but also kept everyone at marshaling entertained with an amazing disappearing hand trick....i'll show you the video when i see you.
Tilly Stevens managed a great 100m freestyle
Nicolas Castineria found some form. He seems been struggling for a good performance for the last few as he's been arguing with a troublesome knee problem, but manged to put it behind him at last so hopefully.........??
Finlay Arnold carried on his brilliant form from Bolton in both his 50m back and free
Aiden Kearney blew everyone's socks off with his performances all weekend and if it hadn't been for those pesky Rens'sssss he would have gotten my vote for the swimmer of the weekend
on to those pesky Rens'sssss

It's not very often that we give our top top swimmers, swimmers of the gala because they normally swim at such a high level that they have to do something truly incredible to get noticed.......dont feel to sorry for them, they usually come home with a bucket full of medals to comfort them!! Well this was one of those weekends and one of those performances from our Maddy

Madison Rens was not just up to her usual standard, but this time went miles beyond!! Not just winning her own age group in numerous events but then going into finals and SMASHING all comers to bring home the overall CHAMPION!!

Maddy you where INCREDIBLE all weekend

Bolton Comeback Meet

Let's see if i can remember how to do this?!?!?!

Oh my god

........waking up at 5am

.........the constant questions from the kids

what am i doing-how long till i race-can i go the toilet.....

.........standing up for 12hrs

......the heat..........my god THE HEAT!!!

I've missed galas!!!

This was a great way to get the kids AND us coaches re-acquainted with the wonderful world of competitive swimming after such a long layoff. The kids just took straight back to it like the last 2 yrs hadn't even happened. They where yet again an absolute CREDIT to our club both in and out the pool. They where ALL at the pool end making a huge amount of noise supporting their teammates for EVERY race......started to flag in the late afternoon if we're being honest though.

The level of competition was incredibly high with our kids facing off against huge elite city clubs like Bolton and Salford but not once did they let that fact worry them in the slightest. First into this GLORIOUS new era of swimming was Zein Mukhutar in the 200IM and he really set the tone with a fantastic PB. Which spurred NEW JNR CAPTAIN Will Irvine onto a well earned SILVER medal in the next race. The girls then took over with the 200m Freestyle and we had quite a few entry with Lexie Bruns kicking us off. Dispite being incredibly nervous, she manged a strong swim and great PB. Next in was Jess Harrington and again another good swim was rewarded with a PB. You could tell Jess had been doing a lot of work on her turns and transitions as they where all perfect and really helped with her swim. Her sister and NEW CLUB CAPTAIN Sam Harrington was next in the pool a started off at lightning pace and registered another great time. Madison Rens finished off the Crosby interest and with an amazing GOLD medal performance and a 6sec PB!!

NEW CLUB CAPTAIN Caleb Griffiths was next up in the 100m fly and dispite limited training he still managed our second GOLD medal and even more impressive was his 3 sec PB. Next we had 3 swimmers in for the ladies 100m fly, With Maisie Stevens, Elise Bruns and Sianna Rens all making their first appearances of the weekend and with fats starts from all of them they all where unlucky not to come away with some medals. Up next was the always popular 50m Breast. We had 7 lads representing the club and everyone of them managed to hit good PB's. Oliver Lambert got everyone started and was followed into the pool by Oscar Donnelly, Shamal Harave, Zein Mukhtar and Nicolas Castineria all of whom had good races. Fishing up with 2 medal winners wasn't a bad way to sign off the event with Will Irvine earning a BRONZE and Ethan Kelly announcing his intentions for the day with a very lucky GOLD medal.......he was only about 5 seconds ahead of his nearest rival this time.....!! The Girls followed the boys into the pool to complete their 50m breaststroke and again with EIGHT swimmers we where well represented. FIVE ladies where making their first appearance in the pool and Issabella Jones, NEW JNR CAPTAIN Maeve Bunclark, Tilly Stevens, Mya Laycock and Aahana Manglam all kept the strong performances coming with excellent swims each, With Tilly managing to pull a BRONZE medal out and Madison Rens finishing up the event with another well earned GOLD medal it was another VERY successful time for Crosby. Next up was the Lads 100m Backstroke and in what can only be considered a PHENOMENAL performance by all the lads in Crosby blue as EVERY member of the team managed at least a SILVER medal!!! With Zein Mukhtar, Sean Flanagan, Will Irvine and Caleb Griffths all bring SILVER medals away with them, we can all consider that a job WELL DONE!!! The ladies followed next with Millie Griffiths and Sianna Rens swimming well. To wrap up the morning for the lads we had the 100m Freestyle. Oscar Donnelly led the charge With Mathew Blackburn and George Spence following. Ethan Kelly ended our morning medal hunt with a BRONZE medal and a PB, well done lads!! The always popular 50m freestyle wrapped up the ladies morning and it is safe to say the nearly 1,000000 girls swam in that event. But we will focus on our ladies for now. Jess Harrington, Tilly Stevens, Lexie Bruns, Maisie Stevens, Elise Bruns, Rebekah Duncan and Bob all managed to pull great PB's off but yet again Madison Rens smashed out another GOLD medal performance to wrap up the morning session!! Considering we medalled in EVERY event and had ZERO DQ's we all considered that a very positive start to the day!!!

Before we could all enjoy our allotted 20 min dinner time , there was an unsavory incident involving a coat, some raspberries and a someones carpet.....but the least said about that, the better????

We kicked off our afternoon session with.....well, a break?!?! as we had no swimmers in the first event of the afternoon we all got to sit poolside and sing inspirational songs to each other in preparation for the ladies 200m IM that was now our first event. But didn't those songs of an insparartional nature do their thing?!?! First in was both Lexie Bruns and Jessimaca Harrington smashing off fantastic PB's. Next up was literally BOTH their older sister with Sam Harrington and Elise Bruns matching their sisters efforts with PB's of their own. But yet again Madison Rens finished with an incredible swim earning yet another GOLD medal and more importantly a huge PB that really signals that she is getting right back to her best!! The first event for our lads was the 50m Backstroke and with so many of our lads taking part we missed jotting a few of the times. What we didn't miss was the fact that yet again EVERY lad hit PB's throughout the event and EVERY lad swam incredible. So PB's to Oliver Lambert, Josh Bradburn and Oscar Donnelly. We also managed an incredible haul of medalist in the event with Finlay Arnold UNsuprising everyone with an amazing performance in his first gala. He started at an incredible pace and maintained it right the way through to the end. We need to tidy up his starts and turns but otherwise, he really settled into his first gala with an incredible swim. So we manged to walk away with a GOLD medal for Caleb Griffiths, SILVER medals for Sean Flanagan and Finley Arnold and a BRONZE medal for Will Irvine we done quite well!! Next up was our ladies and again they never let us down with most girls at least managing to knock sometime off their PB. Another well represented event came up next for the in lads in the 100m Breaststroke. Two stand out performers where Joshua Bradburn and Nicolas Castineria. Both wher pited against each other in the same heat and next to each other in lanes 1 & 2. It was nip and tuck throughout the entire race with Nicolas pinching it with better turns and transitions only for Josh to be right back on his heels at the end of the lane. Nic eventually manged to push ahead on the last length but both lads manged to smash 5 sec+ of their PB's. With Etham Kelly and Will Irvine both managing GOLD medal swims it was another great event for the lads. The Girls followed the lads into the pool next and again didn't let the lads have it all their own way. With Rebekah Duncan destroying her PB in her new favorite event. From the minute Becs dove in she was racing!! Unfortunately she couldn't maintain the pace right the way through and you could see her slow on the final 25m, but that is only a matter of fitness and we can work on that!! With Madison bringing home her obligatory GOLD we can again say job WELL DONE kids!! On we moved to the lads 50m Fly, always a favorite at Crosby with so many good fly swimmers in our ranks and yet again the lads all pulled PB's out from everyone. Straight in with their response to the lads was the ladies 50m Butterfly. Again excellent swims and PB's from all with a mention for Millie Griffiths who managed to knock a full 2sec off her own PB.but the ladies manged to do a little better than the blokes this time as they had a BRONZE medal winner in Tilly Stevens!!

I've got to be honest, i think ALL the coaches where struggling a little at this point and the furtive looks at watches was starting to increase in frequency. We could all had a very definite plan in our heads by point and they all seemed remarkably similar.

HOME

SHOWER

COUCH

That ice cold bottle of BEER at the back of the fridge CHILLED to perfection by now......

all's we had to do was navigate the last 2 freestyle events!!

First up was the boys in the 50m Free and again, you'll have to forgive us as with so many kids competing, we missed a lot of the times. but yet again the lads pulled it out the bag with great swim after great swim. Up for the final event was the ladies and by then, we where all delirious!! But yet again the girls smashed it!!

A huge well done has to go to all the kids that competed for the club in the first event back after nearly 2 years. EVERY ONE of them was without doubt AMAZING!!

Whether they PB'ed

Whether they medalled

Whether they just competed

They were all OUTSTANDING!!!

These group of nippers but so much pressure on themselves to do well that they have absolutely no idea how proud the coaches are of them just to be swimming at the level they are after such a difficult time out of the pool. We were just hoping for good support for our swimmers at the lane ends(BRILLIANT, NOISY SUPPORT!!!) a few PB's and minimal DQ's. As it happens, EVERY KID PB'ed, we brought home a tonne of medals and i dont remember a SINGLE DQ for any Crosby kid!!!

This is the time that we would normally announce the swimmer of the event. I think everyone will agree that all the praise should go to EVERY Crosby S.C member that took part over that Sunday

WELL DONE EVERYONE!!!!

Freya Doran

Well....what do we have here???

Has our Freya been torturing those poor defenseless jelly fish again??? I'll be passing her details on to PETA if she's not careful!!

Hang on.......no.......i'm actually been told that OUR Freya has only gone and done it YET again!!!

Winner Jnr Female

Winner Female

3rd place OVERALL

and most importantly

Whooper of Mr Andrew Doran for the 1st(not last)Time

Of the Big Bala 2021 Swim!!

Amazing performance Freya, Keep it up !!!

Summer Schedule

Finish swimming on Sunday 25th July

Return on Monday 16th August for limited summer training

Mondays and Thursdays from 7pm till 9pm

We will gauge the numbers and see if we need to split the groups

All sessions will cost £2 per session per child

Return to Full training on Thursday 2nd September

25m Crosby Records

Another fantastic night of swims this Thursday where we saw all the squad swimmers try and break the VERY VERY longstanding 25m Crosby Swim Club records. We have a new name to add to the list of usual suspects with Rebecah Duncan making her 1st appearance on the list in the 25m 14yr breaststroke. Well done Becs!!!

The list doesn't quite tell the whole story of how well ALL the nippers done in the event with multiple kids breaking the existing records only to be replaced in the next race with another nipper. Ones that particularly stand out are

13yr back backstroke with Grace Blackburn initially breaking the longstanding record only to have that beaten by Madison Rens
All 13yr old boys events with Zein Mukhtar smashing every record......but unfortunately he competes with Ethan Kelly who is swimming AMAZINGLY at the minute
Every 15yr old girls' event was hotly contested between Sam Harrington, Sianna Rens and Lucy McKenzie. Again, the records where being smashed and replaced as the girls were finishing their races.
Every 16yr old lads event.........OLD MAN Martin wound the clock back to let the young'uns know that at the grand age of 20...he's still got it!! Again, ALL the lads smashed EVERY record that had stood for quite some time.

Hopefully we'll get them all replaced again this coming Thursday!!

WELL DONE

again kids!!

Timed Swims

WEEEEELLLLLLLL,

How good was that?!?!?!

How fantastic were all the nippers all the way through that?!?!?! We managed to post some very impressive times right thru the entire event with a few of the kids managing to break a few Crosby swim club record times along the way. All the kids in every squad managed some very impressive swims and the times more than reflect that.

The final day was a particular highlight with ALL the Jnr/Pre squad kids swimming 25m for every stroke.... i really enjoyed having to tell the kids that " Yes, You DO have to do 25m Fly" and watching their little faces crumble.......it's the little things that give us coaches the strength to carry on.

The Squad swimmers again where unbelievable with some fantastic swims. although we did have the usual moans about having to swim 3 races in one session.......until i reminded them that that equated to less than 3mins of actual swimming!! haha

But the best was definitely saved until last when after we finished the last of the timed swims we had just enough time to fit in a BOYS v GIRLS canon. All started off very quite and built slowly as the lead ebbed and flowed from boys to girls and girls to boys and back again until the last 2 swimmers got in and it was literally neck and neck until the girls nicked it at the very end with what was latter decided by the male coaches to be an illegal swimmer........didnt see that coming! hahaha

Well done Girls you where all amazing and it was great to her all the kids cheering each other on again!

We will be trying to sort the times out over the weekend and get them sent out to everyone so you can all see how you got on against your last times. We will also be uploading the times onto the Level X swim leader boards where it will be interesting to how we compare with other clubs at the minute.

Just an FYI.

We will only be uploading swimmers who are already Cat2(kids that want to swim in eternal galas) swimmers otherwise you would be charged an uplift in your fee's for something you would probably never use.

Timed Swims/Level X

We're only doing it again people!!

We will be holding our 2nd LevelX event at Crosby for all our swimmers on

13/14th June during our normal training hours.

Get the Kids to pick their 2 favorite strokes and let us know on the day and if we have time we will try to fit in some additional swims.

Training Time

As from Monday 24th May we will be attempting to go back to our integrated squad sessions which will allow the squads more time in the pool. we will be running the first few sessions just to check that the poolside staff are happy with how the sessions will run and there are no issues with lane numbers etc

Monday -

Jnr/Pre Squad - 6.50 till 7.50pm

Squad - 7.50 till 8.50pm

Thursday -

Squad only - 7.00 till 9.00pm

Sunday -

Jnr/Pre Squad - 12.50 till 2.20pm

Squad - 2.20 till 3.50pm

Unfortunately we are still restricted to poolside changing and entering and exit from the poolside for the time being, but hopefully late in June it will all go back to normal!

WE'RE BACK!!!

Finally some good news!!

Squad 1 to to return to the pool on Thursday 15th April for a light session with ALL squads returning on Sunday 18th.

Please ensure that you bring your Covid Declaration forms with you on your first session back or we wont be able to allow you access poolside. We will again be queuing outside using the poolside fire escapes as our means of entry/exit poolside. Please check with your parents/guardians for your lane allocations before you return, but they are the same arrangements as before we left.

See you all back in the pool !!

in,out

in, out???

..........IN!!!!!

See you all Sunday!

We're Away again😢

But Not for long!!!😁

WE'RE BAAACK!!!

After such a long time away, it was amazing over the last few weeks to finally welcome all the kids back into the pool at Crosby. The kids have really coped well with all the restrictions and the changes that have been imposed on them and on the whole gone on with everything just exactly as knew they would!! With everyone back to some sort of training thoughts are inevitably turning to competition. We have already had a heads up that Swim England are already looking at ways to get competitive swimming restarted in some shape or form. At the minute we don't really have any more info than that, so watch this space!!

With the start of a new season we, have the inevitable departures from the club as some of our senior swimmers take themselves off to uni. Got to be honest......little bit disappointed that they don't think that our club is enough to keep them entertained and feel that they they need to go to university to get an actual career. Whats wrong with helping out poolside and living in your mum and dads for the rest of your life......God, kids today!!

First off we say a farewell to former ladies Captain Abi Towle who is off to university in Sheffield to study

Checking the cracks in the pavements
Banana Bending

A curious choice for such an intelligent lady???

Secondly, a sad Ta-Ra to last years ladies captain as Chloe Quarton goes off to university in Leeds to Study

Belly button fluff
The inside of dark rooms

Again another set of strange choices !!

All joking aside, the pair will be HUGLY missed by all at Crosby both in and out of the pool. We all wish them an incedible time at Uni and will welcome them back whenever they get the chance!!!

We have some better news to finish up with. We usually announce our captains with alot of fanfare at our annual awards night. But as with an awful lot this year, Covid fixed that!! So this year, we will have to settle for the website and the social media pages for now.

Jnr Captains

Millie Griffiths

Ethan Kelly

Captains

Lottie Rens

Ali Mukhtar

This will be a different type of year for our captains with the lack of competions but im sure they will rise to the challenge of leadership none the less. Hopefully we can make a proper fuss over them at the Christmas Party......if we can have one?!?!?

Crosby Kids imprisoned!!

Dispite the lock-DOWN, the Crosby kids haven't let it get them DOWN(...sorry!!) Here's some off the stuff that they have been getting up to to pass the MANY MANY hours of spare time back at the ranchero

Dont make me do it dad.......PLEASE!!!

I Promise i'll stop torturing our Sam....PROMISE!!

Our Very own Freya Doran just before she swam the Mersey!!

Well done Freya AMAZING!!!!

........Dont like the look of the bloke your swimming with though kid!! haha

In the Final of this years Crosby hide and seek championships we have last years champions the Irvine's lining up against last years beaten finalists the Laycock's and new comers the Ashcroft's. It's a bold move to include a dog into the team and i'm unsure exactly what expertise he will bring ?!?! Anyway the teams are moving to their starting positions and....GO!!!!

Somewhere in a pool on Westminster Road in the Dark Ages of 1987 a group of young hopeful swimmers where starting on their path of international stardom...... ALL those dreams are DASHED now, but some of you will be able to spot 3 coaches that you saw practically EVERY DAY only a few weeks ago.

FYI Mary-Anne ISN'T one of them!!

On your marks.........

Get set..........

....................GO!!!

I love her.....but god,

she's a cheat!!

Oh look

The Rensies.... and the Griffo's.......AGAIN!

I know he's my lad

but OMG how BIG IS HE!!!

He's like the Sasquatch off the

6 million dollar man

Looks like Young Aaron Kelly is Up for the part of Mitch Bucanan son Branson(meant that!).....his stepson from his secret third marriage, In Baywatch...the Crosby Shenanigans. In this scene they've had a big fight over dirty socks left on the bathroom floor...... so INTENSE!!

Looks like Aaron's forgot his lines again!!

The HOFF will NOT BE PLEASED!!!

Looks like Ethan Is STILL refusing to tidy his room!!

You go Eth, Run wild and FREE

Run Ethan RUN!!!

Ethan still refusing to clean his room!!

Nutter.......

ABSOLUTE NUTTER!!

Lucy's dedication to the world of open water swimming knows no bounds!!! The country has been basking in a record breaking heatwave for the last 2 months....does Lucy feel the need to dip her toe at that time??? Nooooooo!!!

DAAAAD, Its raining sideways...... shall we go for that swim now???

Your a nutter young Lucy!! Haha

What you cant see is just behind the camera is a full crew of medical professionals ARMED with silver blankets and hot Bovril just so we can all see how much Lucy and Ste ENJOYED that open water swim.

Haha Well done you two!!!

It'll be worth it in the end mate!!!

See TOLD YEH!!

Why am i allowed to put a rope on him when he's swimming but when i done it a few years ago and went out for a few pints, i'm a terrible father???........WHY!!

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He's a lumberjack and he's ok

He sleeps all night and he works all day

He cuts down trees

He eats his lunch

He goes to the lava......that's enough i think

From a complete dad point of view Ethan...those are 2 lovely bits of wood you messing about with and i know your dads having kittens behind the scene's watching you fiddle about with them!!

Also, hope that socket is RCD protected or me and Dave will be round to confiscate that wood...for safety....obvs!!

Simon and Di

At NO point is Oscar allowed to have a smile on his face when in THAT pool!!

It's for

TRAINING and TRAINING ONLY!!

Looks like our Lottie is struggling with the ancient mystical art of the Hula Hoop. I believe it can take YEARS to master and there are temples atop Tibetan mountains full of wizened old men twirling hoops around their waist....... Every journey starts with one small step Lottie!!

Ooer....looks like things are hotting up at the Rens household if we are starting boxing practice with the girls

Madison "MADDOG" Rens

Sianna "PSYCHO" Rens

This time, it's for the comfy bit on the couch - you have to say that in a corny American accent!

OH MY GOD!!!

Best birthday EVER!!

I'm on next....Winner stays on!!

Although looking at the concentration on Jakes face.....

. i think we know who that will be!!

The Blackburns have been back to check and in Clares own words

Yup, Still closed 😢

I'm not sure if i want to thank her for the info or not??? haha

Winner of this weeks

"I've had ENOUGH"

award goes to

Madison Rens

Well done Maddy, keep up the hard work!!

Lottie....Just give us the cheese and nobody needs ever know about the 15 empty packets of crisps under your bed........your choice Lottie!!!

Caleb struggling to remember what back stroke was...i SWEAR he was there for a full 3mins just waggling his hands around..... he got there in the end!!

So cool he can even update his INSTA account mid press!!

..........Alright, lawn maintenance might not be my strongest attribute!! If im honest green grass was SOOO last year!! All the coolest lockdown lawns are YELLOW!!

Aaaand we're done for the day!! ....oooo NICE SOCKS!!!

Looks like Ethan is practising for this years double dutch championships!!

Grandmaster Flash and Melly Mel better watch out!!!

Our Little rainbow warriors. Who would have thought that a few years later that both these little stars would be 2 time M&D champs and both helped getting promotion into the Premiere division of the ARENA League!!!

Floating like a butterfly and stinging like a .....BUTTERFLY!!

Stick and move joshua

STICK AND MOVE!!

Rock the boat

Dont rock the boat baby

Rock the boat

Don't tip the boat OVER

Looks like our Gracie and Joshua have had enough and fell asleep....come on Laura, CRACK that whip!!!

With the look on Dylans face i'm presuming that younger bro Ben just won at whatever they were doing and is taking the time honored tradition of rubbing it in, to a new level by adding stairs into the mixer!!! Bravo young Ben.....BRAVO

The Griffo's SMASHING the swim hat challenge

......Those are a VERY fetching pair of Kneecaps on display there!! The owner should be VERY proud and his wife consider herself VERY lucky!!

Some real skill and technique to position the hat so PERFECTLY on that head....... and a pair of ULTRA STYLISH grey socks to round off the ensemble...wow that guy's really got it GOING ON!!

BOOM!!

If I would have dropped it, it would have landed square on her head......JUST SAYING!!

Again i can only go from what the email tells me, but i'm assured that we have Issac & Finn Arnold doing everything apart from swimming in that luxurious pool...... a prize for guess which is which!! Answers on a postcard, please send to P.O box 1....always wanted to say that!!

Looks like Finn is taking swimming off the table for the moment and seeing if he can get a role in the new CHiP's movie.....Eric Estrada will be quaking in his motorcycle boots!!!

Issac "Potter" creating yet another Crosby Swimming Club masterpiece - DEFO get into Griffindor with that mate!!!

OH MY GOD What did Lottie say to deserve THAT!?!?

I'm assured that this was a very PG game of beer pong......dosen't look it!!

Phew looks like everyone made it out in one piece!!! If not completely dry....Sianna must have lost looking at her face though!!

Lottie in a much more civilised pastime!!!

Where did we get all these artisic kids from!?!?

Dont worry.... if Boris doesnt let us all out soon we will be sending the NEW club training pool around to everyone's house. This week the Blackburn family will be using it

Looks like Luke's in 1st....Good to see he left his weapons of mass destruction with easy reach in case of alien invasion!!!

Looks like we've lost Luke to carry on the good fight!!!

I am TRULY HOPING he wrote his name with those water pistols!?!?!

Today Ethan Learn't a very valuable lesson.

Swimming is REALLY BORING without WATER!!

Either that or he's just bought the worlds biggest catapult....... God i hope its a CATAPULT!!!

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GO ED LAAAAD!!!

Now all's you have to do is fight the tramps that lives under that bridge and your exercice is done for the day........EASY!!

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Oscar Donnelly giving it the biffters for his daily exercice...... i just hope he checked for dog poo before he settled into position?!?!

Keep it up mate!!!

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Well done Josh I'm reliable informed that the dinner was really nice!!

We'll have to get you and Caleb on buffet duties for the presentation night??

Yet another budding Gordon Ramsey to add to the fold.... wonder who swore more Gordon Ramsey, Josh Bradburn or his mum when she seen all the washing up???

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Can anyone identifiy our very young Nirvana Fan

You will absolutley kick yourself if i have to tell you!!

I'm told that that figure whizzing away on the bike is our very own Ethan Wallace......... Dont see it myself but his mum is trustworthy enough?!?! Haha

Looks like its PARTY TIME at the Steven's household

They've DEFO got all the best gear on!!!

Looks like our Captain has gone "PRISON RULES" with his new haircut!!

I'm not sure that's an accepted hairstyle at Hogwarts Luke!!

I piddy da fool.......

that lets his dad go all Vidal Sasoon with a set of clippers but ends up looking like Mr T without the chains!!

Well done Ethan you look spectacular!!

We DID tell the Blackburn's that there was no swimming didn't we???

Love it Bob!!!!

Aahana out for nice leisurely jog along the prom....then a HUGE BREAKY i hope?!?!

One Of our NHS HERO'S in none other than our very own

Emily Spencer

I speak for us all when i say we couldn't be prouder!!

But more importantly to you and all our HERO'S

STAY SAFE!!

Abi, I dont think that is approved work attire for that job...do you?!?!

Why does everyone always look so pleased with themselves when they're holding a battery drill??

Ahhhh, the drill makes sense now!! What you don't see in this photo is that basketball ended up through that toilet window

Looks like Isabella won this round of whatever game that is..... i suspect Freddie will have a different ideas for round 2 ?!?!

Isabella Jones enjoying some Well organised and even more importantly CLEAN AND TIDY fun

Archie, i'm hoping that you purchased that beast at the local fishmongers because that thing looks like it could bite your leg off!!!

Alex Goldsmith enjoying the the April sunshine....hope his mum got some lotion on those shoulders!!

Aidan, your parents must love you VERY VERY much to buy you a trombone....or they are deaf??? i just hope that your brother dosen't want to be a drummer!!

Aidan, Aidan Brother and Aidan Dad camping out in the back garden...... It would take a braver soul than me to be the person that unzipped THAT tent in the morning!!

Aidan rocking a new BLUE HAIR DO to match his BLUE STEEL pose!! Electric mate.

........eh.......what........???

Sorry Madison, i've got nothing for this one!!

Just so you both know, i saw Scoobie having a wee in that pool before!!

Well it looks like Lottie has picked the most difficult jigsaw in the history of jigsaws......Find the corners Lottie.......FIND THE CORNERS!!!

This is either Ethan doing the 2nd week of a couch to 5k programme, or more likely Ethan 30 secs after his mam asked him to tidy his room...... i know where my moneys going!! haha

Keep it up mate!!!!

Ethan getting some aerobic exercise in!! I'm going to bet that 5 mins after his mam took this photo, Ethan was fast asleep on that incredibly comfortable looking couch!! haha

Who knew we had so many artistic kids at Crosby?!?!?

Amazing Nic and even i can see that he's a huge fan of Picasso....or his mum and dad need to check what's in his water bottle these days?!?! Hahaha

Keep it up mate BRILLIANT!!

Caleb and Millie sporting their brand new Regional Championship hoodies.

Another one that we'll have to PEEL off Millie while she's asleep!!

Lucy McKenzie Looking amazing as she takes up serious cycling. Let just hope that when Lucy develops the inevitable chronic asthma that dogs the professional cycling sport it doesn't hamper Lucy's swimming!!

Taken with the new I phone10 i'll bet!!

Well done Sean Flanagan. I'm going to guess that he included the Crosby S.C buoys on purpose

AMAZING!

Archie Weindling pogoing like a champ, 347 is his best so far ..... he'll have abs that will put Peter Andre to shame in NO TIME!

I know what your all thinking and YUP, we DO want to see him pogoing on that trampoline!!

Am i the only one that remembers when pogoing used to be something else??

Think our Grace is about to fly out the end there???

Keep it up!!!!

Just a quick question though, Do you think we could find enough room to throw Katie Hopkins in there when your done.......

PLEASE!!!!

I'm Not sure if that is a training aid or a new form of enhanced interrogation. None the less nice high elbows from Grace there!!

TUMBLE TURN!!!

See it's not just Joshua Thats practising while we're away!!

Anyone for tennis....i mean Badders???

Grace and Eva go head to head for the Crosby grand slam...Bet there was a few bob put down in the bookies for that!!

Lets face it, if Grace is doing it in her sliders my money has got to go on Eva!!

Joshua about to go for his ONE form of legally approved daily exercise.... although by the look of that smile, he might be trying to dip out for a sneaky TWO!!

Looks like a CLASSIC press up on the dunes from our Grace and Joshua. Careful where that sand goes!!

Looks like Toby Dwyer is brushing up on his footy skills. Just to be clear though mate, those skills WILL NOT come in handy in a gala?!?! Haha

Keep it up mate..... the exercise, not the ball....but you can do that as well if you like!!

Looks like Luca Dunham is either practicing being a Elton John impersonator or his mum and dad are turning him into a mixologist??

Oliver Turner-Bone auditioning for the vacant 007 role. I know it looks like he's cleaning up, but he's doing it with a pressure washer and that is almost fun......so it dosen't really count. Sorry mate, your dishes tonight!!

Sianna Rens looking to expand into the UFC and practicing her choke hold on a poor unsuspecting Scoobie!!

Caleb doing the tea barefoot no less. I'm going to bet that there is a quite SCARY amount of chillies included with that meal.....and he dosen't clean up!!

For the record, it was loverly!!

The Stevens's held the annual backyard Olympics with Tillimiester showing well. Looks like everyone got medals apart from our fearless leader who just looks like he's about to do a Tonya Harding on the competition???

I'm Not sure if Oscar is self isolating or just giving his mam and dad 5mins peace??

Again not sure if Oscar is looking for a job as David Belamey replacment or showing China how you should really treat the local flora and fauna???

Oscar with his artisitic side...... or a cry for help?!?! haha

Brilliant mate, keep them coming!!!!

ALL training for ALL Squads suspended until further notice due to the current Caronavirus outbreak. We will try to keep all members updated through both the website and email as soon as any news is available

Wirral Metro Spring Meet

Session 1&2

Strange not to hear anyone cough or sniffle for fear of Bango music kicking in and local villagers chase them out of town with pitchforks and flaming torches?????

This is an event that in recent years has turned out to be quite rewarding for Crosby even though the competition is high due to it being one of the last chance for kids to achieve must coveted Regional qualification times and we were hoping that this visit would be just the same. We started off with the lads on the 400m freestyle. But we could take it easy because only psycho's would choose to start off Saturday morning with a 400m freestyle race!!! So why exactly where Dylan Marshall and Aidan Aidan Kearney at marshaling then........oh god..... the lunatics!!!! Off first was Dylan and he managed to post an incredible near 30 sec PB to get the ball rolling and this set the tone for the rest of the gala!! Following that was Aidan and again, another great performance saw Aidan rewarded with a 20sec PB!! We had the ladies up for the first time next for their 200m I.M Isabella Jones lead the charge and managed a 2sec PB to get the ladies off to flyer.Freya Doran (in the first of her 300 swims) took up the baton and managed to hit a 6sec PB. Millie Griffiths and Maisie Stevens were in next and both girls were amazing with Millie hitting a 10sec PB and a BRONZE medal and Maisie Stevens hitting a 3 sec PB and earning a SILVER on the way. Holly Cooper and Sam Harrington finished our interest in the event with Holly capturing a BRONZE and Sam a well earned PB!! Up next was the gents 100m backstroke and we were heavily represented across all age groups. Up first was young Nicolas Castineria and yet again a huge 13 sec PB really set the tone! Oscar Donnelly was up next but he could only conjure an 11 sec PB(........absolutely UNBELIEVABLE gents!!!) Aidan Kearney was next in straight after his 400m free but even with little rest time between events he still managed to hit his entry time!! Super Will Irvine was in next and this lad is QUICKLY becoming the bane of every lad that has to race against him and this time it was no different! Not only did he take nearly 5secs off his entry time but he managed his first GOLD of the weekend!! Another medal and PB followed quickly on with James Rogers bringing home a BRONZE. We finished the backstroke with another great performance with Tyler Delaney hitting a fantastic 2sec PB. With the ladies breaststroke event next we knew we had a great chance of maintaining the tumbling PB's and visits to the medal table and yet again the nippers didn't disappoint. Trudy Delaney was first out and got the girls off to a terrifying start by smashing almost 13secs off her PB which over 100m is an incredible achievement. This is one of the best swims I have seen our Trudy do and hopefully she can maintain all the hard work she has put in over the last few months!! Freya Doran was in the pool next and yet again another PB fell this time by a mere 6 secs!! Next up was Isabella Jones and Lucy Chellew again both hit great PB's. This was an especially great swim from Lucy as she has been struggling to even hit her PB's over the last few galas but this time she not only hit it but absolutely SMASHED it by almost 6sec, well done Lucy!!! Our final two were Jnr captain Maisie Stevens and Hollie Cooper . Both girls had fantastic swims in their heats, with both leading the charge all the way through and each was rewarded with a PB and Crosby's 2nd and 3rd GOLD medals of the day. In what was Aidan Kearneys 3rd event on the bounce (.....think he must of upset his dad while he writing out his entry form???) we started off the 50m butterfly event. In with Aidan was Oscar Donnelly and again both lads picked up great PB's to get us on the way. Up next in the same heat and swimming NEXT to each other where James Rogers and Casey Delaney both the lads set off at a great pace and were both out in front of the chasing pack as they turned off the first 25m Casey had a clear lead and looked strong as they both turned into the finishing straight. But with James ALWAYS finishing strong you couldn't count him out as they headed down to the finish. With each stroke James was chipping away at Casey's lead and they touched we all had to look to the board to tell us who had got there first. Some how James had managed it with a fantastic final 25m that gave him a win by 0.21sec, great race lads!!!! With a GOLD and SILVER for the lads I think we can give them both a pat on the back. Our final pairing for the event was the always improving Mathew Blackburn and the gala debutante George Spence. Mathew again hit a great PB and is improving with every gala and every event he competes. George showed no nerves on the block but unfortunately, despite a great swim managed to add time onto a completely made up in the changing room time!! None the less he was still rewarded with a debut BRONZE medal for his efforts. Up next was the always hugely popular 50m freestyle and young Annabelle Irvine chose this event to announce herself to the world of competitive swimming and her mum and dad to the joy of forking out for double the amount of swims at every gala!! As we expected a few early nerves were put to bed as soon as she dove onto the water and she was rewarded with her first PB by knocking nearly 7secs off her entry time. We had a huge amount of PB's for Crosby in the next for heats with Isabella Jones, Lucy Chellew, Freya Doran Trudy Delaney and Jess Harrington all having great swims. With Meave Bunclark and Millie Griffiths in the next few heats, we were hoping again for medals to be won and yet again these two didn't dissappiont !! Both girls managed to hit PB's and with Millie hitting a fantastic BRONZE and Maeve doing one better with a well earned SILVER. The boys in the blue hats were back up next in the 200m breaststroke and with an incredible line up, we were hoping for big things. Young Archie Weindling lead the way for the lads with a great swim and 20sec PB he really set a high bar for the lads to hit!! Next up was Nicholas Castineria and again a huge 15sec PB proved how well Nic is doing. In the same heat was Oliver Lambert and Oli seemed to us to be struggling for the last few galas but there was NO SIGN sign of any struggles this time with a huge 10sec PB and a SILVER medal to boot!!! With Batman and Robin next into the pool all the other competitors must have been sick!!! Will Irvine completely dominated his own heat and crashed out a 15sec PB and earned another GOLD medal in the process(another Crosby 1st & 2nd place with Will and Oli !!!)while Ethan Kelly was stuck in the end lane and in a heat with all the lads considerably older than him. Ethan didn't let it phase him but crashed out an amazing 2nd place in the heat, 8sec PB and a well earned GOLD!! With the ladies 200m backstroke wrapping up an EPIC first session we again had plenty of blue hats to keep us occupied..... even though our stomachs had long since given up any hope of feeding!! Isabella Jones was first in the pool and managed a PB just by virtue of this being her first attempt. Grace Blackburn was up next and had a good swim but the pick of the swims had to go to Jess Harrington who crashed on a very impressive 7sec PB!
DIN DINS!!!!!!
We started the 2nd session with the ladies 400IM and I was under no illusion that we get to wait this one out, Although it did make me feel better that Sam Harington at least had the decency not to care what I thought!! With plenty of support at the end of the lane Sam set off at a fantastic pace that I didn't think she would be able to maintain, but length after length and stroke after stroke she managed to keep the pace right to the end and yet again a high bar was set with hitting a 12sec PB. The lad 200m freestyle was up next and again our lads where out in full force. Dylan Marshall got the ball rolling and with and in what was an amazing g swim knocked an unbelievable 21secs off his personal best time which is amazing and shows exactly how hard Dylan has been working over the last few months!! In the pool next was Oliver Lambert and with this not being Oli's favorite stroke I wasn't expecting alot from 'ole breaststroke' Oliver, but yet again I was left FLABBERGASTED by Oliver's swim. From now on I'm just going to think that ges winding me up at training as this was a really fantastic swim....... he kicked his legs and EVERYTHING!!! Yet again another PB fell by the wayside with Oli taking 4secs off his time. Will Irvine was up next and there's not much else I can say about Will except he was great from start to finish with another PB and GOLD medal to add to his growing crop. Last but not least was Ethan Kelly in final race for the day. I'd like to say that he saved his best for last but with a lad like Ethan EVERY race is his best!! AGAIN Ethan smashed his PB and AGAIN he took home a GOLD medal. GREAT days work mate!! Next we welcomed back the ladies for the 100m freestyle and with 18 heats we had plenty to enjoy. We had plenty of blue hats to keep our interest and yet again PB after PB was hit by Lucy Chellew, Freya Doran and Jess Harrington with Freya Doran having the most success with an 8sec drop. Again though another mention to Lucy Chellew who again showed how well she has been pushing In training by snipping almost 2secs off her own time. We only had one medalist at this swim and that fell to Millie Griffiths who managed to maintain her great form from the morning session......must have been the GREGGS pasties she had at dinner??? Not only did Millie smash her PB but she also managed to being home a BRONZE medal in the process. The lads were back next and Nicolas Castineria had decided the time was right to crash in his first 100m butterfly despite a few early nerves at poolside, Nic was BRILLIANT throughout and looked alarmingly comfortable throughout the entire swim!! In next was our always terrified 100m butterfly specialist James Rogers. I swear that every time he does this event it's like the first time!!! Hes like a 100m butterfly goldfish!!! As EVER James managed to complete the race and collect a well earned gold medal in the process!!onto the penultimate event of the day with the girls 50m breaststroke and I could almost hear the ice clinking in my gin glass. Annabel Irvine was on first and had a good swim showing that there will be plenty more to come when she builds up her confidence! Yet another GREAT SWIM from Lucy Chellew saw her round off a fantastic day with another PB. Freya Doran followed that with a PB of her own but it we had to wait for Maeve Bunclark to get our final ladies medal of the day with Maeve bringing home a hard fought BRONZE medal and an obligatory PB. Our final swimmer for the girls was Millie Griffiths who rounded off a unbelievable day with another PB and was just pipped for another medal. Great day Millie!! Our final event of the day - as not even Freya was up for the 200m fly!!! - was the lads 200m backstroke and again we had tonnes of blue hats in the pool. Archie Weindling set the lads off with a great PB and with Oliver Lambert, Oscar Donnelly, Nicolas Castineria and Mathew Blackburn all hitting fantastic PB's we really ended the day strong. But as ever will Irvine really put the cherry on top of a great day with a great swim, a great PB and a final GOLD medal for the day. Huge well done Will, as ever you where amazing all day!!! In fact EVERYONE really had a fantastic day with OVER 320secs knocked off across everyone's times and 19 medals shared across the kids..... I think the kids could feel happy with their days work Bring on Sunday!!!!

Session 3&4

Getting us started for the ladies 400m freestyle this time was Freya Doran and how anyone can contemplate a 400m free after the night out on the razz that Freya had is beyond me never mind the great swim and PB that she hit. Our final 400m nutter was Sam Harrington and not one to rest on her laurels after yesterday excellent swim in the I.M Sam was again excellent in the free. Again she went out at a pace I didn't think she would be able to maintain but AGAIN Sam kept up a relentless pace and was rewarded with an incredible 20sec PB. With the lads 200m I.M up next everyone of the poolside staff went into a panic........one of our airplane was missing and it didn't matter how hard we looked we just couldn't find him???(......we should have checked his bed!!!) So on we went, missing lad and all. Getting our lads off to a flyer was Mathew Blackburn and Zein Mukhtar and with both lads on the same heat it was a good chance to see how the lads where getting on. The always impressive Zien had a great race and managed to smash almost 5secs off his PB earning a BRONZE medal in the process but in the lane next to him Matty managed to crash a hugely impressive 10secs off his own PB which really highlights exactly how much progress he continues to make. Our final entrant was Ethan Kelly and as ever he was terrible!!! Only god knows how Ethan chalked up another VERY LUCKY 15sec PB( beating his nearest challenger by a HUGE 20sec!!)and another GOLD medal. The ladies 100m backstroke was up next and the incredibly nervous Orla Holt got the team off to a great start. After practicing her backstroke turns on the Thursday session a little about of nerves was very understandable but completely unnecessary as she nailed every turn and was welcomed to the finish with a brilliant 9sec PB. More great swims from Grace Blackburn and Jess Harrington followed with Isabella Jones and Eva Holt setting fantastic new PB's. We didnt have to wait lo g for our next medalist as Millie Griffiths was narrowly beaten to 1st place and took home a SILVER medal and PB. Our lads where in next and Archie Weindling led the way for the lads with a great swim and PB. Oliver Lambert was in next with Oscar Donnelly and Oli continued his great form with another great swim and PB and the all important GOLD medal to show for his efforts. Our final swimmer was Zein Mukhtar and again another strong swim from Zein was rewarded with another great PB. The girls 50m butterfly was up next and we had another strong field of swimmers. Orla Holt got the ball rolling but could quite take her form from earlier forward but had a good swim nonetheless. With Isabella Jones, Freya Doran Eva Holt and Millie Griffiths all having great swims and ALL hitting PB's it was a great set of results for us, made even better by both Maeve Bunclark and Maisie Stevens picking up medals with Maeve taking home a BRONZE medal and Maisie Stevens coming away with a PB and a SILVER medal. Moving onto the lads 50m freestyle we had Sam Doran setting the early pace. Archie Weindling, Oliver Lambert, Dylan Marshall, Oscar Donnelly and Zein Mukhtar where next up for the lads and again PB after PB was left for dead. In one of the more memorable races we managed to cram 3 of our lads into one race. With Casey Delaney, Ethan Kelly and the much improved Jake Stevens in a heat together this $*#@ just got real!!!! All the lads were swimming neck and neck but as they turned for home Casey just started to take a slight lead. Neither of the other 2 let him have it his own way and chased him right to the end!! Needless to say It took an amazing swim from Casey ( breaking the 30sec mark!!) to come away with the the heat win earning himself a SILVER medal on the process. Not to be outshone, Ethan earned himself another GOLD medal to add to his haul and Jake a big pat on the back from his dad for an excellent swim! Finishing up the Crosby interest was the big lads with Matthew Blackburn, George Spence and Tyler Delaney all swimming well and earning PB's. The final race for the ladies morning session was the 200m breaststroke and yet again we had plenty of interest. With Isabella Jones setting the pace with a confident swim that looked really smooth and easy from the minute she dove in the rest of the girls had a lot to live up to and with 11sec smashed from her PB THAT would take some doing!! With that in mind Eva Holt in next and another great Crosby swim saw another great 8sec PB registered in the Crosby column! Our Jnr captain was our final swimmer and she looked like she had been waiting for this event all morning!! From the dive to the final touch Maisie Stevens was amazing. In previous 200m races we have seen Maisie start off at a great pace only to run out of steam and fall back into the pack. Not this time!!! This time Maisie lead from the start with a great pace and maintain both the pace and the lead all the way through picking up a SLIVER medal and PB on the way..........god I was starving and with only the lads 200m backstroke remaining it wouldnt be long before I could sample all the delights that Birkenhead could offer on a Sunday afternoon?!?! With only Zein Mukhtar swimming those delights where closer still!!! Zein made my empty stomach worth the rumbles and crashed in an excellent 13sec PB. For the record the GREGGS steak bake and sausage roll where delicious!!! The ladies 200m freestyle kicked us off for the run home and all the girls had fantastic races with all girls managing well earned PBs so a big well done to Grace Ashcroft, Freya Doran and Millie Griffiths for a good start to the afternoon session. With almost every lad from the club competing in the 100m freestyle there was certainly plenty of Crosby interest in the pool. With Joshua Ashcroft and Sam Doran in first we again hit new PB's for the lads and with Archie Weindling, Dylan Marshall and Oliver Lambert also hitting PB's we really had tbe party started. Oscar Donnelly was up next and to be fair this hasn't been Oscar's MOST productive gala. But he kept the faith and his confidence up and was finally rewarded with a great swim and his first PB of the gala. Well done mate although theres not much on the planet that would keep you down for long. Up next where the big lads and Jake Stevens took up were he left off in the 50m free with another great performance and a new PB. Again another Casey Delaney and Ethan Kelly showdown took place on the next heat and yet again STRAIGHT from the off there was nothing between them. With both lads turning for the final 25m Casey maintained a slender lead that he managed to take right through to the finish earning himself a new PB and a BRONZE medal. Ethan had to console himself with his own PB and another GOLD medal to add to his impressive tally!! With Mathew Blackburn up next for lads a great swim and PB was almost guaranteed and yet again at didnt let us down . Finaly for the lads will be the type of competition Club Champs will be made for as we had George Spence and Tyler Delaney lined up in the same heat. As you could expect the entire race was nip and tuck from start to finish with both lads exchanging the lead on a few occasions and as they made the final turn and push to the finish there was still literally NOTHING between them and again as they finished we needed the board to tell us who had made the touch??? This time Tyler came away with the win but who will it be in a few weeks?!?!?! I was very confused when i read that Maisie Stevens was our ONLY competitor in the 100m butterfly . As a club we have got loads of ladies who are really strong on butterfly and plenty of them where in attendance on Sunday. Not one to let things like that bother her Maisie took off at a great pace buoyed by the confidence that all the great swims so far that weekend must have given her as she absolutely stormed the race from start to finish picking up a fantastic PB and another GOLD medal to finish off what was an amazing weekend for Maisie. Final event for the lads ( again no one brave enough to take on the 200m fly........SHAME!!!!haha) was the 50m breaststroke and we were starting to see a few of our champs tire a little. It had been a LONG weekend and I think the lads could hear the " Songs of Praise " theme tune in the distance. Up first was Joshua Ashcroft and a another great swim for Josh and a great PB. Archie Weindling and Sam Doran were both in the next heat and although they both had good swims, neither could quite pull a PB performance out of their legs Oliver Lambert and Oscar Donnelly were up next and both lads finished of the weekend in style. Oscar managed to take his form from earlier and hit another PB to wrap up the weekend on a high and Oliver went one better by not only hitting a PB but scooping up a SILVER medal in the process. Zein Mukhtar also finished the weekend in style with a BRONZE medal in his final race and a PB to boot!! Jake Steven's and George Spence rounded up the action for the lads this weekend and dare I say it.... more PB's wrapped up their own weekend. Finishing the weekends Crosby interest was the ladies 50m backstroke. Plenty of blue hats again to keep us focused with Grace Ashcroft, Grace Blackburn and Freya Doran all setting new PB's they all finished a hard weekend well. With only Millie Griffiths remaining it was starting to look like her mind was focusing in the subway and chippy chip tea we were all looking forward to. Nonetheless she still managed a reasonable time and Crosbys final SILVER medal of the weekend!! Well done everyone!!!
From the coaches point of view there was an awful lot of EXCELLENT swimming for us to enjoy. With the nippers eventually smashing over 550secs of their combined times and sharing 35 medals between there was a huge amount to smile about. But what gave us all the most pride was the fact that we didn't receive A SINGLE DQ for ANY of our swimmers for the ENTIRE weekend!! Now anyone that has ever been to the Wirral galas knows that there really is no quarter given regardless of age or ability and the judges are extremely....... law abiding when dishing out judgement!! The kids should feel immensely proud of the fact that they never once as a team gave the judges a decision to make. A huge well done to the entire team for that one
Onto what is becoming my least favorite part of these reports, the swimmers of the gala. We are very lucky at the moment that we have so many kids that enjoy competing. Turning up at a manky pool in deepest darkest Birkenhead on a MISERABLE Sunday morning with an enthusiasm that is so contagious it even manages to drag us coaches out of our mire. Everyone of them gives 100% even if they're not tiptop and it is ridiculous to try and pick a "Top Swimmers" from a pack of so many great kids. Every swimmer in a blue hat was amazing this weekend! Everyone of them hit PB's, everyone of them was an absolute nightmare to the judges at the lane ends with huge support and noise for our swimmers in the pool and finally EVERYONE of them was absolute credit to their club with their behavior on and around the pool......we even picked up our very own pregnant lady!!!!!
Anyway, with that said............. we'll start with lads as this one was a little easier. As ever this lad was outstanding all through the weekend winning gold medal after gold medal. Needless to say he was destroying his own PBs race after race after race. In some of his heats, he was that far ahead of his own age group that he was racing against lads 3-4yrs older than him.....AND beating them!! It may have been a little closer if Will Irvine swam all weekend as he was having another fantastic weekend. But dispite a great challenge from Oliver Lambert, this weekends lads swimmer of the gala was super Ethan Kelly. Moving onto the girls we had it a little harder. With so many girls swimming so well we had so many to choose from. We had a fantastic return to PB form for Lucy Chellew. We had the consistent excellent swims from Freya Doran. Not to mention the great distance swims from Sam Harrington. But for all the coaches there were two swimmers that stood put a little more than the rest. We had 2 girls that where constantly smashing through PBs, taking medals and achieving incredibly difficult Regional Qualification Times. First off our Jnr Captain Maisie Stevens has been struggling a little for the last few galas and not hitting PBs or getting anywhere near the times she was hoping for or anywhere near the medal table. Nevertheless she NEVER lost confidence in herself and ALWAYS kept going hard in training and always believed she'd get there.......and didnt she just get there!! Medal after medal and PB after PB and more impressive was the regional time that Maisie has been chasing was finally achieved. Amazing Maisie, keep it up!! Our next swimmer was the most amazing swimmer in the world EVER!!! Our Millie has been struggling at individual galas for the last few months and had lost any confidence that she could start push forward. But a move of squad and a new found confidence has helped push Millie on. Over the last few weeks you can see a change in attitude and it all came good at the weekend with Millie finally breaking PB after PB after PB and most importantly for millie she managed 5 regional times that have ben JUST out of reach for the last few weeks. Well done Millie Griffiths you where amazing!!!

Madison Rens

The always fantastic Madison Rens has managed to top even her own season by being picked to compete in this weekends ESSA(English Schools Swimming Association) championships taking place at Ponds Forge Sheffield. Well done Maddy, as ever AMAZING!!

M&D R2 - Prescott

Yet again the kids where amazing. In a gala with few of our normal squad members absent and only a SINGLE open gents swimmer available, we dipped a little deeper into our squad than normal and pulled a few surprise selections and a few surprise race choices. Not a single swimmer looked out of place for us on the day which is definitely not a luxury we have always had!!!

As ever we started with the 10-11yr medley teams. Any nerves that the team where feeling were very quickly put away with excellent wins from BOTH the boys and girls, with a mention going to both our backstrokers who each set the tone with great swims to get us going so well done to both Freya Doran and Aidan Kearney. Our 12-13yr teams came in next and both had excellent races finishing in a very comfortable first place and a very unlucky 3rd place for the boys. This time the special mentions go to Aahana Manglam for a brilliant fly stoke leg that really pushed the lead and debutant Joe Wake for a excellent freestyle finish! Up next where the 14-15yr teams. With Sianna Rens starting well for the girls and passing onto Holly Cooper the breaststroke leg we where always pushing at the top. Holly handed over to always impressive Madison Rens for the fly and again we where well in contention as Sam Harrington dove In for the run into the wall. You could have threw a wet towel over the top 2 teams ...... bit this time we didnt get it and the girls walked away with a BRILLIANT second place. We moved onto to the boys and this was what we thought was one of our most affected teams....WE WERE WRONG!!! the lads absolutely smashed it!! Mathew Blackburn started the lads off and gave them a slender lead in the backstroke passing off to Jake Steven's in the breaststroke, next in was George Spence who again opened up the lead a little bit more just leaving Olivier Turner-Bone to run in a crushing victory!! Well done lads....I really didnt see that one coming. Last up was our open age swimmers and a victory I did see coming was in the ladies event and yet again they did not disappoint! The girls just kept pushing on with their lead with the end of each stroke. Special mention must go to club captain Chloe Quarton who managed to finish even though she assured us that she was knackered!! Next up was the lads. This was definitely our MOST affected team. With only 1 open age swimmer available we had to pick from our lower age groups to fill the gaps. The lads where amazing nonetheless and still managed to pull out a 4th place finish. Special mention this time must go Joe Cameron-Mansour who pushed all the way home in a excellent race. After that fantastic start we moved in with Meave Bunclark and Oscat Donnelly for the 10-11yrs freestyle race. This is always a hotly contested event and this one was no different!! But our 2 little stars never let us down coming In a very close 3rd for Maeve and and a 2nd place for Oscar. Our 11-13 yr backstrokers where up next and with Madison Rens up for the girls we thought she would have her usual stroll to the finish line and all though she did come away with the win(obvs) she was chased all the way by the girl in the next lane who managed to keep pace with maddy right through till the end. Up for the boys was Sean Flanagan and with some very stiff competition in the pool he gave them all a great race and came in a fantastic 3rd place. Our 14-15yr breaststroke teams where in next with Holly Cooper leading the charge for the girls. As ever holly started off a little slow but when she gets into her stride she can give anyone a race and this time was no different with holly JUST being pipped into 2nd place. Up for the boys was Caleb Griffiths.......Caleb won ..........Caleb won by A LOT!!! Our open age butterfly team where next into the pool and Lottie Rens was amazing in her 1st place as usual. Up for the boys was our first open age stand in and George Spence made an incredible start as he was coming into the wall he was comfortably in the leading 3 swimmers, but as he made his turn for the return leg ........ to be honest I've got no idea!!! George seemed to lose his sense of direction and hesitated?!?! It was enough to steal the points from George and he couldn't make up the time..... Unlucky mate, keep working on those turns and well smash it next time!! The 10-11yrs backstroke team where next in the water and Freya Doran was up for the girls another great performance saw her finish in 3rd place but not to be outdone Aidan Kearney went 1 better and finished in an incredible 2nd position!! Our always confident 12-13yr breaststroke teams where up next and with excellent swims from both Ethan Kelly and our jnr girl captain Maisie Stevens we came away with 2 second place finishes. Our 14-15yrs butterfly swimmers where up next and lining up for the girls was Sam Harrington. After a great start Sam found herself in right up with the leaders and turned in third place. After the transition it looked as though Sam would have to settle for third as it looked like the other girls has just pulled ahead and where bearing down on the wall. But from nowhere Sam found an extra gear and started to catch up the front runners. By the time they reached the 12m mark sam had passed the girl in second place and was dragging the leader back with every stroke. As they came under flags it was almost stroke for stroke but in the end it was a little to much and sam claimed an amazing 2nd place worh a fantastic 25m swim . Up next for the boys was George Spence. If he was felling ANY nerves from his previous race he absolutely didnt show it. From start to turn to transition to finish George smashed it and came away with a well deserved first place. Our open age 100m freestyle team was up next. Lottie Rens was up first for the ladies and again she cruised to a good win really pushing for the last length to top off a great performance. Joe Cameron-Mansour stepped up for the lads and had a good swim for Crosby although the lack of pool time showed in his final length. Our always excellent 10-11yr breaststroke team was up next and Mya Laycock stepped up for the girls. Not her greatest start to a race that I've ever seen, but that was just about the only thing that she got wrong in this race!! Mya came up off the dive in about 4th place but by the time they hit the halfway mark she had already made up one position. She pushed all the to the turn where she passed the girl in 3rd place. As the leading pack started to pull away Mya chased down and passed into second place leaving the final run to the finish. As the two leaders passed under the flag Mya was catching with every stroke but on the the JUST missed out on an incredible comeback but still managed to claim an amazing 2nd place. Up for the boys was Will Irvine and yet again the always dependable Will smashed his competition and gave Crosby another win. The points where announced after 25 events and 2 teams had started to pull away from the pack. In 2nd place was Prescott on 115 pts but leading the way was Crosby on 117 pts!!! Madison Rens and James Rogers where in the pool next for the 12-13yr butterfly race. Again another good win for maddy but she was given a good race this time by the girls from Prescott in the next lane. In for the boys was James Rogers and another good race from James saw him finish in a 5th place dispite a great swim. Yet again at the finish you could have threw a wet towel over all the lads on this one hames was just unlucky not to get there in the end! The 14-15yr 50m freestyle team was up next and this time it was Sam Harrington in the pool. It looked like she was carrying all the confidence from the fly race into this one as from the moment she dove in till the second she hit the wall she dominated the race with an outstanding win!! Up for the boys was Caleb Griffiths and again Caleb won with a great performance. Onto the open 100m backstroke race and Sianna Rens was representing for the ladies. Yet again Sianna was brilliant and pushed all the way to the end for a great victory for Crosby, but it didnt come easy with Prescott pushing all the way! In for the gents was Joe Cameron-Mansour and again Joe pushed hard all the way through the race and again had a great swim but there definitely more to come from Joe when we can manage to get him back to fighting weight!!!!! In next for the final round of races was our 10-11yrs butterfly teams and with victory for both Eva Holt and Will Irvine we started off well. They passed on the pool to our 12-13yr freestyle teams and with Aahana Manglam up for the girls the we had a good chance to keep our good form going and our faith was well rewarded with Aahana bringing in a excellent 2nd place. Up for the boys was Ethan Kelly and I was immediately thinking.....nailed it!!! After the dive I looked as they all broke out and looking at Ethan I almost had a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat. My star man had let me down!!!!! But hang on he was coming back!! After coming out of his dive and breakout in 4th place he was starting to chase the leaders down. By the time that they turned for the home stretch Ethan had made up a lot of ground and on his turn and transition he passed into third place. By halfway he'd passed the lad in second and was bearing down on the leader. As they came under the flags Ethan had only gone and caught him,then it was just a case of who had the most in the tank for sprint to the end......and we all know who that was.......it was the other lad...... nar only kidding. Ethan managed to pull the win from nowhere!!! Well done mate EXCELLENT race!!!! Trying to follow that was our 14-15yr backstroke team with Sianna Rens and Mathew Blackburn and they didnt let us down!!! Both had amazing races and both managed to finish in second place. Our final set of individuals went to the open age 100m breaststroke teams. Emily Spence got us going and managed to come away with a victory but again, she didnt have it all her own way with the lady from Prescott pushing her with EVERY lap! I think it took a sneaky look and a turn of pace at the last turn to really cement that win!! Caleb Griffiths was up next for the lads and this time he did have a race on his hands. With against National Champion lining up in the Bridgefield lane he was not going to take this victory easily!!!! They both dived in and after the breakout Caleb found himself chasing the leader down and sure enough by the time they hit the wall for the first turn Caleb had took a slight lead. As they both turned and entered their transition Caleb again found himself chasing the leader but again by the turn he has took a slight lead . This pattern repeated for EVERY length right up till the last run to the wall. As Caleb caught the leader stroke for stroke unfortunately this time he JUST ran out of pool. IAnother incredible performance by Caleb was rewarded with a BRILLIANT second place! With the points announced before we moved into the final relays we had managed to put a 5 point gap between ourselves and Prescott with Crosby hitting 177pts and Prescott trailing us in 172pts. Our 10-11yr freestyle teams where up first with the girls getting us off to a flyer with a good 2nd place finish. Not to be outdone the boys made it one better and crashed on a very commanding win with Archie Weindling really hitting his stride in his first M&D. Up next where 12-13yr freestyle team and again the girls where unbelievable and Millie Griffiths and Maisie Stevens capping off another fantastic win with unbelievable swims. The boys swam next and again another great swim from the lads gave us an excellent 2nd place with another debutant in Joe Wake having an excellent swim. Moving onto the 14-15yr freestyle teams, the amazing girls team where up next and again the girls managed to give us another great win. This time it was Joe's sister Elizabeth Wake that stole the show. With the lads up next and to be honest, the surprise team performers on the day.....they only went and SMASHED it again. Oliver Turner-Bone lead from the front with this one and gave the lads something to build on, to be honest every lad on that team was BRILLIANT all day!! Our final relay as ever went to our open age team. Our ladies team is turning into a bit of a head turner at the minute, and I cant personally remember it ever being THIS strong. Needless to say the girls came away with a good win but again the girls where pushed all the way with Prescott giving them a good race. The boys where up next and with a team made up from ALL 14-15yr boys the lads where brilliant again coming away with a good 4th place with Mathew Blackburn having a good swim this time. Onto the cannons andI can tell you this, these definitely weren't as much fun when we were getting battered......funny that isn't it?!?! Up first where our amazing girls team. There really isn't an awful lot that I can say other than THEY SMASHED IT!!!! From Freya Doran diving in to start us off right the way through to Emily Spence crashing into the wall at the end, the girls absolutely NAILED IT!! Finally in was the boys. This is another group that has grown and grown into quite a team and they started off fantastic. The entire race was literally nip and tuck throughout its entire 8 lengths and as the last length was handed to Caleb with a slight lead you can understand mine and calebs confusion when the lad in the next lane was already off and swimming before Caleb!! After that there was no catching them and we had to settle for a very dubious 2nd place. Nonetheless with the way the team performed right through we were confident that we had done enough. So as the points where announced you can imagine my surprise when the points where announced we had just been pipped to second place by Prescott

1st Prescott - 233pts
2nd CROSBY - 232pts
3rd Bridgefield - 199pts
4th Penguins - 160pts
5th Bootle - 120pts
6th Warrington -

A huge well done to everyone and im sure we can go 1 better for the next one!!!

On to our swimmers of the event and I'm almost getting sick of saying how hard this is getting with all the great swimmers we have had but with this being a great problem to have I will continue to say it. When you have swimmers like Caleb and Madison to compete against in the oder ages or Ethan, Will and Maeve in the younger age groups you know that these kids have really stood out!! So this time for the girls, it is a girl that over the last few events has really started to show some excellent form and is always up for the challenge of whatever race and whatever age group we throw her at!! She was amazing in both of her individual swims and was part of 2 great relay teams AND part of the fantastic canon team. So a huge well done goes to Sam Harrington, you where absolutely BRILLIANT all afternoon!!! For the lads this one has come straight out of nowhere.......well has it??? Over the last few months this lad has really pushed on and has really been pushing and giving his all at training and this all really came together at the gala on Sunday. Jake Stevens fantastic from start to finish and really blew the coaches away with his attitude and swimming all day. Well done Jake you where amazing and all that hard work paid off, keep it up!!

Lancashire County Championships

Session 9&10

We started the weekends events with the girls 50m breaststroke. An event in which we are always well represented and this year was no different and our first swimmer was Maeve Bunclark hoping to continue her good form from her previous visit to Manchester. After a great start Maeve produced an excellent PB and another great swim. Aahana Manglam was up next and had her BEST swim of the championships so far and smashed almost 2secs of her LC PB!!! Holly Cooper and Lucy McKenzie were up next for Crosby and with both swimmers in great form they both swam excellent races with Holly Cooper winning a great heat and narrowly missing out on a place in the final. Madison Rens swam last and again was in impressive form, qualifying in first place for for her final. The lads had their 200m freestyle next and Ethan Kelly was first out for Crosby. Ethan had an amazing swim from start to finish and was well rewarded with a huge PB and a BRONZE medal for his efforts. Next up was Sean Flanagan and again Sean swam great and also picked up a great PB! Finally for the boys was Caleb Griffiths and again another good swim. With the girls 1500m installed inexplicably between the the 200 free and the breaststroke final........we had some time to kill. So we played a thrilling game of hide and seek then we played off ground tic then we played British Bulldogs then we played Yahtzee. After all that, we looked over to see how the swimming was going .......we were only halfway thru the 1st heat!!!! Haha

Madison's final was soon up and as ever with the breaststroke Madison was amazing!!! Not only did she hit an INCREDIBLE 35sec(.....another PB!!) but as hoped, added another GOLD medal to her tally!!!

With din dins out the way and literally every male swimmer in Lancashire competing in the 50 freestyle, Nicolas Castineria was first up for Crosby. Nic managed to produce another amazing performance and another fantastic PB to get the afternoon session off to a flyer. We were again well represent in this event so didn't have a long wait for Will Irvine to step up. A great swim from will was rewarded with a place in the final. Steven McKenzie was next into the pool and completed a great swim. Coming thick and fast Ethan Kelly was next. Yet again Ethan smashed his LC PB and even more impressive his SC PB in the process! With another good swim Sean Flanagan in the next heat we were done with our jnr swimmers and were just waiting for the big lads. Up first was the ever improving Mathew Blackburn competing at his very first Lancs event. If he had any nerves, then he certainly didn't let them show as he cruised to an excellent PB. Well done Mathew. Joe Cameron-Mansour was up next and with another season interrupted with exam prep, joe nonetheless pulled out a fantastic swim!!! Another good swim from Caleb Griffiths followed and we were starting to come to the end. Luke Suarez and Harvey Martin where up next and both had brilliant swim achieving fantastic PBs. With the girls 100m backstroke rounding off the day we had another good showing from the black hats of Crosby! Millie Griffiths got the show on the road with an amazing12sec LC PB!! Huge well done Millie. Up next were Holly Cooper and Lucy McKenzie and both managed excellent swims almost hitting their own PBs. Aahana Manglam was next and wit a very strong swim achieved a PB. Our final swimmer was Sianna Rens but she certainly made the wait worthwhile!!. Sianna was amazing from the moment she dove in till she touched the board for a last place heat win, an excellent 2sec PB and a lane 4 position for the final. Moving straight to the final we had only managed 1 finalist this time but Sianna was well worth her place. Sianna had an excellent start and transition off the block coming up just before the15m mark. With 3 girls pushing to the turn Sianna turned in 2nd place for the 50. Then it was then a 3 girls race to the finish. The race lead was changing with every stroke up to the at the 75m mark,but just when you thought Sianna had just been pushed out she found a bit of something and kicked on past the flags. The end was so close that the 3 girls all finished within .5secs of each other Luckily for us it was Sianna that came away with the gold medal and another PB to win an amazing race!!! Will Irvine was our first gent competing in the 50m freestyle final and entering the race in 6th position. In a 50m race anyone can win from ANYWHERE!!!......well, apart from that nutter that can do 28secs as an 11yr old......sorry Will your not beating him!! And almost proved true as will produced another amazing PB and finished just outside the medals in 4th place!! Unlucky mate. Next to swim was the always super duper Ethan Kelly and the performance was never in doubt. Ethan yet again produced a PB worthy performance........but just finished outside the medals with another 4th place!!

Session 11&12

On the final day of competition we welcomed the lads back into the pool for the first event and as was fast becoming the norm there were plenty of Crosby black hats in the pool. Out first for Crosby in the 50m breaststroke was Nicholas Castineria. To be honest I thought he'd got it all wrong after the dive....where I was stood, it just didn't look good!! But as ever with Nic he has a habit of pulling it all out when it matters and I couldn't have been MORE wrong on my initial thoughts! Nic SMASHED through his PB and into the final with a great swim and was only beaten into second place by Will Irvine who was up next with Steven McKenzie. Another great swim for both these lads produced great PB and yet again for Will a lane 4 start in the final. With Ethan Kelly up next.....got to be honest......already knew he'd smash his PB and CRASH into the final.......and he did just that! Caleb Griffiths came next and another good performance gave him a PB and a place in the final. Harvey Martin finished the event for Crosby and with a time LC he must have got when he was 13 he also managed a great PB. The ladies where back into the pool next for the 200m freestyle and with Rebekah Duncan and Sam Harrington both producing fantastic PBs in their events we where just waiting for the always impressive Madison Rens. As ever maddy didnt fail to deliver and produced yet another GOLD medal winning performance to wrap up her mornings work!!! With the lads 800m freestyle next........seriously need to have a quite word on the schedule of events for next year!! We still had a bit of spare time to kill before the lads 50m breaststroke final.... so it was back to the Yahtzee board!!! I beat EVERYONE at Yahtzee just in time for the 1st 50m breaststroke final and we quickly Hurried Nicolas Castineria and Will Irvine down to take up their positions as the fastest 2 qualifiers. They both got of to great starts and at the halfway stage Nic just had the edge over all the other competitors. Will and the pack were hot on his heels and chasing him down stroke for stroke !!! Under the flags it was still anyone's race and as they touched I was convinced that Nic had just popped Will to an amazing 2nd place finish but as I turned to the board it was the other way around. Will had managed to make up the ground in the final few strokes and just get the wall first. An amazing race ended up with a SILVER for Will and an amazing BRONZE and PB for Nic. Ethan Kelly was just getting over his loss at the Yahtzee board as he stepped onto the blocks for his final and it looked like he focused that disappointment into his race!! From the moment he dove in Ethan was flying and he didn't let up till he smashed into the wall at the other end picking up and amazing SILVER medal and another PB in the process. Caleb Griffiths was our final swimmer of the morning session and despite producing another PB for the final he just couldn't push for a medal place. We moved into the final session of the entire championship and to be honest.... it was just about time!!! Just like the boys event the previous day it was almost like every girls in Lancashire had qualified for the 50 freestyle event.....it certainly looked like that in the warm up pool!! But no, silly me......there was only 316 girls!!! With us featuring heavily it was well worth a watch. Tilly Steven's was first up and despite a niggling hip injury that has limited her training and preparation for Lancs, pushed her way to an amazing PB and and heat win. Maeve Bunclark was next up and again produced an amazing performance that was rewarded with yet another PB and a place in the final. Millie Griffiths was next and the promise of a new race skin if she managed a regional qualifying time propelled her onto a excellent PB........and new race skin......bummer!!!! Haha, well done moo!!! Aahana Manglam was next up and finished off a great championships and narrowly missed out on her own PB. Sam Harrington and Sianna Rens were both up next and again produced fantastic swims and PB's to round off excellent weekends in the pool. Finishing the Crosby involvement was Madison Rens and yet again an amazing performance was rewarded with a place in the final. Moving swiftly on to the final boys event we had 3 lads competing in the 100m backstroke. Will Irvine was up for Crosby again and with another fantastic swim......starting to look as though Will has sorted out those pesky turns!...... and another PB he cruised into the final with a huge heat victory. Next up was Sean Flanagan and another great swim and PB saw him into the finals. Finally for the lads was Caleb Griffiths and yet again we managed another place in the final. So 3 out of 3 swimmers managed a final position and all looked capable of potential medal positions!! With us having no swimmers competing in the 200 fly our lads were able to have a good rest before the 100m backstroke final Will Irvine was up first and he got off to a great start. 3 lads immediately started to pull away and Will was right there as they turned for the final 50 one lad had really started to pull away but Will kept the pressure on from the rear and was constantly chasing. As they moved into the final 25m 2 of the lads had pulled away from Will and where fighting for the winning touch. In the end Will capped off an AMAZING Lancs with a well earned BRONZE medal to add to a pretty impressive haul. Well done Will!!! There are some absolute monsters in your age group but I'm sure you'll get them next year. Following on from Will was Sean Flanagan and another great start saw Sean right up with the pack but as they turned into the final 50m we just saw a few of the lads start to pull away down the final straight. Even still, Sean kept pace well inside the chasing pack and was in the hunt tight to the end. Last up for the boys was Caleb Griffiths and a great start saw Caleb leading at the the 25m mark. Unfortunately Caleb was unable to capitalise on his start and as the pack turned he found himself down in 4th position. Caleb was able to maintain that position all the way to the end despite the pack chasing coming up strong at the end. Our final event saw one of the Crosby starlets taking to another final in a brand new competition skin..... Well done dad/nan, not sure what deal was struck there but I'm sure Maeve got the best out of it??? Maeve Bunclark took the blocks for the final time in this competition and when the whistle blew she made a fantastic start. Unfortunately this time Maeve was up against some unbelievably quick swimmers and just wasn't able to pull them in. Well done Maeve, you have been amazing throughout the entire competition and you didn't even ask once when you can go!!! Haha. Our final finalist was the amazing Madison Rens and yet again it was a final well worth waiting for. Madison and Lisa are developing a great friendship outside the pool but I can tell you now, that friendship ends on the starting block and gives us some of the most exciting races of the event and again this one was no different!! From the moment they dove in the pair of them where neck and neck and stroke for stroke. Even as they came under the flags for the last dash to the end it could still have gone to either.......but this time it went to Lisa. Another fantastic race ended in another fantastic SILVER medal for Madie to add to her amazing haul.

We also had some of our new recruits swimming at the weekend but they all had different hats on so I've not added them to this report. But all of them still swam amazing. So a quick mention needs to go to Trudy, Casey and Tyler Delaney on some amazing swims. Also we had Lexi and Elise Bruns there with a special mention going to Elise for an amazing swim in the 200 fly. Dispite not training as much recently she still managed an incredible time and was SO close to hitting her PB. Well done Elise!!! Also I need to give a shout out to Trudie and Lexi.......just for being nuts and keeping me entertained!!

Onto the swimmer of the event and I dont think that there can be any doubt about the girls top swimmer. Dispite being run close by Miss Bunclark for an amazing showing in her debut lancs I'm sure everyone will agree that Madison Rens deserves the honor this time. She was amazing in every event that she competed in and brings home a huge haul of medals to show for all her efforts. Yet again, well done Mady you were honestly amazing!!!

Onto the boys. Now this one is a bit different as I truly can't pick a single lad that was stand out better than every other lad swimming in a Crosby hat. It was almost 3 lads with the way Nicolas Castineria swam but I just managed to whittle it down to 2 . It's a good job these 2 are good mates otherwise we'd be having bust ups with them every 5 mins as the competion is so close. Will Irvine and Ethan Kelly are both truly exceptional swimmers and it's getting harder for us to choose a swimmer of the event with those two. Well done gents, yet again you where both amazing......but I'd keep your eye on that Nic bloke!!!

Finally....I've said it before and I'll say it again. EVERY swimmer that managed to get to lancs should without a shadow of a doubt feel huge pride in the achievement. This event is swam at an incredible level and we have the some of VERY best swimmers in the country competing in ALL age groups.

Also all the swimmers back at club that push each other along to bigger and better achievements all play a huge part in everyone's success. We are not a big club BUT we are a VERY COMPETITIVE club that trys to push its swimmers onto their best efforts......all while playing off ground tic and Yahtzee!! So a massive well done goes to all those at Crosby for all your efforts pushing these swimmers to their best!!

Next year it might be you????

Session 5 & 6

We were well represent this weekend with over 17 kids competing in 12 different events. We started off with with the girls 50m back stroke event and we had 4 girls competing. Millie Griffiths was first out for Crosby and managed a fantastic PB. She was followed into the water by Lucy McKenzie and Aahana Manglam who both posted fantastic times. With Sianna Rens swimming last we had our first finalist for the morning session. With 23 100m freestyle heats to relish we could hardly wait for all te fun to begin!!! Luckily we did have a few kids who had entered to keep us interested and Ethan Kelly as ever was brilliant. He produced another PB which comfortably took him onto his final in 4th place. Next up was Caleb Griffiths and Harvey Martin who both had a good swims and were both unlucky not to get final places. The ladies 200m IM was up next and we had another good showing from Crosby. Rebekah Duncan was up first and and put on a great swim with her breaststroke looking much improved. Hollie Cooper was up next and swam great in her fly, back and breaststroke legs but I think we know we got a bit of work on Hollies LEAST favorite stroke over the next few weeks. Sianna Rens was next in and had another good swim and finally Madison Rens stole the show with her first GOLD medal swim of the tournament, not last I suspect!!!! Then it was onto the first finals of the weekend and Ethan Kelly was up first with the 100m freestyle race. It was a close race from start to finish but Ethan just didn't have enough in the last 25m and finished just outside the medal position. Unlucky Ethan!! Sianna Rens was our closing performer of the morning but it was worth the wait for the 50m backstroke. After a fantastic start from Sianna, she was right up in medal contention right up to the flags. As they all touched practically together it was impossible to guess the winner. Unfortunately this time Sianna was edged out of the medals and finished in an amazing 4th place!!......then it was dinner
After dinner we welcomed Maeve Bunclark for her first event in her first Lancs championships and she didnt even get a chance to ask when race was.......because it was RIGHT NOW!! If Maeve was nervous she showed NO signs of it as she hit a great PB and a place in the final. Not to be out done Millie Griffiths was next out and followed up with a PB of her own. We had a good showing for the 50m fly and with Aahana Manglam, Sam Harrington and Sianna Rens also racing in Crosby black and gold we were very well represented. The lads were called back into action with the 100m breaststroke. Again plenty of swimmers for us all to get behind. With a great start from Steven McKenzie setting the tone for the rest of the lads and JUST missing a place on the final, we really pushed on! In the next race Will Irvine smashed his PB in style and booked a place in the final followed closely by Ethan Kelly AND Caleb Griffiths with 3 lads in 3 age group 100m breaststroke finals all qualifying in the top 3 positions, we really where looking good in the final and didn't ALL the lads deliver!!! First out in the most exciting final I've watched for a while was Will Irvine. As ever Will pushed to a comfortable lead and was looking good for a easy win at the 50m turn. Whether Will took his foot off or the the other lad put on the afterburners I'll never know but by the 25m Will had a race on his hands!!! As they pulled toward the flags it really starting to get interesting as stroke for stroke the lad seemed to be gaining. But it just was enough and Will came away with an excellent GOLD medal. He informed his dad later on that he was well aware of where the other lad was and he had it well sorted.......thanks for that mate!!! Next up was Ethan Kelly and as per usual Ethan smashed it! He took his race a little easier than Will and was a little way back on the 50m turn. He dug deep and started pushing and by the last 25m he was flying. If the final was 110m he would have got the big prize but this time he had to settle for an amazing BRONZE instead. Last up for the lads was Caleb Griffiths and competing in an event he hasn't raced in for quite some time, so he wasn't overly confident on how he would perform. But as ever there was no need to worry. In a race which included a National breaststroke finalist it was neck and neck between three of them right until the end when the one lad JUST started to put a little breathing space between them leaving Caleb to claim an amazing BRONZE medal with the other.....other lad just pipping him to second place. Last but certainly not least was Maeve Bunclark in the 50m butterfly final and again if there was any signs of nerves she didn't show it. She was fast off the block and quickly into her stroke keeping pace with all the other swimmers again. You literally could have through a blanket over all 8 positions for this final, but this time it didn't fall Meave and she had to settle for an excellent race!!
Well done to everyone, you where all amazing in a tough day of competition and looked amazing on your NEW black Crosby hats!!

Session 7 & 8

First out was Caleb Griffiths in the 50m backstroke. Caleb ran a great race and managed to qualify for the finals. Next up was was the ladies 100m freestyle and with roughly 1,000000 heats we all strapped ourselves for the ride. Luckily we were well represent so there was enough to keep us interested. First up was Aahana Manglam in heat 5 who managed to post an excellent PB. Next up was Rebekah Duncan and all through the race Becs looked very strong and pushed the other swimmers all the way posting her own 2sec PB in the process. Next it was Samantha Harrington in heat 14 and she also managed her own PB. But with Sianna Rens all the way up in heat 21 we had to wait a bit for our next entrant but again we were rewarded with another great swim and PB. Our final swimmer was the always impressive Madison Rens and yet again it was another fantastic swim that took her into a final. The lads 200m I.M was up next and we had 2 of our young lads up. With Will Irvine in first he ran an excellent race, really pulling away on his back and breaststroke legs but giving up some of his advantage on the freestyle leg. All his hard work was rewarded with a very well deserved SILVER medal. Well done Will. Next we had Ethan Kelly up for the 12yr lads and as usual Ethan was brilliant right through his race and picked up a well earned BRONZE medal. With both lads hitting PB's these were both fantastic swims!! Closing the session with the finals, we had two strong medal chances with Madison Rens and Caleb Griffiths pulling on their black and gold hats. Madison was up first and with her long time rival in the lane next to her she pushed all the way to the end and came away with a SILVER medal and fantastic PB. Caleb was up next and with a new routine for when his name was announced (....... divy!!!!haha) he managed also managed an incredible SILVER medal and PB......then it was dinner!!!
After din dins it was back into action for our lads in the 50m butterfly. Again we were well represent with Nicolas Castineria kicking us off well with a very confident swim that saw him finish first in his heat post a great PB AND earn a spot in the final. Well done Nic!!! Next in was the all new dynamic duo ( not sure who's Batman and who's Robin???) and Will Irvine and Ethan Kelly were again amazing, both posting PB's and earning spots in the final. We had to wait till the 18th heat for our next competitor and old man Harvey Martin blew off his cobwebs and produced an amazing performance which saw him smash his PB and hit an incredible time of 27.60!!! Last but not least was Caleb Griffiths who again ran a great race and managed to qualify for the final. The ladies 100m breaststroke was next and again we where well represent. First up was our girls jnr captain Maisie Stevens, who is chasing her regional time. She was very unlucky to just miss out despite hitting a PB. Still VERY EARLY in the long course season so I'm sure she'll get it!!! Next in where Lucy McKenzie and Aahana Manglam and both ran great races. Next up was Holly Cooper and as ever Holly kept us guessing right to the end. At the 50m turn holly was why back in the heat and we all thought that she had blew it, but true to form she kicked into high gear and started to reel the field in with every stroke. It was right down to last stroke but Holly managed to claim a hard earned heat win, NARROWLY missing out on a place in the final. Our final swimmer was Madison Rens and again she proved her quality with a great race and a lane 4 position for the final!! Up next was the 400m free ........oooooh the 400m freestyle......nothing like 2hrs of freestyle to really get the kids motivated for a final like sitting around for an age waiting for the 400m freestyle to finish!!!! Anyway at least we had a nipper in one of the heats to keep us awake. Sean Flanagan was this lucky lad. I think Sean wasn't happy with his performance and he reckons he can push it a bit harder, he definitely seemed to have a fair bit left in the tank as was coming into the final stretch. Nonetheless he managed a long course PB and a bit of experience for the next one. Getting to the finals, we had Madison Rens up first in the 100m breaststroke and to say she made it look easy would be a complete understatement!!! Madison absolutely cruised to victory leaving EVERYONE in her wake for this GOLD medal performance!! Unbelievable performance Maddy!! Next up for Crosby was our young lads in the 50m fly final. Yet again we where well represent across the ages with 4 different lads competing with Crosby hats on! With Nicolas Castineria and Will Irvine in the race we would always have a chance of a medal, but with the competition at lancs being SO high it would always be tough. And this time it was just a little bit to tough with Will just outside the medals in fourth and Nic following just behind. Unlucky lads!!! Next up was Ethan Kelly and again he was BRILLIANT. Yet again Ethan hit a great PB....... but just missed out on a medal place!!! With the first 5 places being separated by less than 1sec you know it was a great race!!!! Last but not least( I could ALMOST taste my first gin at this point!!!) was Caleb Griffiths. Forgoing his theatrical announcement this time( think Sianna told him off?!?!) He reverted to his tried and tested looking dazed and confused..... and NAILED IT!!! Up against some incredible competition in the race, it was always going to be a big ask to come away with a medal. But from the dive he put himself in with a fantastic chance. He drove on right through and top three started to pull away. As they moved under the flags it was still anyone's race and as they touched Caleb came away with a BRONZE medal. Amazing performance again Caleb and starting to get closer to those PB's again!!

No top swimmer this time, Just a message from all the coaches

As all of the coaches tell the kids. The level of competition at the Lancashire County Championships is ridiculously high. All the kids will be racing against National Championships swimmers, finalist and medal winners and so should take a huge amount of pride in not only getting to that standard but competing brilliantly and continually posting PB after PB!!! .

Southport Shrimps Gala

As this is traditionally a gala that Brian uses to have a look at some of our new swimmers and swimmers that have been swimming really well at training we welcomed a huge number of new kid to poolside. Funnily enough there wasn't too many nerves but lots of smiles and excitement......I can only but that down to some excellent work by the coaches getting the kids prepared???? Haha
We started the the the gala with the 9yr freestyle relay and 2 brand new straight out the wrapper swimmers but young Keshav Harve and Toby Dwyer showed no nerves as as they supported our seasoned veterans in Archie Weindling and Joshua Ashcroft and storming to the a VERY close win( I'm giving them it!!)we set a great tone for the other swimmers and we weren't left disappointed by the girls who really left everyone in their wake with a fantastic swim. So yet again it's looking we have another terrifying group of girls to keep our eye on with Annabel Irvine, Karine Crosbie, Orla Holt and Ellie Chellew all swimming brilliant. Our 10yr medley teams were next to swim and again all swam great and both managed a very good 4th placed finish with Heidi Lindley and Adam Lenahan both having great swims for their teams finishing strong in the freestyle leg. Next we moved to our 11yr breaststroke teams. We always seem to be able to produce fantastic breaststroke swimmers and this time was no exception. Both the boys and the girls managed great swim, the girls coming in 2nd and the boys outstanding with a very dominant win. With a new comer in both teams this was even more impressive. So well done to Andreas Cadavid-Valencia and Trudy Delaney for slipping straight into the teams. Our 12yr fly teams stepped up next and this time it was the girls chance to push the competition. With 2 very strong races the girls came in a fantastic 4th place and the boys came a good 6th place. A big mention must go to George Marshall and Eva Holt who were both excellent in their races. Moving back to our littleun's(tiny in some cases!! Haha) we sent our 9yr medley teams back into action. The lads where up first and young Toby decided to give the other lads in the backstroke leg a swim helping hand and swam a good 27m to their 25!!! Very charitable mate Haha. With Luke Blackburn storming the finish we managed a very close 6th place. The girls looked strong again and ran great race from start to finish. Emily Jones, in her her Crosby debut looked right at home in the opening backstroke leg and the girls pushed the race all the way and were very unlucky to to be pipped into 2nd place at the end. With the 10yr breast stroke teams next we welcomed another new swimmer, but Lewis Bell for the lads looked like he'd always been there and helped the lads to a good 4th place. With the girls in next and all excellent breaststrokers it was no surprise that we pushed a very strong Leyland team all the way and came in a very close 2nd place. From Tilly Steven's right through to Isabella Jones all the girls where brilliant. The 11yr fly teams where in the pool next and with yet another debutante in Dan Morgan the lads ran an excellent race. A strong girls team was up next and Maeve Bunclark led them to a very good 3rd place. We finally welcomed back our 12yr teams with the freestyle relay and the boys went off first. Steven McKenzie started us off and swam us into a small early lead he passed of to Josh Bradburn who managed to maintain to lead(....someone said he didn't take a breath for the entire length!!) and passed to Dyaln Marshall. The other teams had managed to make up the ground on us and when super Ethan Kelly pushed off for the final leg he managed to push us back up to 2nd place with an amazing final leg!!! The girls didn't dissapiont with their efforts and with the help of Lucy Chellew we pushed both Southport and Leyland and were a very good 3rd place finishers! The 9yrs were back next for the breaststroke race and again Archie Weindling led the line for Crosby and the lads managed a very good 4th place. The girls came next and with an amazing leg from Orla Holt pulled out a very good victory. Another debut was handed to Orpheus Goodfriend in the boys 10yrs fly relay and he helped the lads to a very good 3rd place finish which the girls team also managed to equal in their race. With the points being announced for the first time we found ourselves in 3rd place behind both Southport and leyland but managing to keep ahead of all of our local rivals. Next in was the 11yr freestyle teams and and with Oscar Donnelly finishing strongly to give the lads a well earned 2nd place it was up to the girls to keep up the momentum and with YET ANOTHER debutante in Isabella Hamer the girls cruised to an excellent 3rd place finish. Back in came our 12yr old teams for their medley relay and with Finlay Arnold drafted in for the backstroke leg they managed and 4th place finish that was yet again matched by the girls with the help of Grace Blackburn setting the pace with the backstroke leg!! Archie Weindling(the hardest working man in Crosby!!)and his team were back in action for the 9yr fly relay and were unlucky to finish 6th in a very close race. The girls stepped up and really shined this time and with the help of Ellie Chellew came in a very impressive 2nd place. For the next race we handed our next debut to Wes Phillips for the freestyle relay and with Wes's help the lads managed a very good 4th place finish. Not to be outdone, the girls, led by Tilly Steven and finished by Emily Samara pushed the competition all the way and came in a very good 3rd place! Coming towards the end of the gala the points were announced again. Although we hadn't managed to catch either Southport or Leyland we had managed to put a little more distance between ourselves and the chasing pack. With the final few races coming up the teams for the 11yr medley came up to the blocks and yet again we had new swimmers in the both the boys and girls ranks. Will Edward's stepped up for his long awaited first swim for the boys and was outstanding helping Aiden, Oliver and Nic to an impressive 2nd place. With Phoebe Brown swimming in the breaststroke leg for her debut, she passed off to the always impressive Maeve Bunclark for the fly and with Eva Duncan finishing out the freestyle leg the girls came in a brilliant 3rd place!! For the final set of relays we had the 12yr breaststroke teams out and with Ethan Kelly starting for the lads finished in a very comfortable 4th place and for the final time the girls team, helped along by the other Holt sister Eva Holt matched the lads and finished in 4th place as well. We then moved into what is becoming a very good event for Crosby and a favourite of mine. Luckily there were 3 cannon events in this gala and Crosby fielded an amazing 23 out of a possible 24 different swimmers across the 3 events!! The boys went off first with Archie Weindling setting the early pace and Keshav Harve, Sam Doran and Harry Laycock swimming excellent across the middle section and handing over to the big lads for the run in to the end. With Finlay Arnold, Nicolas Castineria and Aiden Kearney keeping us in contention it fell on the broad shoulders of Stevie Mac to try and pull out the win. It was stroke for stroke down the final length but we just didn't have enough left in the tank to pull out the win but still came in a excellent 3rd place! Next up came the girls, buoyed up by the lads performance after cheering then on from start to finish. We had Orla Holt starting for the girls with Karine Crosbie, Emily Samara and Eva Duncan finishing off the 1st half and again we were well up with the leaders all the way through. The big girls took over and where starting to eat away at the gap. Isabella Hamer took the the race to the leaders passing off to Trudy Delaney and Jess Harrington who where constantly catching with every stroke. Leaving all the pressure on Grace Ashcroft to see what she could do. Again we where catching stroke after stroke after stroke but we just run out of pool at the end and AGAIN finished 3rd in an incredible race! That left us with the mixed cannon and just when you thought our kids couldn't get any louder with cheers for their teammates they turned it all the way upto 11 as Archie Weindling swam us into a early lead passing the race to the the girls and Anabel Irvine kept up the pressure on the opposition and started to pull away. Joe Dixon, Tilly Stevens, Oscar Donnell and Maeve Bunclark all maintained our lead putting the pressure on both Ethan Kelly and Millie Griffiths. As ever the pair of them rose to the occasion and STORMED to a fantastic Crosby win!!
We waited for the scores to be announced and were very happy with the second half performance from all the kids!! Although we maintained our 3rd place position we managed to start closing the gap on the 2 teams ahead of us. With us welcoming 19 brand new swimmers into the team this performance was amazing and every swimmer should be hugely proud of all the achieved

1st - Leyland = 228pts

2nd - Southport = 221pts

3rd - Crosby = 198pts

4th - Everton = 150pts

5th - Prescott = 142pts

6th - Halton = 112pts

7th - Preston = 103pts

8th - Garston = 83pts

Onto the swimmer of the of the event and again with so many fantastic performances it is getting harder and harder so this time we picked 2. Finlay Arnold managed to just about pip Archie Weindling for the boys spot......JUST ABOUT!!! Finlay was amazing for not only his own age group but also swam amazing when asked to swim up well done Fin and keep up the hard work!!!
For the girls it is someone that might have been in her big brothers shadow for a while but after that performance has JUMPED into the light and Anabel Irvine swam fantastic all the way through the gala but again was run very close with a fantastic Isabella Hamer performance . Well done Annabel, all the hard work at training is paying off!!

Co-Op Cup - Final

We started the day with the customary silliness with the parade of teams. Not to be outdone by any of the other teams, Crosby went all out to look ridiculous doning blue wigs and yellow tutu's to a man and women!!. After the noise and celebration of of the of the parade our kids were impeccable in the 1min silence to remember and pay their repect to all the soldiers who had fought for the country in wars past and present. After a brilliant run to the final our kids found themselves in lane 5 sandwiched between Southport and Warriors. We started the final with a new event in the 100m IM swim and representing us for the ladies was the surprise(???) choice in captain Miaisie Stevens. Looking confident with goggles on and striking black finalists hat whilst staring into the distance we waited the starters whistle. Just before the referee passed the event to the starter maisie stepped away from the block and up stepped Madison Rens in her place!!!! BRIAN HAD PULLED A SWITCH-A-ROO!!!! It most definitely had the desired effect on the other girls as you could see their confusion and he managed to put them off their stride. As expected Maddy cruised to victory and set a time that will be hard to beat for any girls following in the coming years!! Sean Flanagan was next in the pool and was unlucky to finish 6th in a very tight race. We moved onto the 9yrs freestyle relay and we can be quite confident in the team we are building looking at these four. The kids swam really well and again were unlucky with a close run fourth place. Our 10yr medley teams came next and both our boys and girls swam good races. With Maeve Bunclark swimming well for the girls and Finlay Arnold swimming well for the boys we earned another fourth place and another first place for the boys. The 11yr old freestyle teams were up next and again we achieved another fourth and first place finish, again for the impressive boys team. With our 12yr medley teams finishing off the first round of relays we again had some very strong races and produced a second place for the girls and a brilliant third place for the boys. Moving onto the individual events we would always give anyone a race and we demonstrates that perfectly with Tilly Steven's stepping up in the 25m freestyle event. In a close race she managed a win for Crosby and then placed the torch to Joe dixon for his swim. Again another close race but this time the win fell to one of our competitors. The always reliable Freya Doran and Oscar Donnelly were up next in th 10yr 50m breaststroke and both done amazingly well in their races, particularly Oscar who's season is going from strength to strength and came in an excellent second place!! The 11yr backstroke was next and both Jess Harrington and Will Irvine where up for Crosby and both where unlucky with their seventh and fourth place finishes. The 12 yr olds were up next for their first races and with Aahama Manglam up for the girls and James Rogers representing the boys we took good second and fifth place finishes. Back in went the 9yr olds and again we have two excellent up and comers with dubutant Amy Ashcroft running in a third place and Archie Weindling coming in fourth. Well done to both!! Our 10yr backstroke teams came next and Freya Doran was again unlucky to came in in seventh place in an tight race but Will Irvine romped to a very comfortable first place. With Millie Griffiths and Ethan Kelly up next in the 11yr fly our confidence was quite high. Unfortunately this wasnt quite the case for Millie and although she started amazingly she seemed to tire towards the end. Ethan was his usual fantastic self and managed to bring home another good win to add to our tally. The 12yr freestyle teams were next and Madison Rens yet again swam fantastic and snagged another win. Sean Fanagan was up for the boys and up against some incredible swimmers and kept us in the points with a good sixth place finish. Our 9yr nippers were next up with the breaststroke and both Archoe Wienlding and Isabella Jones done well in their races. The 10 yr fly team was next and again we were confident in tbe kids and with Will Irvine swimming to victory and Maeve Bunclark unlucky in a close race we were doing well. With the points being announced at the halfway stage, we found ourselves in third place on 150 points behind both Southport and Warriors. Up next was the 11yr freestyle team and Millie Griffiths put her disappointment behind her and swam into an excellent fourth place while Ethan Kelly was his usual self and came in at second place. With Madison Rens up next for the 12 yr breaststroke she was again amazing and came home with yet another win in what had been a faultless performance. Up next was Steven McKenzie for the boys and was swimming really well until he though he felt a twinge in his shoulder. He swam through and finished in fifth place. Up for the last round of individual swims were our 9yr team and both Tilly Stevens and Joe Dixon picked up very useful third and fourth place finishes. The 10yr freestyle team was up next and again Maeve Bunclark and Oscar Donnelly were both brilliant coming in in fourth and third places. With the 11yr breaststroke teams up next Eva Holt was first up and finished came in fifth a very strong field. Next up was Steven McKenzie for the boys dispite the twinge in his shoulder from his previous race. All was going well until he was coming in for the last 15m when really felt his shoulder go. Despite this he still managed to come in on in well deserved fourth place. In our final individuals we had Aahana Manglam and Sean Flanagan in our 12 yr backstroke event. As expected both kids were amazing with a great second place for Aahana and a third for Sean we were going g well into the final set of relays . Our 9yr medley team got the ball rolling and finished in an incredible race in a well earned third place . Our 10yr freestyle teams were next a and both were amazing with the boys managing a win and the girls pulling out a strong fourth. The 11yr medley teams didn't disappoint in the next set of races. Again the girls managing a fourth place and the boys an excellent second place. A special mention absolutely MUST go to Aiden Kearney who turned up for the event as a reserve and was poolside EXACTLY when we needed him. Due to Ste Mc's damaged shoulder in his previous event he was unable to complete in the relay. Like Superman, up stepped Aiden and he was BRILLIANT!!! well done mate!!! Next up was the 12yr freestyle team and the always impressive girls team pulled out a fantastic win and with the boys pulling out a very good fourth place we were all set for the cannon. We are lucky enough to have an exceptional cannon teams in all our galas these days (not always the case!!!) and this time it was no different. As ever the atmosphere was electric as the first swimmer dove into the water and the noise and excitement levels grew throughout tight up until the final set of swimmers raced towards the finish line. Our kids were amazing and came in an amazing second place!!!

1st Warriors = 310pts

2nd Southport = 300pts

3rd CROSBY = 264pts

4th Ormskirk = 223pts

5th Hoylake = 189pts

6th Prescott = 182pts

7th Halton = 171pts

8th Penguins = 116pts

In the end those big city clubs were just to strong for our kids. But the kids should take a huge amount out of how they have progressed throught the year. Not only have they manged to open up the distance between themselves and our rivals but they have also manged to close the points gap between ourselves and Southport. So all in all, it was a hugely successful run for us and the kids should feel immensely proud of all they have achieved!!

We haven't really got a swimmer of the event because yet again everyone was amazing and we are hugley proud of all the kids!! But Brian felt that it was only right that we made a special mention to ALL the kids that were named as reserves throughout the entire competition. With Orla Holt and Aiden stepping into place on the day of the final the importance of them was UNDERLINED when we had to call on Aiden Kearney to stand in for Steven Mc in the final set of relay!!

So from Brian and all the coaches

A HUGE thank you to all the reserves that stood up in all the events!!

I know you didn't think it at the time but you where all vital to the clubs success!!

Bring on NEXT YEAR!!!!

Arena League R2 - Connahs Quay

WOW........All's i can say is WOW!!!!

We went into the gala with a little well deserved confidence that we had earned with an excellent performance in the last round at Salford. We welcomed back a few swimmers but again we were missing some of our key squad members. so it was nice when Lotte Rens produced another dominant performance in the 200m IM. With Harvey Martin Next into the pool we always knew that we would do well and despite lining up against some absolute monsters in the lanes next to him he came in a very good 4th place. After those great displays our youngest squads took to the pool and swam some incredible races with both the boys and the girls 11yrs teams bringing home good wins in the freestyle relays. The Incredible 13yr team girls followed that with another great win in their our boys swam an excellent race but where just beaten into 3rd place in a very close race. Again we had some very close races with the next group of kids into the pool with the boys and girls 15yr freestyle teams coming in with very respectable 3rd and 4th place finishes. With our ladies and gents teams both posting excellent 3rd place finishes we finished the first batch of races in good form and with the first points tally being announced we were in a well earned 2nd place just 3 points behind Garston who where leading the event with 38 points. Millie Griffiths and Will Irvine were first in the pool for the individual and showed no nerves as they both rushed to excellent wins in the 11yr 50m backstroke races. The always impressive Madison Rens was up next and was brilliant in her 100m breast but didn't quite have the race all her own way and was chased quite hard by a few of the other racers . With Steven McKenzie taking to the pool next we knew he would have a race on his hands as their was some very strong swimmers in the lanes next to him but as ever Steven didn't let the team down and came in with a very useful 3rd place finish. Lucy McKenzie was next into the pool with the 15yr 100m Backstroke and pushed all her competitors to the end earning a very solid 3rd place finish. Tyler Delaney then came into the pool next as was brilliant fishing a very close 2nd. With both our Snr captains in the pool next for everyones favourite 100m fly race we knew we'd have to calm Chloe's nerves and promise Luke that he would be fine......needless to say they both survived and where as good as ever. I think Luke said he made a full 15sec PB from the last time he races the 100 fly...….in 1984!!!. With the points being announced we again found ourselves trailing a VERY strong Garston team. But we had manged to cut the deficit and were only a single point behind! With Ethan Kelly and Maeve Bunclark pulling on the blue Crosby hat for the 50m 11yr Butterfly we felt sure that we could definitely make the push past Garston for the first time and SURE ENOUGH both our nippers where amazing and came in excellent 1st places. But then the 1st bit of drama for the night and we had one of our young stars DQ'ed. Maeve was devastated with the news as she had run an excellent race but she dusted herself off and got herself ready for the next time we needed her!! Sianna Rens and Sean Flanagan where next up for the 13yr 100m Backstroke and as ever a very dominant Sianna lead her race from start to finish to chalk up a solid win and with Sean coming in with a good 4th place swim we had already put the DQ behind us!! Sam Harrington and Caleb Griffiths were both up next in the 15yrs 100m Butterfly race Sam was very unlucky in this race and again the 5th place finish doesn't do justice to how close the race was . Caleb raced to victory in his race and was able to coast for the final length something I'm told that his father wasn't happy about and im told had a serious word in his ear......sounds like he needs to calm down a bit?? Sianna Rens and Tyler Delaney were both back in the pool for the open 100m backstroke event and we had one of the most exciting races of the competition so far with Sianna coming in an brilliant 2nd place . The race was neck and neck for the entire 100m with both sianna and Libby executing brilliant turns and transitions so neither as able to pull away from each other for the entire 100m !! Again another race where the final place doesn't show how close the race was and although Tyler was in the running all the way through he was beaten into 5th place in the end . Again the points were announced and somehow we had managed to lose ground on Garston who had stolen a 5point lead on us. With the EVER improving Eva Holt and always reliable Steven McKenzie up next for the 11yrs 50m breaststroke we immediately started to eat into the points difference!! With one of our new exciting recruits Elise Bruns lining up with one of our seasoned James Rogers (….not sure James has ever been called seasoned before??) for the 13yrs 100m fly we were again confident of our chances of cutting the gap to Garston and neither disappointed. James was a good 5h place while Elise stormed to another victory for Crosby. Then we were again treated to another contender for race of the competition with Madison Rens reigniting her friendly rivalry with fellow Liverpool swimmer Holly Barden pushing each other all the way to a fantastic race with Maddie coming away with a hard fought and very well deserved win. George Spence represented the lads and came in in a very respectable 3rd place. With Emily Spencer and Suarez stepping up for our open age 100m breaststroke we again were looking to close the gap on Garston before the next set of points were announced. Emily was up first and was chased all the way in to victory by quite a few of her fellow swimmers. Luke found his race a little more difficult and was just unable to maintain an excellent early pace and was eventually caught but still managed a good 5th place. As the points were announced we had finally started to make up ground on the leader...…….only 1 point but we took that point and it really felt like the team started to gain momentum. Millie Griffiths and Ethan Kelly again stood on the blocks for Crosby and AGAIN both stormed to fantastic wins in the 11yrs 50m freestyle. Madison Rens and Casey Delaney where both up next for the 13yrs freestyle and with a win and a 3rd place in those races we felt we must be eating away at the Garston lead. Next up for Crosby where Hollie Cooper and Caleb Griffiths in the 15yr 100m breaststroke and again they both produced amazing results. Holly coming in a very tight second and Caleb winning his we only had the open age 100m freestyle left before we went into the final round of relays. With Lotte Rens and Harvey Martin taking the final individuals we always thought we'd have a chance of closing that gap. Sure enough Lotte cruised to a fantastic victory and Harvey swam into an amazing 3rd place against some excellent competition. With the final round scores announced all the kids hard work was rewarded and we had finally pulled level with Garston!!! With the tide definitely swinging in our favour we stormed into the first set of relays and both the 11yr girls and boys Medley relay had very strong wins to settle any nerves. Next was our always impressive 13yr olds and with both the boys and the girls smashing out 1st and second place finishes in their freestyle races we knew we must be finally starting to pull away from Garston. Our 15yr Medley teams were next and with comfortable 2nd places achieved by both teams we knew we were holding our hard earned lead. We moved onto what can only be described as BEDLAM!!! the noise that all the kids and the supporters generate during the cannon events is BRILLIANT!!!! We went in first with our ladies and that team is fantastic!! We were in the running from the moment that the ref blew the starter whistle. Leg after Leg our ladies started pulling away until finally Emily Spencer ran us into a fantastic win. With everyones eyes flicking to the Garston lane to see how they were where faring. Coming in in second place they obviously hadn't given up just yet! With the lads next we knew we would be ok and sure enough the lads done us proud coming in at a fantastic rate of knots!! After the races had got out the pool, all their was left to do was wait for the points to be tallied and announced. With Simon Donnelly pulling as much drama out the situation as he could muster(X-FACTOR beckons I think !!) He delivered the results and sure the kids had all held their nerves and pulled off an amazing fight back and win !!

1st CROSBY = 184pts

2nd Garston = 179pts

3rd Halton = 152pts

4th Crewe = 144pts

5th Penguins = 85pts

Well done to ALL of you. You where all amazing.

Bring on the final in a few weeks !!!

Masters National Championships

Our very own Emily Spencer was again competing in the now much feared Blue Crosby swim cap and yet again she was devasting form in her races. She was competing in the Masters National Championships 18 -24yr age group held at Ponds Forge Sheffield over the October 26/27th weekend. She managed an incredible haul of medals in such a strong field of competitors!!

100m Freestyle - Silver

50m Freestyle - Bronze

50m Butterfly - PB

Yet again, ANOTHER fantastic weekend for Emily. Well done and keep up the hard work!!

Arena League round 1 - Broughton

.......well I've got to be honest, I was hugely impressed with that performance!!!! With the move up to division 1 I was a little bit worried that our club would start to come up against bigger clubs that were a little to hot for them to handle and feel a little out of their depth.......sorry!!
We kicked of this year's event with the 200IM and we welcomed back 2 swimmers that for different reasons probably aren't quite at there best just yet. Lottie Rens dove into the pool and started off what can only be described as an absolute demolition of every swimmer in her race. From stroke to stroke she opened up a very convincing lead and even managed to keep the pressure on with what everyone knows as lottie favourite stroke.....the breaststroke...... she kept the pressure on right to the end when she touched first in a not very thrilling contest. Lottie was followed into the pool by Harvey Martin who for reasons beyond me has decided that a family holiday to Disneyland and earning loads of money would be time better spent than swim training at Crosby HQ?!?!?! So we where only expecting a Mickey mouse performance from Harvey from this one.......sorry again!! Yet again, Harvey pulled a fantastic performance out the bag. Unlike Lottie he didn't quite have it all his own way. He did manage to lead the race from start to finish but the lad in the lane from Crewe next to him kept him honest throughout and even pushed Harvey with a great swim in the breaststroke leg. Nonetheless Harvey never let his lead slip and really started to open up the lead on the final freestyle leg. This really got our relay teams fired up with a lot of confidence and you could see them all at the end of the pool EAGER to get in the pool!! First to show their mettle was the 11yr girls freestyle team and they didn't disappoint. Coming in comfortable first place with Jess Harrington having an outstanding leg and pushing for a bigger role in the next round. They were followed by the formidable 11yr boys team. This group of lads will be one to watch for us in the future and they didn't put a foot wrong as they cruised to comfortable win with young Oscar Donnelly looking right at home! Then came 13yr girls medley team and to say that already had a comfortable lead before Maddie even entered the pool for her leg.....well you don't need me to tell you the result!! That was 5 crosby wins on the bounce and a fantastic confidence boost to the entire team!! The 13yr medley team team was next in and I'm not quite sure what Mr Flanagan heard or whether he just felt the need to give his competition a 5m headstart but it was an interesting way to start the race, but probably not one we would like to replicate in the next round please!! Dispite Sean's interesting start he still finished first in his backstroke leg as he passed the lead to the rest of the lads. The lads were strong throughout and managed a excellent 2nd place finish. Our 15yr girls were next and again they were very unlucky to come up against some very strong individuals in the opposition teams and came in a very respectable 3rd place. As most of these girls are still at the young end of the age group, I'm sure it will be a different story next year!! The 15yr boys were next and again they managed a comfortable win with new boy Tyler Delaney bringing home a good win. Our final set of relay races before we moved onto the individuals was the what we have always considered to be our weakest. NOT because we don't have talented open age swimmers, we have tonnes!!! We've just never been able to get them all to galas at the right time because of little things like uni..and jobs.....and disco dancing!!! Well tonight was an exception for that and we managed to put out a great open age team in both ladies and the gents squads. The ladies managed a fantastic 2nd place finish, with our lady that lunches, Team Captain Chloe Quarton swimming a great great fly leg. The gents were not to be outdone and followed that performance with a brilliant 3rd place with Gents Captain Luke Suarez bring them home.......he doesn't lunch!
We moved into the individuals in good form but sure that we would come under more pressure when our strength in depth wouldn't be so useful. Millie Griffiths and Will Irvine were first up to the blocks with 50m backstroke swims and to be honest ........it was back to normal. Both kids brought home comfortable 1st place finishes that set the tone for the rest of the individuals all night!! Madison Rens was next with the 100 breaststroke and managed a great win. She was pushed for the win this time but still came in strongly. We then had one of our new swimmers come in and represented us in what we could probably have considered as......not his favorite stroke until last night. Casey Delaney managed to pull out an amazing 100m breaststroke race and was narrowly beaten to 3rd place by some very strong competition in the other lanes. We moved to a strong event for Crosby with Sianna Rens and Caleb Griffiths both competing in the 100 backstroke and to be honest neither was of them where troubled as they both pushed onto relatively comfortable wins. Next we had the 100 fly open. Despite some early nerves, our girls captain lead the way and Chloe Quarton managed a very impressive 3rd place. Next into the pool was a reluctant George Spence. He had never competed on the 100 fly before and was not in his usual buoyant self.........sorry!!! Nonetheless despite his lack of confidence in himself he still managed to pull together a fantastic 4th place finish. At this moment everything sort of went a little bit sideways!!!! For some reason we had 2 of our lads 15yr team over come with a sudden bout of nausea and although one of them managed to make it to the toilet......the other never!!!! We were a little worried (for the kids obviously!! )that we would be a little short handed for a short time but both the lads dusted themselves off.....well washed......and carried on !! After the drama we then moved onto the 11yr fly event with both Maeve Bunclark and Ethan Kelly continuing our good form with great wins. Sianna Rens and Sean Flanagan where next to the pool and as ever both of them where amazing . Sianna with a comfortable win and sean with an excellent 2nd place. Moving to the 15yr fly event saw Sam Harrington and Caleb Griffiths pull on their blue hats and goggles. Sam started off in a hugely competitive race and her 5th place finish DOES NOT do the race justice!! ANY of the girls could have won or lost the race with all the swimmers finishing within fingertips of each other......Caleb won. Next was the 100 open backstroke with Abi Towle called into action for the ladies with team captain Luke Suarez called up for the gents. Abi was her usual nervous self but was again brilliant and brought home a fantastic 3rd place. Luke was next and got off to an amazing start. He led the race right up until the final turn with a few of the other close on his heels they raced to the end where luke was just nudged to 3rd place. With us at the halfway stage the points where announced and we lucky enough to be in first place on 104 points with Crewe in second place on 82 points. We had the 11yr breaststroke next with Eva Holt stepping up for the girls and Steven McKenzie representing the boys. Both the kids were again amazing and both managed to bring full points back for Crosby. With the 13yr 100 fly we welcomed another new swimmer into the girls team and Elise Bruns showed that she will be a very welcome addition to an already VERY good team by coming in with the win for the girls. For the boys a very nervous James Rogers who was ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE that there was NO WAY he could complete his race was again fantastic and managed a well earned 3rd place. With Madison Rens stepping up to swim in the girls 15yr 100 free, she was well aware that she would not have the race her own way. But yet again she was well worth her first place finish. With Tyler Delaney representing the lads we managed to keep up with the high placed finishes and he came in a very respectable 2nd place in a very strong field. With the open 100 breaststroke next, we were struck by another injury blow to our captain Luke Suarez and were searching for a replacement!! Luckily Caleb Griffiths stepped in. With Emily Spencer in the pool for the ladies we knew we were in safe hands and yet again we dominated the race from start to finish and came away with full points. Caleb was up next and up against some unbelievable competition in the opposition lanes. The race was fantastic with 3 teams running neck and neck right up to the final turn. With Caleb's transition pushing him into the lead he was incredibly unfortunate to lose 1st place by a finger tip but amazing to finish second place in an amazing race. Running into the final batch of individual events and we felt we were in a strong points position but never relaxed for a minute!! With Millie Griffiths and Ethan Kelly from the 11yr team coming away with very good wins in the 50 free we moved onto the 13yr free. Again Madison Rens was outstanding and had another comfortable win under her belt. Casey Delaney was in his element when it came to his 50 free and was very unlucky to come 2nd in a close race. As we moved into the final throws of the individuals we again had to make a hasty shuffle of the 15yr with Mathew Blackburn stepping in. With Hollie Cooper representing the girls we knew we were in for a good race. Hollie managed to keep the other girls on her sights throughout the race and was starting to reel them in after the last turn but just left herself with to much to do and finished in a very close 4th. With Mathew improving weekly on EVERY stroke we knew he would be fine. He was always up with the leaders and came in with a very respectable 4th place. We finished the individuals with the open age 100 free. With Lottie Rens in for the ladies and Harvey Martin in for the boys we knew they would both be incredibly good races. Lottie started off the race with an old frenemy in Holly White in the lane for Everton. Lottie started off the race at a fantastic pace and kept up the pressure by leading the race from start to finish and bringing home a well earned win. With Harvey lining up for the final individual event he was again pushed all the way to the finish by a strong competitor from the Crewe ranks but yet again he held his nerve and came away with the final individual win setting us up for the final set of relay races. We started off with the 11yr girls medley with Tilly Stevens having a fantastic breaststroke leg which help set Grace Ashcroft to bring in another comfortable won for the girls. Next in was the boys. They again were unstoppable and were helped to victory by Nicolas Castineria's brilliant breaststroke leg. The always impressive girls 13yr team was next and yet again with Rebekah Duncan, Aahana Manglam and Maisie Stevens the result was in the bag from the start. With the boys following that performance they had an awful lot to live upto and did not disappoint with Jake Stevens starting to come back to form after being ill over summer leading the charge. With the 15yr medley team up next we had high hopes for the girls team after such strong performances in the individual events and we weren't let down!! The girls finished a very strong 4th with all the other teams. Lucy McKenzie once again setting the girls off with an impressive backstroke leg. The lads were on next and they were again forced into a change due to illness(.....it really wasn't their night!!!) They again overcame the setback and managed a very very good win. We moved to the final 2 events of the evening and these events are what can only be described as brilliant. The noise and excitement generated around poolside is just .........BRILLIANT!!!! Our ladies were in first and they really are fantastic when they get going and came away with another fantastic win for Crosby. The boys followed them in looked strong on block. This is always a hotly contested event and if even just 1 of your swimmers isn't tiptop it can really hurt. The lads where still fantastic and pushed the other teams right to the end and claimed a hard fought 4th place. As we waited for the scores to be tallied we were quietly confident of a job well done. With the kids being so dominant we though that we would have done really well. So when the scores where announced we were ecstatic with the result

1st Crosby - 207pts
2nd Crewe and Carlisle -149pts
4th Everton - 142pts
5th Penguins - 89pts

Onto the swimmer of the event. If you've read my reports before, you'll know that it's getting harder and harder for me to pick a single swimmer out the pack......this time it was IMPOSSIBLE!!!! All the coaches agree that there simply wasnt a poor performance from any swimmer and EVERY swimmer was fantastic. It has become something of a tradition for the top swimmer not to receive a single mention in gala write up but save it for the full star treatment in this section. I have tried to give every nipper a mention and think I've captured them all. Every kid was unbelievable at this event and let's take this attitude into the next round!!! But before we go I do feel the need to give one swimmer a big special mention. With the lads 15yr team being so affected with illness on the night we were just looking to keep the relay team in the game. With some quick thinking Brian jigged a team together and we managed to have a swimmer in every slot. With Tyler opening the relay with a 50 back we were always going to be in good hands. As Tyler was returning for his final 25 I looked up and thought Brian had gone MAD!!! Stood on the blocks ready for the breaststroke leg of the 15yr medley relay was Ethan Kelly!!!!! He looked absolutely tiny stacked up with those lads who where upto 4 YEARS OLDER than him!!! All I was thinking was keep us in it until Caleb can get in for the fly. Not only did he keep us in it, but he maintained his position giving Caleb the chance to give us a fantastic lead that Mathew kept till we came home winners!!! It was un unbelievable moment that typified the kids attitude all though the gala.

A quick piece of trivia for you all.

Out of 50 races, the nippers managed to win 32......that is an incredible win rate of 64%!!!!

If you found that interesting then I figured it out....if you found it a little sad.....then Brian figured it out?!?!

A HUGE Well done to all of you!!! You where, yet again

AMAZING!!

Lancashire Masters

We had our very own Emily Spencer competing for the 18-24yr age group, at the Lancashire masters in Blackpool over the 21/22 September weekend and yet again she came out with a NECK FULL of gold medals!!

50m Freestyle = GOLD

50m Butterfly - GOLD

50m Breaststroke = GOLD

100m I.M = GOLD

Another fantastic performance from Emily and she will be going to sheffield in a few weeks to compete at National Masters!!! Amazing performance Emily and dont forget to let us know how you get on.........or we'll just end up asking your mum again!!!

Co-Op Cup Round 2

Now THAT was more like it!!!

From start to finish our kids were quite literally BRILLIANT!! Rebekah Duncan opened the gala with a fantastic swim in the 100m IM. She was unbelievably unlucky to be pipped at the end as she had dominated every leg right up until the end and finished an excellent 2nd place. Sean Flanagan was next into the pool for his race. He was in the pool with some really tough competition and managed a very useful 4th place. We then moved onto the first part of the relay events and the strength of the team really showed through. We opened with the devastating 9yr mixed freestyle relay and without sounding to cocky.......the kids smashed it!! With Emily Samra kicking the race off she passed the baton to the always impressive Tilly Stevens who built on the lead for Harry Laycock to push on and finally we had Archie Weindling bring the team home for a well deserved victory!! This set the tone for the remaining relay races where never finished outside the top 2. Every swimmer ran fantastic races and we even had to drop in a late substitute for one of the races and as ever Aidan Kearney stepped up to the plate and gave a performance that David Fairclough would have tipped his hat to!! We then moved to the individual swims and as ever we didn't have it all our own way. There were a lot of good swimmers in the pool that really pushed our kids to fantastic swims. Tilly Stevens started the with the freestyle and gave another fantastic performance that saw her win her race quite comfortably. Harry Laycock came next and was unlucky to finish fourth in a very close race. The points where announced after 10 events and we had started to open up a slim lead with Halton leading the chasing pack and only 7 points behind. We pushed on through a bit of a sticky patch and still managed to pick up good second and third place finishes with Zein Mukhtar having in his backstroke, Isabella Jones in her breaststroke and team captain Maisie Stevens on her butterfly all finishing in excellent 2nd places. But we must give a special mention to Nicolas Castineria who put in an amazing 50 breaststroke and came home with a excellent first place. We then seemed to kick into another gear in the individual events and started claiming first place after first plavce with the always strong Tilly Stevens, Will Irvine & Madison Rens all claiming excellent first places in their races. We have to give a special mention to one of our kids who dispite being ill ALL WEEK, refused to let the team down and dragged himself to poolside and AGAIN produced race after race. Well done Ethan Kelly. After 30 events we had really started to put a bit of daylight between us and the other clubs. Halton dropped back into 3rd place on 109 pts with Ormskirk in 2nd place on 124pts and Crosby leading the pack with 140pts. Again we hit a bit of a sticky patch but we still had our fair share of top finishes with Maeve Bunclark, Oscar Donnelly & Aahana Manglam all coming away with full points. We then moved into the final relay events and again showed the strength of we have in our teams. Again we didn't finish outside the top 2 places with some amazing performances from all the kids. Again the 9yr mixed team set the Crosby stall out with a very convincing medley swim and good win. The boys 11yr and the girls 12yr teams with amazing performances that will make them huge contenders in the final for all the points. With all the other teams pinching points here and there it will make for a very interesting gala for the final. We then moved into what is fast becoming a Crosby favorite (.....It wasnt a few years ago,as we'd always get battered!!!) the cannon!!! We started the race with Tilly and Joe and we never once gave up the lead finishing extremely strongly with Sean Flanagan bringing the team home for a brilliant 1st place and screams and adulation from the adoring crowd......might have gone a little far there?!?!

Onto the swimmer of the event. Again our head coach couldn't pick just one performer and has given his award to 2 swimmers. We had another lad who has been sick the last week, and again refused to let the team down. He not only produced amazing performances in his own age group but when needed to swim up he produced amazing performances again and again. He competed in numerous events, both individual AND relay and never let us down once. So well done Steven McKenzie, you where AMAZING. Onto our second swimmer of the event. This ones goes to without doubt the bestest swimmer in the entire club and funniest and all round good egg!!! Joking aside this swimmer was brilliant!! She managed to pull out 2 first place wins over a girl that had narrowly beaten her at tadpoles the previous week in both events and swam brilliantly in all the relay events. Well done Millie Griffo, your the bestest!!

Well Done

Steven McKenzie & Millie Griffiths

Keep up the hard work ready for the final!!

Gala 2 points

1. Crosby - 228pts

2. Ormskirk - 208pts

3. Hoylake - 174pts

4. Halton - 172pts

5. Bridgefield - 127pts

6. Bootle - 98pts

Final Placings

1. Warriors - 447pts

2. Crosby - 433pts

3. Ormskirk - 422pts

4. Southport - 410pts

5. Prescot - 385pts

6. Halton - 367pts

7. Hoylake - - 349pts

8. Penguins - 292pts

9. Bridgefield - 257pts

10. Everton - 231pts

11. Garston - 227pts

12. Bootle - 212pts

Tadpoles Gala

Weekend 1

WOW, So early in the season and such success !!! If this is gala is anything to go by, its going to be another busy year of medal photo's and gala reports!! Unfortunately for this gala both Lyn and myself were acting as judges for the entire event and so my reports will be a little less informative?!?!
We started our involvement with Millie Griffiths who FOOLISH enough(......sorry i misspelt brave!!) to take on her very first 200m Butterfly race and dispite getting out in tears and a very firm declaration that she will NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!! she managed not only a PB but a hugely deserved gold medal for her trouble......i reckon she'll do it again??? We then moved into the Boys 50m Backstroke and we had some fantastic swims including a Bronze medal for Aidan Kearney. We then welcomed a large number of new swimmers into the Girls 50m breaststroke event and we can count the future bright with our up and coming swimmers. A huge well done must go to Heidi Lindley, Eva Robinson, Orla Holt and Ellie Chellew All of who manged huge PB's the most impressive being Orla who knocked off an astonishing 40+seconds off her entry time. We also had a few more seasoned competitors and Mya Laycock and Isobella Jones managing PB's and a bronze medal for Mya. We then welcomed the lads back into the pool and young Archie Weindling showed little fear as he manged a PB for his first ever individual swimming competion. We also had another fantastic performance from both Oscar Donnelly and Oliver Lambert, again we had another of our swimmers earning a bronze medal. Well done Oscar!! The girls finished up the individual events for the first session and as well as PB all around we were lucky enough to have bronze medal Isobella Jones and a silver medal for Maisie Stevens. Well done you two!!

We moved into the afternoon session, again with Millie Griffiths and Jess Harrington setting us off with another GRUELING EVENT in the 400m freestyle. They both managed huge PB's and Millie was lucky enough to come away with a bronze medal. We again welcomed a lot of our first timers into the pool and AGAIN all of them managed incredible PB's with mention going to Emily Samra and Karine Crosby having brilliant swims. The boys and the girls both came the came back into the pool for the 50m butterfly and we again had some fantastic swims from young Harry Laycock And Joshua Ashcroft, both earning fantastic PB's!! We were lucky enough to have another medalist in Aiden Kearney who managed a bronze medal to add to the other he had earned earlier!! Also, young Eva Duncan and Karine Crosby were both fantastic but we again were lucky enough to have another medalist in the always impressive Maeve Bunclark who manged a silver medal in her race. We finished off the weekends individual swims with the girls 50m backstroke and as we came to expect all the swimmers manged to produce fantastic PB's so a big well done to Serrenne Crosby, Lucy Chellew Grace Ashcroft and Olivia Davidson with ahuge well done going to Millie Griffiths who finished the weekend with bronze medal. That wrapped up the first VERY VERY successful weekend

Weekend 2

Im not 100% sure why, but does it always feel like tapoles goes on for as long as Regionals or is it just me??? Anyway onto weekend 2!!! We started off with the boys 200m Free and we had fantastic swims from all of our nippers but a special mention must go to young Adam Lenanhan who ran a fantastic race in his heat. We then moved into hat is fast becoming a Crosby favourite in the 50 Fly. We had a lot of excellent heats and lot of very close medal calls but were unlucky on all account. We need to give a big shout to Serrene Crosby and Grace Blackburn who both had fantastic heats. We then moved into the boys 50m backstroke event and that is when we really started to add to our medal tally with Zein Mukhtar earning a silver in his race and James Rogers earning a gold in his race and Theo Osbourne getting over a bout of nerves to earn a fantastic PB!! With new Jnr Captain Maisie Stevens giving a Silver medal winning performance in the 50 breast, you can see why she has been given the responsibility. With James Rogers suffering from a out of jitters at Crosby HQ over the 200m backstroke, we were just hoping for a good performance but as ever James pulled out a great race and managed to achieve a fantastic PB. but yet again Crosby kids were on the hunt for medals with Aidan Kearney getting a silver and Zein Mukhtar earning a brilliant gold !! The girls took their turn in the 200 backstroke and every girl managed huge PB's but unfortunately just missed out on medals. Onto the final individual event of the session in the under 9's100m IM and again we were well represent by Archie Weindling for the boys Orla Holt, Isabella Jones for the girls. All our kids were amazing and posted fantastic times for what was in the most part the time that they had competed in the event. Moving onto the final session of the event and straight after another one of those really healthy Greggs steak bakes we welcomed three Crosby swimmers into the pool for 50m butterfly and all three of the lads posted excellent PB's so a huge well done goes to Theo Osbourne, Joshua Bradburn and Jacob Wallace . We also had a few more …….seasoned swimmers into the pool and they both managed fantastic swims Zein Mukhtar managed a Bronze and James Rogers produced another Gold medal performance! The girls next event was the 200m freestyle and a very nervous Heidi Lindley put aside some unexpected nerves to smash out a very accomplished PB. We moved onto the gents 50m free and yet again we had more than 1 medal contender in the wings and all of the lads managed fantastic PB's with the EVER improving Oscar Donnelly coming away with a hugely disserved gold. We also had a large number of new swimmers and we really must congratulate Finlay Arnold, George Marshall and Archie Hobbs who were all brilliant!! The girls 50 free was next , and again there was no shortage medal possibilities in the ranks with Millie Griffiths & Maeve Bunclark managing a Bronze each!! Again we had some nerves newcomers but all where yet again fantastic and done the club proud!! Well done Emily Samra, Phoebe Brown and Ellie Chellew you where all amazing!!!!!! Moving into the final individual event of the was the boys and girls 200m IM and again we had an awful lot of potential medallist to call on and although every swimmer again managed fantastic PB's we were only lucky enough to have a few medallist and one of those was an amazing silver from Nicolas Castineria. We were also lucky enough to have a huge number of Team relay events across the 4 sessions and although we didn't manage to win any of the races (as ever Southport brought a massively strong squad) our little group of nippers, both boys AND girls managed to medal in EVERY team event. Considering that we never even had teams in these events a few years ago, it is impossible not to be impressed with the kids progress over the last few years.

Onto our swimmer....or swimmers of the event. You may have noticed some obvious omissions from the list of achievements above. It's becoming a bit of a tradition that we don't mention the swimmers that have earned the accolade of being named as swimmer of the event and I can tell you that with the quality of kids we have in the pool at the minute, it really is becoming harder and harder to pick these standout performers. This time it was a little more cut and dried as we had 2 swimmers who managed to produce so many top quality swims that they were BOTH awarded with the top prize that you can earn at Tadpoles. firstly you have Ethan Kelly who has grown and grown and GROWN into such a fantastic swimmer with what can only be described as minimal fuss that the first place in the FINA awards was more or less expected from us all this year. None the less it was a fantastic achiement and you where amazing throughout. Then we moved onto out next winner. Again with strong performances leading up to Tadpoles we all though that YOUNG Tilly Stevens had a very real shot at the FINA award this year. But looking at the times and rankings of her competitors Tilly alway

s knew that she wouldn't just walk it and would have to produce excellent performances time after time. Well as we have come to expect, Tilly never let herself or the club down as was fantantic from her first race to her last!!

Well done

Tilly Stevens & Ethan Kelly

you where both

BRILLIANT!!

To ALL the kids that represented our club at TADPOLES you where all ABSOLUTLEY AMAZING!! Everyone of you managed PB's in all your events and more importantly you carried yourselves off impecably and where a credit to the club on AND off the starters blocks. Whether you managed a PB or a medal or was just brave enough to enter your first ever indiviual gala, you made your coaches and parents PROUD!!!

Co-Op Cup Round 1

Ive got to be honest, i was a little nervous after the first set of races. We didn't show our usual confidence at poolside and the kids seemed a little quieter than usual at the lane ends but i put this down to an early start to the new competitive Crosby season and the loss of a few big names from the team sheet . We welcomed a few new faces(some young, some a little older) and you could see that they were feeling a little nervous about how they would get on in their first race. We started the gala with a new event and Aahana Manglam started well in the 100m Individual Medley and was JUST pipped into second place. We welcomed our new Boys Jnr captain into the pool for the boys event and Monty Barr done the club proud with a strong performance in his own race. Our always strong 12yr girls team produced an excellent performance and managed to lead their race from start to finish and capped off the relays in strong form with a comfortable win.

We then moved into the individual events and we took the that form into our next few races with fantastic performance from our youngest competitors who both had comfortable wins in their freestyle events, a massive well done to both Tilly Stevens And Joe Dixon. We started to gain some momentum as we got to halfway into the gala and the 4ths and 3rds started to turn 3rds and 2rds and as we grew in confidence, the customary noise from the pool ends became louder and louder as we were pushing our kids onto greater efforts. At the half way stage we were sitting in 4th place behind Hoylake, Southport and the newcomers Warrington Warriors(another city club for our nippers to contend with!!) but the tide was starting to turn in our favour!! The ever strong and reliable Ethan Kelly, Maddison Rens and Millie Griffiths were all big performers and started to contribute to the points table with our new fleet of swimmers picking up points with fantastic wins in thier events so well done to Isabella Jones, Maeve Bunclark, Nicolas Castineria and Oscar Donnelly. As we moved into the final stages of the gala and the pionts tallies were announced you could really tell that Crosby was the team with all the form moving into the final relay events. We had pushed right past Hoylake into 3rd position and only 2 points behind the joint leaders Warrington and Southport!!!! We started the with another win from our quite formidable 9yr mixed medley team and its a brave team that fancies taking them on in the coming rounds. Our 10yr boys pulled out another win and that was followed by our amazing 12yr girls team winning in their freestyle relay........again!! All the relay teams produced fantastic performance and we entered the cannon events in confident form. Our lads team was VERY unlucky to finish in 5th place in a finish that basically saw all teams finish in a line and we could just have eassily finished 1st, unlucky lads!! Our now terrifying girls team stood up to the blocks next and from start to finish there was absolutely only going to be 1 winner........it was us by the way!!!

As the final points were announced our amazing kids had managed to produce an amazing turnaround and managed to capture 2nd place from an shell shocked Warrington Warriors.

1st Southport - 212 pts

2nd CROSBY - 205 pts

3rd Warrington - 193pts

4th Hoylake - 175pts

5th Bridgefield - 130pts

6th Everton - 92pts

Onto our swimmer of the gala. Unfortunately for this swimmer, they are another nipper that is such a fantastic swimmer that they have to have an absolutely unbelievable gala to standout from their usual very very high standards and this time he done just that. Not only was he brilliant in his own age group winning both his individuals but he was fanatastic when asked to swim up against a very strong competitor and was just pipped to 2nd place. He also competed in all his team relays and cannon

A huge well done to

WILL IRVINE

This one has been a long time coming but it was well deserved and keep up the hard work!!!

British & English Nationals

In what can only be described as a PERFECT end to a BRILLIANTLY successful Crosby Swimming Club season we where lucky enough to have 2 of our swimmers representing us in the pools at Glasgow and Sheffield. Madison Rens & Caleb Griffiths capped off a phenomenal season on a local level by competing at the highest levels for their age groups at the national championships. Only the very best performers that season are invited to compete at these events and the standard is incredible!!. Caleb kicked off the Crosby interest at Glasgow were he competed in the 50m Backstroke event. He manage a seasons best time of 29.54 and finished an impressive 11th just missing out on the final but finally manged to break the 30sec mark which he had been hunting for a large part of the season.

We then moved to Sheffield for the best part of a week taking in all the local sights and sounds including VERY regular trips to the MEAL DEAL Isle in SAINSBURYS and Crack alley on the way back to the hotel which produced new and interesting way to see people passed out on a daily basis!! i know we could have gone a different way, but it was always a LONG DAY and we just wanted to get home!!! hahaha. The pool and the facilities where amazing and the kids really took to the experience. Maddy just managed to squeak into the 50m freestyle event and sitting up in the balcony we weren't expecting a lot, but as ever with Miss Rens she absolutely smashed her heat and qualified for the final in 8th position with an incredible time of 28.20!!! She entered the final as nervous as only Maddy can be, knowing that she would have to pull off another PB to stand any chance of a medal. Coming in at 28.16sec was another fantastic PB but unfortunately not quite enough to capture a well deserved medal in a final where all the competitors finished in a line and the difference between 1st and 10th was mere milliseconds!!! She finished off her competition with the 50m Breaststoke. We were all a lot more positive about her chance on this one and it just shows you the level of competitor that even a small decrease in Maddy's PB meant that she didn't quite make the final. None the less it was still an amazing event for Maddy and considering that she is fully 12months younger than the vast majority of her piers in the pool at this event, it will be a very interesting season next year for her!!! As for Caleb he had what can only be described as UNBELIEVABLE championship!! He managed to bring home 2 gold medals in 2 different strokes and narrowly missed out on 3rd in his final swim!!! He had 6 events in total over the week and managed to compete in 4 finals hitting PB's in both heats and finals everytime. His 1st gold came from the 100m Butterfly where he knocked off 1 sec from his entry time to finish as top seed for the final. With the quality of the lads around him he knew he would need to beat that PB in the final to stand any chance of a medal. Not only did he beat that time but he smashed another 2 seconds off to finish in 1.00.36!!! This is the first time we all got to see the all new lucky Crosby SC swim hat underneath the COLSC swim cap. For a lad that HATES wearing any swim cap this was an unexpected (but not unwelcome!!!) addition!! From now on we will all insist that Caleb wear 2 hats to all the big events as it continued to prove its use as we moved thru the weeks events.

His next gold came from the 100m backstroke and he only just managed to gain a place in the final with a less than stellar performance in the heat. In the final he occupied the outside lane as was not even considered an outside chance to medal, but in the words of our head coach "nobody puts Crosby in a corner!!!" and with nothing to lose Caleb FLEW off the blocks and building on brilliant start dominated the entire race from start to finish and won Gold with a time of 1.02.52 sec smashing 4sec of his entry time. He also manged to get to the finals of his 200m I.M and 50m Fly events hitting PB's to all strokes. He also competed in the 200m Back and Fly........ but they went terribly so we ont mention them again!! haha

All in all both Madison and Caleb where brilliant and represented the club amazingly, but more importantly they both want all the nippers at Crosby to realise that if THEY can do it, then absolutely

SO CAN YOU!!!

Macmillan Gala

OH MY GOD, HOW BOSS WAS THAT?!?!?!?

The kids finished the season with an amazing performance that really shows how hard the entire squad has worked this season and how all that hard work pays off!!

We started the gala with some absolute NEWBIES to the team galas and they didn't show any sign of nerves as they all performed well in the in their first freestyle relays. Everyone one of them remembered the relay MANTRA and everyone of them "waited for the touch!!" which always gives them a good chance of finishing high in the points. So a special mention in these races must go to Annabelle Irvine, Karine Crosbie and Archie Weindling who all showed absolutely NO nerves in their fisrt event and all swam fantastically!! In the next age group we again we're introducing new swimmers to the pool and again they showed no sign of nerves with Heidi Lindley and Eva Duncan making their debut in the breastroke & freestyle legs of the medley relay and Finlay Arnold doing the backstroke leg for the lads. We were STILL introducing new swimmers into the pool with the 11yrs lads team welcoming Josh Weston for his first Crosby swim and again it was well worth the wait!! After all those new introductions we welcomed our old timers into the pool and it can never be nice being the opposition to look across and see your swimming against Madison Rens, Rebekah Duncan Maisie Stevens and and Aahana Manglam and yet again they didn't fail to perform and smashed their Medley relay!! Not to be outdone by the girls the lads team produced another fantastic performance which took us into the individual events.

Tilly Stevens opened the show with a fantastic win in the 25m freestyle and Harry Laycock was unlucky and was pipped right at the end of a very close and exciting race. We continued on in the individual with VERY STRONG performances throughout the team and very really did we finish out of the top 2 places and we have to give a few special mentions out to a few of the kids. Madison Rens was her usual terrifying self and dominated every event she swam in. Will Irvine was fantastic and swam up for us on a few occasions. Isabella Jones was brilliant in her breaststroke and came in with a commanding lead even though it was only a 25m race!!! Aahana Manglam pulled out some fantastic swims in all her events. Aiden Kearney Pulled out a great win in the 5om Backstroke. Ethan Kelly and Millie Griffiths were their usual fantastic selves and dispite a little self doubt Rebekah Duncan was as dependable as ever!!

We moved into the second half of the event leading the way from a very good bridgefield team but then moved into what we can only descripe as something of a purple patch and we manged to claim 6 1st place finishes on the bounce moving into the closing stages!! Dispite suffering our first DQ's of the gala we still manged to maintain a health lead with both the 10yr boys and girls freestyle relay teams claiing comfortable wins, indeed it was so comfortable that one of the lads started to practice his gymastics routine at the start and done a passable forward roll into the pool. Well done Finlay Arnold.... but one sport at a time please mate!!! Onto the highlight of the event. We are now used to our girls team continuously producing fantastic performance in the cannons at the end of galas and the boys being our nearly men. But this time, not only did our ladies produce a very good win with their usual flair but the lads also managed what can only be described as a very convincing win in their own event!! Well done lads, we all knew it would all come together!!!!!

1st place = Crosby 195 points

2nd place = Bridgefield 181 points

3rd place = Halton 147 points

4th place = Penguins135 points

5th place = Garston 90 points

Ladies Cannon = Crosby

Gents Cannon = Crosby

On to our swimmer of the gala. Again this was an unbelievably hard pick as literally no kid swam badly. We had some amazing individual swims. With Josh Weston & Finlay Arnold having amazing backstroke swims. Eva Duncan settling right into the team and showing us what we can expect in the future. Tilly Stevens being her usual self and Maeve Bunclark being.......Maeve!!!!

This time the award will be going to Oscar Donnelly. For a few months he had been swimming a little bit below par and really seemed to be struggling. But over the last few galas he has REALLY kicked on culminating in a first name on the team sheet performance on Saturday!!!!

Well done Oscar and keep up all the hard work!!!

Isabella Jones

We where lucky enough to have ANOTHER Crosby swimmer swim so well in the Standfield School swim competition. Young Isabella managed to win Gold in the

50m Back stroke

25m Backstroke

25 freestyle

AND she also managed to win the OVERALL points winners trophy!!

WELL DONE ISABELLA

Wirral Sprint Meet

In what has got to go down as on of the most successful galas in Crosby Swimming clubs history i must say that i have never been prouder of our club!!! EVERY other club at the gala must been sick to death of hearing that another Crosby swimmer had had won another medal at another event, and we aren't just talking one swimmer per event. In some of the races, we were talking multiple medals across multiple age groups REGULARLY !!!

We had a number of very inexperienced swimmers who used fed of the clubs momentum and swam really really well and even managed to take home medals along with a few kids who where swimming in their VERY first gala. One of those was Will Delamere who despite getting a DQ in his first race, never let it phase him and went onto to win silver in his next race!!! We also welcomed back Zein Mukhtar who as well took home a fistful of medals. We had young Ethan Kelly and Will Irvine who took home their usual supply of medal to add to their growing supplies. Sianna Rens shook of a persistent injury to have a success confidence boosting results. Dispite racing in the open age group Caleb Griffiths still manged to bring home multiple gold medals being beaten only by a Ellsmere TITAN on his last hurrah prior to going to uni!!! Lucy McKenzie added to what is fast becoming a very successful period. Madison Rens done what Madison Rens does and won GOLD after GOLD!! Aahana Manglam had a great gala and was a constant visitor to the medal table. Maisie Stevens put a bad start to her breaststroke race behind her to post a fantastic time and she was followed closely by her big brother Jake Stevens to collect her medal. Millie Griffiths managed a fantastic feat and medaled in EVERY event she entered!!! We also had both Jess and Sam Harrington having impressive performances

Along side all of these medalist was a huge supporting cast of young Crosby swimmers who although they didn't manage a medal still swam fantastically and regally PB'ed and in the most part where finishing close 4th positions !!! Every swimmer at the event helped the tide of medals with their support at the end of the lanes or just by pushing our swimmers on to better swims. I apologise if i missed any medallist out and hopefully ive caught you all for the wall or website photo's!!

Now we move to the swimmer of the gala. With such fantastic performances from so many swimmers it was impossible to pick just one......... So Brian picked 3!!!!!

1. Maeve Bunclark - Swam fantastically and even managed to pick up a provisional Lancs time in her 50 fly

2. Eva Duncan - Again Swam fantastic and even though she was DQ'd in her first event still went onto a strong swim in her next event

3. Tilly Stevens - Again AGAIN, swam fantastic and picked up a huge amount of medals in her very first gala .....let not forgot that she also mange a provisional LANCS time

EVERY SWIMMER in a Crosby hat should be immensely proud of everything they have achieved this season and the results on Saturday Just prove that all the hard work and effort really does pay off

Well done to you ALL

Wigan Starter Met

With this being our first visit as a club to the Wigan Life Pool we could understand the kids initial nerves at the new surroundings and competitors. But as ever it didn't take long for the kids to settle down into the gala and start to relax. We took very young team to Wigan and they were greeted by some of the biggest clubs in the Northwest in Bolton, Wigan and City of Salford all of whom brought big experienced swimmers to compete. We started with the Girls 200IM (always a classic) and none of our girls let the experience get to them and manged on the whole to fantastic PB's with Grace Ashcroft knocking off an impressive 20secs!!! We then moved onto the boys 50m fly where we had some excellent performances, again with good PB's all round. The one performance that stuck out in my head was the other side of the Ashcroft family in young Joshua . From his dive he managed to put his goggles in the one place that managed to COMPLETELY obscure his view of the entire race!! Considering he could no longer see the other end of the pool he done a remarkable job in getting to the end at all. Unfortunately he only managed a one handed touch and on his transition completed a breaststroke kick.....so basically ticked all the DQ boxes boxes in one event. None the less he managed to complete the race and get an UNOFFICIAL PB in the process. Considering that this was his event in first gala, it was an unbelivable effort for him and he didn't let it effect the rest of his performances so a HUGE WELL DONE to young Joshua Ashcroft. From a Crosby point of view it was pretty much business as usual with all the swimmers achieving PB's in all events and Will Irvine performing at his usual high standard and picking up our first medal of the weekend, with a well earned silver in the 200m Backstroke. The next highlight was Millie Griffiths knocked 4sec off her 100m breaststroke ace. Considering that Millie has struggled all year with her breaststroke and has a bit of a dodgy knee at the minute this was a fantastic effort! The Afternoon session began with a bang and Oliver Lambert taking a good silver medal in the 100m IM stroke. Will Irvine taking a bronze in the 50 free and Ethan Wallace being very unfortunate and just missing out on a medal with his performance the 50m free. But the standout performer of Saturday for me would have to go to Lucy McKenzie. She attained PB's in all events and managed to medal in 3 of her 4 events Bronze - 100 breast, Silver - 100 back, Silver - 50 breast

Well done Lucy you where amazing ALL DAY !!!

We started Sunday with yet another excellent performance from Will Irvine who despite a little drama on his back to breast turn for his 200m IM still managed a good PB and gold medal!! We moved then onto the 50m Butterfly and it was nice to finally see the normally happiest smiliest person at the club show a little aggression and have a great swim in her event. Well done Lucy Chellew with those performances your times will definitely improve!!! We had Oscar Donnelly competing in the 50m backstroke event and he capped off a fantastic weekend with a fourth placed swim with another huge PB!! Another highlight of the weekend happend in the next event where we manged to have three gold medals in the boys 100m breast well done Oliver, Will(again!!) & Ethan!! We moved into the final session of the weekend with the girls 100 IM and we had some unbelievable PB's from Millie Griffiths, Freya Doran and Lucy Chellew. We finished the event on a huge positive with Ethan, Will and Oliver all taking medals in the 50m breaststroke event.

In an gala that was so heavy in unnessacery and rather picky DQ's all of our kids should take a lot of confidence from the fact that the only ones we received where for our 2 BRAND NEW competitors and both of the lads learnt lessens and DID NOT let effect the rest of their swims Well done Sam Doran & Joshua Ashcroft. We also had a confidence booster for both of the Blackburn kids. Grace Blackburn put the disappointment of a backstroke DQ in her last gala with a great performance this time around and Mathew Blackburn had great PB's in both of his swims

On to our swimmer of the event. With all the medals and PB's that Will managed this weekend you can be forgiven for being a little confused . But this is by far the closest call I've had to make in a very long while and this time Ethan Kelly managed to just pip about 3 other kids for the spot. Ethan was amazing ALL weekend, smashing all his PB's, hitting all last years Lancs qualifying times and earning medals in a very competitive group of swimmers time and time again!!

200 breast - Gold
200 IM - Bronze
100 breast - Gold
200 free - Bronze
50 breast- Gold

Well done Ethan and keep up all the hard work!!!

National Championships

Madison Rens

Caleb Griffiths

The club is lucky enough to have two of our swimmers competing at this years British Age Group Championships and English Age Group Championships. Madison Rens and Caleb Griffiths have had AMAZING season and have manged to reach the top age group competition of the season.

Madison has achieved two swims. This is an unbelievable achievement as most of the girls she will be swimming against will be 12 months older than her!!!

50m Freestyle
50m Breaststroke

Caleb has achieved 1 swim in British and 6 swims in the English Championships. Again this is a fantastic achievement and Caleb is hoping to be VERY competitive in all his swims

50m Backstroke - British Nationals
100m Backstroke
200m Backstroke
50m Butterfly
100m Butterfly
200m Butterfly
200m I.M

This is a FANTASTIC effort from both of them and they should both be HUGELY proud of themselves as i know that all the coaches are. Well done you two and keep up all the hard work in training!!

And to all our younger swimmers, hopefully next year i will be writing about how well you have done and have a picture of your cheesy mug up on the website!!

Emily Spencer

Emily has just competed in the Yorkshire Open Masters at Ponds Forge in Sheffield and managed some fantastic results in the 18-24yr age group ....not quite an old lady just yet then!!!

50m Free - Silver
100m Free - Silver
50m Fly - Silver
50m Breast - Silver

Well done Emily!!

Great to have you back at

Crosby!!

Athena Clayson

Well Done Athena!! Just try and remember us little people when your in the Olympics!!

M&D R4 - Halton Gala

WHY O WHY WAS IT SO HOT IN THERE???

What a GALA?? A fantastic event from start to finish. Our little'uns REALLY set the tone with convincing swims in both of their relays(don't fancy facing that group of nippers for the next few years to come...AMAZING!!!) and we continued that right through the relays picking up fantastic placings in ALL the races. We again had some fantastic swims from our 14-15yr old girls who where in the most part swimming up to fill a few gaps in the ranks but none the less gave gave a fantastic account of themselves, so a HUGE mention should go to Rebekah Duncan, Maisie Stevens Madison Rens & Lucy McKenzie We welcomed back all the usual suspects with Sean Davies making a special trip back from uni to appear Harvey Martin coming back from injury and the LEGENDARY Emily Spence coming out of exile!! We put them all straight to work and they didn't disappoint!!

We then moved into the individuals where the always impressive Madison Rens & Steven McKenzie in the 50m freestyle, both with fantastic performance. We again had to call on Lucy McKenzie to fill a gap in the 14-15yrs 50m Breaststroke and Dan Davies backing her up from the boys. We then had to call in a substitute for the 100m Freestyle Gents as BIG SEAN DAVIES hurt his knee and swapped with Harvey Martin for the breaststroke race. Even with his damaged knee and swimming against some really tough competitors he still managed to great performance and got us some well earned points for the board. Emily Spencer was next into the pool and gave a commanding performance, leading from start to finish in her race!! We kept the pressure up right through and finished the first half strong with Millie Griffiths and Ethan Kelly swimming in the breaststroke which gave us a points lead at the halfway stage.

We continued the second half with the strong performances we left at first half. with Aahana Manglam and James Rogers setting the tone with excellent performances in their 50m fly races and Abi Towel and Harvey Martin continuing the performances of the open age group. We then moved onto my personal favorite race of the gala with 12yr old Holly Cooper stepping into the open age group 100m breaststroke. With some VERY VERY good swimmers in the event from Everton and Garston it would have been easy for Holly to let the pressure of the race get the better of her and at the start it certainly looked like that was the case as she made the first turn trailing everyone in dead last position. Holly never let that bother her and swam her her own race to absolute perfection. With every turn she managed to reel in the swimmers from Garston and pass her with before she was turning for the final sprint into the wall. As she turned for the final 25m she was hot on the heels of the swimmer from Prescott only for the Garston swimmer to make a come back. As the 3 of them were about to pass the halfway stage holly took control and ran a FANTASTIC 3rd place!!!!

We were again strong in the final stages with the relays. An area that used to be the bain of our gala is now turning into another opportunity for us to stack up points!! Our 11yr old boys and girls are a truly formidable team and will give everyone a proper run for their money for years to come and at the other end, Our Open age team is the strongest its ever been!!! A quick mention must go to our Junior boys captain Jake Stevens for entirely the most ........interesting pool entry of the gala!! He had picked his side as his teammate was swimming in only for the lad to veer sharply at the last minute forcing Jake to leap salmon-eske sideways, twist mid air and somehow stay in his own lane!!!! Well done Jake.

We finished of the the M&D season with 2 very exciting cannons and both the boys and girls team where amazing as ever coming in second in both events

With SO MANY brilliant performances on the day it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to pick out an individual performer for the event. From Chloe in the free, Maisie in the fly, Tilly in the free Sianna in the back, Sam in the fly, Lucy Bos in the breast, Lottie in the fly, Olivia in the back.......for the girls and George in the fly, Sean Flano in the back, Jack in the free, Luke in the back, Ethan Wallace in the free...........

EVERYONE WAS AMAZING!!!

Prescott = 181 pts
Crosby = 180 pts
Halton = 170 pts
Garston = 143 pts
Everton = 136 pts

We are just waiting for final conformation of the finishing positions and we will let you all know asap!!

My wife has informed that (and not for the first time), i have forgotten to mention my sons contribution to to the gala!! Well, Let me just say that as ever Caleb Griffiths you where as ever AMAZING !! Cant wait to see your back and fly at this weekends regionals and hopefully nationals!?!?!

Regionals - a message from the Crosby coaches

Good luck to ALL Crosby swimmers competing for Liverpool at this years regional championships. We all know how your training has been disrupted with the ongoing DRAMA at city, but im sure NONE of you will let that affect your performance.

No matter how you place on the day, PLEASE remember how proud ALL the Crosby coaches are of you........ you have all done AMAZING just to get there!!!

Club Champs - Day 2

On day 2 of our competition we welcomed back quite few of our missing swimmers from day 1 which helped fill out a few heats and really made things more interesting!!! We re-started with the Squad 100m backstroke and had some amazing heats to watch. The races that most stick in the mind would be heat 3 of the ladies race were we had Hollie Cooper, Lucy Mckenzie and Madison Rens all running each other close in a fantastic finish. Also heat 1 of the gents race come up with another spectacular race with Ethan Kelly, Will Irvine And Zein Mukhtar all vying for the top spot!!! Next we welcomed our Pre-Squad back into the pool for their 25m freestyle race and saw Georgina Wilson and Niamh Scott-McCormack swim fantastic in the ladies race and Oscar Donnelly come back to form with a fantastic swim for the lads. Last to get back into the pool was our Jnr squad. All looked cool calm and collected as they lined up for 25m butterfly, with them ALL having fantastic races the previous day with the 50m fly ythis one would just be a walk in the park!! One of our youngest swimmers produced a hugely improved swim from the previous day for the girls and so a massive well done to Charlotte Kirby and from the lads side the plaudits must go to the Cooke twins(Jacob & Ethan) who ran in first and second places in their heat.......no idea which one won though?? The HIGH level of competition kept rolling through the remaining races and we where treated to some fantastic races including the pre-squad girls 50m back stroke that saw Grace Blackburn just pip Niamh Scott-McCormack to a heat win!!

We then moved onto the 100m I.M and what i think is now becoming the Crosby Club Champ balcony favorite!!! We started with the event with the Jnr squad girls and where treated to fantastically close race between Karine Crosbie and Annabelle Irvine which was to close for me to call and REALLY got the crowd on their feet!!! This unbelievable quality and entertainment was carried right through the heats all the way through into the squad swimmers culminating in a unbelievable final heat that saw club captain Harvey Martin take the win in the final swim of the Crosby Club Champs 2019. All the points are currently being totaled and we will announce the winners at the presentation night on the

5th July at Marine Football Club

A huge thank you goes out to everyone that helped make this such a special event that is going from strength to strength EVERY YEAR!! Also a huge thanks to all the swimmers who make Crosby Swimming Club everything we hope it will be. From your behavior at local gals to your screams at poolside to support ANY member of the squad. To our top swimmers competing in the red of Liverpool at Regionals and Nationals, we know your still blue at heart!! Finally to all the parents who without all your effort and dedication we wouldn't have a club.

Onto the swimmer of the event. In something like this it would be impossible to pick an individual swimmer for the entire event. So we have decided to award a male and female from every squad. Even with choosing more swimmers, they were still hugely difficult decisions to make. These swimmers might not have won all their races or won their squad competition, but they have stood out to the coaches for many different reasons

Jnr Squad - Emily Cotton & James Waterson - Both swam brilliantly throughout and showed massive improvements. All the hard work in training is starting to pay off. Well done!!

Pre Squad - Maeve Bunclark & Josh Weston - Again, Both swam fantastically!! Maeve building on a very successful year and Josh just starting to build his confidence and moving to swimming in his first individual gala

Squad - Tilly Stevens & Ethan Kelly - Tilly is just a bundle of engery that has focused herself in way that kids nearly twice her age have failed to do. She will be entering her 1st individual gala in a few months and we are all expecting great things!! and what can i say about Ethan that i already haven't said in previous gala reports??? He is having a fantastic season and just building and building on a fantastic reputation!!

I think looking at those names you understand how well these swimmers have all swam when swimmers like The McKenzie family, The Griffiths Family, The Rens family, Hollie Cooper......... dont even get a mention!! A huge well done to you all and lets finish the season strong!!

Club Champs - Day 1

What a fantastic opening to our annual club champs!!! It looks like we have finally found a new balcony announcer that was made for the role and a very warm welcome to Simon Donnelly and huge thank you from everyone for stepping and and doing such a great job!! We started the preceding with a Blue ribbon event in the the selected squad 100m butterfly and they didn't fail to deliver a fantastic opener with Harvey Martin taking the win for the boys and Lottie Rens taking the win for the girls!!

We followed that that with the 25m backstroke from our pre-squad swimmers and a excellent performance from Niamh Borland seen her take the win in her heat and really set the tone for what was a brilliant day all round for Niamh. Joshua Weston had a fantastic swim in his heat and looks like we might need to keep a close eye on how he's getting on. Our Junior squad was next into the pool with their 25m freestyle race and everyone of them really showed fantastic calm to what for most of them was a first introduction to the competitive environment. With Annabelle Irvine, Karine Crosbie, Heidi Lindley and Emily Cotton Standing for the ladies and George Weston, Adam Lenehan and the Cooke brothers(Ethan & Jacob) putting on a showing from the gents. Our next set of races was from our top Squad and with some of the most anticipated heats in the entire gala we had some fantastic races to look forward to!! with heats that would include our almost infamous 11/12 & 13 yr old girls they never once failed to live up to the coaches expectations and EVERY heat was a really close fought competition and the overall leaders table will have changed around on multiple occasions. In the lads heats we had the 10 & 11 yr old boys who just like the girls are an unbelievably talented group of lads and the race that really stick out for me must be the 100m breaststroke. This is the stroke where at Lancs we twice had 3 crosby lads representing our club and it lived up to all i expected!! With young Will Irvine taking an early lead Ethan Kelly and Steven McKenzie were left chasing him. Will managed to keep the lead right up untill the final 25m but as they turned in for the final 25m, Ethan managed to find an extra gear and just managed to pip Will for the heat win. Another squad race that sticks in the head is the girls 50m Backstroke. I had my favorite already pegged on as a dead cert but from out of nowhere Chloe Quarton stole in with a fantastic victory....amazing to me as i didn't even know she could do backstroke!!!

We kept the pace up and rattled through the races and are left with a few interesting races to complete tonight including all squad doing the 100m I.M races

See you all later!! 6.30 warm for all squads

E & P Spring Meet

Another great weekend for the Kids from Crosby. In what was a VERY VERY busy meet. Attended by some of the biggest clubs in the region - like Liverpool & Manchester swimming clubs - our swimmers more than held their own, and managed to take plenty of medals from these more experienced swimmers on a very regular basis!! All swimmers where exceptional and carried themselves off very well both in the pool and on a very crowded poolside and as expected, where an absolute credit to their blue Crosby tops.

From a coaches point of view, and i know i've said before but..... we can't tell you all how pleased we all are when ALL we can hear is the din and racket you all make supporting WHOEVER is stood on the block in a Crosby hat and long may it continue!!!

We only had 2 newcomer to our team and despite my fears that one of the pair would hit his first official DQ,he managed to produce some interesting tumble turns and even more interesting backstroke turns than we would have liked but interesting doesn't equal illegal and he completed two very demanding 200m events. The other one swam with great confidence in both of her of her swims even if she had to wait an eternity for her first in the morning!! so a huge well done to both Jamie Myres & Emily Phillips who where both fantastic on their debuts!!

We started our our weekend with the boys 200m IM and where represented by Caleb Griffiths, Steven McKenzie and Ethan Kelly all of whom set great PB's with Caleb and Ethan bringing home a gold and a silver each. this set the tone for the morning session with Maeve Bunclark - the new Crosby Medal Machine - picking up a silver in the 100 free and Sianna Rens picking up a bronze in the 50m breaststroke to name but a few(that's right, Sianna got a bronze for breaststroke?!?!?).

We also had a number of swimmers making attempts at what are ridiculously hard regional qualification times with mixed success. Hollie Cooper SMASHED through her 200m breaststroke time and i think needed a 2.58(SC) and manged a 2.55(SC) Well done holly and we'll see you in Manchester!! We also had Rebekah Duncan attempting an always difficult 50 freestyle but fell just short. On a personal note, the qualifying times this year are unbelievable quick!! Anyone that manages to attain these times should be hugely proud of themselves and anyone within touching distance should be equally proud of themselves!!

We had a constant presence at the medal table from all the usual suspects including Madison Rens, Aahana Manglam, Luke Suarez & James Rogers to name but a few and we also had our constant PB's being Smashed with a special mention going to Lucy McKenzie and Millie Griffiths who had fantastic swims all through the weekend

We finished the gala as strongly as we started it with Caleb Griffiths taking another silver for the 100m fly against a very strong line up.

For my swimmer of the event it will go to someone who has struggled a little bit recently. She Never managed to hit her PB's this weekend but none-the-less swam fantastically throughout!! She has had a bit of an injury to her wrist that required an operation and a lengthy lay off from all swimming. Despite this, she has come back to Crosby with a Fantastic attitude and has attacked all her events brilliantly and keeps improving at every event!!

Well done

LUCY CHELLEW

and keep up all the hard work and effort!!

Wirral Spring Meet

Another long weekend ......Another VERY SUCCESSFUL weekend for all of our swimmers!! We started the 200m IM with Jess Harrington starting as the rest of the kids would go on by smashing a 15+sec off her PB!!! We followed that with success in the 100m backstroke most notably MUST go to Mathew Blackburn who managed an incredible 36.60 sec PB......... think i might have to have a word with his dad about fudging Mathews entry times??? That is just two of an incredible amount of PB's with all the kids achieving at least 1 each through the weekend..Here is a list of the most notable

Grace Ashcroft - 12sec 100 breast, Lucy chellew 10secs 100 breast, Serrene Crosbie 6 sec 100 breast, Oliver Lambert 28 secs 200 breast,Marats Solovjovs 21 secs 200 free,Maeve Bunclark - 12.7, and these are just in the first few events!!!!

We also had huge medal success with Meave Bunclark taking home 2 very impressive silver medal in the 50 & 100m freestyle races. Will Irvine taking home his usual handful of medals and Oliver Lambert bringing home a impressive tally!!

Worryingly from a coaching perspective, we suffered an alarming amount of DQ's at this gala. Some where a little excessive from a judging point of view, but enough where well earned from our nippers that means we still have a lot to practice back at HQ. Hopefully all the kids that suffered the DQ's will take the frustration back to training and listen when the coaches are giving them instruction on turns and transitions. Hopefully, we can take a positive out of this and not repeat the same issues again at the next gala

Again, we welcomed a large number of first time competitive swimmers to an event and everyone of them performed fantastic.....including 1 lad who didn't think that 50m was enough in his 50m breaststroke event and thought he would give everyone else a chance by completing a full 75m instead!! Well done to you all

Onto our swimmer of the gala- For myself, It was 2 lads that really stood out. Im giving it to 2 because both of them only swam in 1 day.

The first swimmer is our Club Captain Harvey Martin who despite not training properly for the last few months showed up on the Sunday and absolutely smashed all PB's and and really looked like he is coming back into form in time for a possible shock entry into regionals !!

The second.......and im almost afraid to say it as he already seems a little over excited, is James Rogers Who was unbelievable in all his races on Saturday and constantly hit PB's and medals ALL DAY

Well done James and Harvey. You where both fantastic!!

M&D - Round 3 - Garston

4th Place

Not our best performance in this years competition.....but none the less some huge positives to take away into the final 2 gala's. This was a gala where we hugely missed some of our more experienced swimmers. So although this might not have been the most convincing performance in the pool we were still able to keep all the other teams within touching distance with some fantastic performances. Special mention must go to young Will Irvine who in his first gala came in first place to announce himself as a future Crosby star. We also had the usual fantastic performance from Caleb Griffiths & Madison Rens who won all their age group individual races and and where excellent in their relay and individual swim ups. Another Griffiths was another swimmer that swam well and was instrumental in our 10 - 11yr girls making it a clean sweep in ALL of their individual and reley events. So well done Millie Griffiths and keep up the hard work

ALL the coaches where absolutely delighted with all support shown across every age group at the end of the pool. Im sure you can imagine how nervous some of our younger swimmers can be and there is no better feeling than seeing your teammates cheering you on and supporting you in your races.

Lets hope that in the remaining galas we can call on the entire Crosby swimming club to push us on and maybe stand a chance of upsetting the odds and winning the premiere division in our first year bouncing back!!!

Onto our swimmer of the gala. This time we have given it to an entire squad. We were so short of swimmers in one age group that we had to promote an entire age group to swim not only in their own swims but that of the age group above them!! All swam excellently and Never batted an eye lid about taking on swimmers much older and more experienced than themselves.

Well done to the entire girls 12-13yrs team

Wirral Metro-Autumn Gala

Liverpool & District - 2023

Southport Shrimps

Lancashire County Championships

Arena League Final

Wirral Metro Christmas Gala

L&D Championships

M&D Round 1

Arena League Round 1

Wirral Autumn Met

Training

Nationals

Fun Night

Freya Doran

M&D Final

Wirral Metro Summer Sprints

Freya Doran

Crosby Club Champs

M&D Round 3

Strength & Conditioning Training

M&D round 2

Wirral Metro"OMIGONE" Gala

Southport Shrimps

Lancs 2022 Sessions 9-12

Lancs 2022 Sessions 5-8

Lancs 2022 Sessions 1-4

Round 1 M&D's

Welsh Winter Nationals

Arena League Final

Wirral Metro Christmas Gala

Arena League Round 1

Winter Regionals

L&D Championship

Bolton Comeback Meet

Freya Doran

Summer Schedule

25m Crosby Records

Timed Swims

Timed Swims/Level X

Training Time

WE'RE BACK!!!

in,out

in, out???

..........IN!!!!!

See you all Sunday!

We're Away again😢

But Not for long!!!😁

WE'RE BAAACK!!!

Jnr Captains

Millie Griffiths

Ethan Kelly

Captains

Lottie Rens

Ali Mukhtar

Crosby Kids imprisoned!!

Dispite the lock-DOWN, the Crosby kids haven't let it get them DOWN(...sorry!!) Here's some off the stuff that they have been getting up to to pass the MANY MANY hours of spare time back at the ranchero

BOOM!!

ALL training for ALL Squads suspended until further notice due to the current Caronavirus outbreak. We will try to keep all members updated through both the website and email as soon as any news is available

Wirral Metro Spring Meet

Madison Rens

M&D R2 - Prescott

Lancashire County Championships

Southport Shrimps Gala

Co-Op Cup - Final

Arena League R2 - Connahs Quay

Masters National Championships

Arena League round 1 - Broughton

Lancashire Masters

Co-Op Cup Round 2

Tadpoles Gala

Weekend 1

Weekend 2

Co-Op Cup Round 1

British & English Nationals

Macmillan Gala

Isabella Jones

Wirral Sprint Meet

Wigan Starter Met

200 breast - Gold

200 IM - Bronze