Making a Splash Around the World...

Despite the uncertainty surrounding various COVID restrictions around the world, our aquatic athletes have been competing for selection in their national teams.

In swimming, due to the ongoing COVID restrictions, continued uncertainty around the exact timetable of easing of lockdown, and in recognition that relatively few swimmers are back in training, the annual British Swimming Championships meeting was scaled back, with the ultimate focus being senior selections for international competition later this year. Consequently it was renamed as the 2021 British Swimming Selection Trials.

Plymouth College was well represented at the trials, with current pupils Sophie and Honey along with OPMs Laura Stephens and Ben Proud competing in 6 events.

Honey (U6) took part in 200m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke (where she smashed her PB twice and finished 7th in the final in a time of 1’01”64) and in her final event, the 200m Backstroke, she put in a phenomenal performance achieving the 2nd fastest qualifying time and thus earning a centre lane for the final.  She came away with a well deserved third place. Sophie (L6) took part in 100m & 200m Butterfly as well as 100m & 200m Backstroke.  Solid performances saw her reach the finals in both the  200m Butterfly and the 200m Backstroke. OPM Laura Stephens agonisingly missed out on coming under the Olympic Consideration Time by just 6 one hundredths of a second in the 100m Butterfly having finally gone under 58 seconds in a time of 57”98; a new personal best.

The performance of the meeting, however, goes to OPM Ben Proud who comfortably won the 50m Freestyle final in a time of 21”42, the second fastest in the world this year (by just one one hundredth of a second!) and well below the Olympic threshold.  We wait for news that Ben has secured his place in Team GB for Toyko very soon!

We pride ourselves in our international outlook and whilst our British swimmers have been in action we have also had pupils competing around the world. In Kazan, Salvador (U6) participated in the Russian Federation National Swimming Championships where he achieved no less than 3 Angolan National records: 200m Butterfly Junior National record with the time of 2:09.90, 200m Individual Medley Junior National record 2:11.29 and 100m Butterfly Junior and Open National record 55.57. Over in South Africa, the 2021 SA National Aquatics Championships wrapped up on Monday, 12 April at the Newton Park Swimming Pool in Gqeberha.  Aimee (L6), secured silver in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley with a time of  2:17.54.

In the diving pool, OPM Tom Daley picked up two gold medals on his return to competitive diving following the coronavirus pandemic. The three time world champion won both the men’s 10m individual contest and the synchro competition, alongside Matty Lee, at the Virtual Nations Challenge.  This inaugural event – organised and hosted by Diving Canada – saw British, Canadian, Jamaican and South African athletes competing against each other from their own training centres, with scoring done as usual and each dive live streamed in the normal diving format.  Tom showed his class in the final by winning with 526.30 points, with his final two dives scoring 99.90 points and 100.80 points.

Very many congratulations to all of our athletes.  Not only have they achieved great things in their sport but they have become superb role models for our younger pupils to aspire to.