Women’s swimming by captain Kimberly Briscoe
With the up coming Roses Tournament on the 5th of May, no club is more excited than UYSWC, and following a successful competitive season, UYSWC Girls are looking on top form to overturn the defeat of last year. The relay team has really pulled around. The inclusion of Eloise Man and Louise Highton to the UYSWC first team, contributed to a UYSWC record breaking time in the freestyle relay of 1.53.13 in BUCS Team championships. From then on we have progressed from strength to strength- smashing the UYSWC record once again for the girls with Alice Cary, Fiona Whiting, Louise Highton and Kimberly Briscoe finishing the medley relay in a time of 2.13.79 at BUCS Short Course championships. The teams further qualification into the BUCS B Team finals for the 4x100m Freestyle relay and their subsequent placing of 8th and 18th in BUCS overall, dramatically raised the bar over last year’s results.
Combining the defeat of Lancaster in the BUCS Teams championships and a drastic improvement in our girls results, this year is really set to be a promising one for the team, with a win looking more than likely.
Player to watch: It’s hard to choose, but Louise Highton, a multitasking sportswoman, competing in fencing as well as waterpolo and swimming, is definitely one to consider, and has the potential to make a dramatic impact at Roses. Her well-calculated and consistent freestyle performance, demonstrated throughout the past year, shows she can definitely perform under pressure and making her set for an interesting year at Roses. However, on a purely swimming basis, Alice Cary is one to watch, with fast times across the board, a willingness to compete in most events and real workhorse at training combines to make her a real threat to Lancaster. Judging by her impressive positioning and times at the BUCS long course and her talent shown in previous events, Alice Cary has the potential to make a difference this year at Roses.
Predicted Score: A win, I hope, we have the potential perhaps 56 out of the 74 available.
Men’s swimming by captain Chris Unsworth
Our swimming team has built well on last year’s success. The men’s and women’s team has broken 20 club records so far, more than the same time last year and has competed to a higher level. In BUCS Team Champs Northern Qualifers we placed 8th of 15 teams in division 2; the points were incredibly close between 4th and 9th and with the top 4 teams going for the national finals we are definitely looking for a finals place next year and a chance at promotion to move into the highest league possible. In addition, 7 of our swimmers became world record holders this year as we took part in the world record attempt in 100×100 medley relay at the Quest for the Crest competition in Manchester. Also, at the Quest for the Crest gala we beat top class division 1 teams for the first time like Leeds, Sheffield and Durham showing that we’re well on our way up the rankings.
In Roses, York thrashed Lancaster in the pool winning almost every event in the men’s competition. Lancaster struggled to piece together a team in an away Roses where a lot of their swimmers were water polo players who had just lost the men’s polo team only an hour before the gala took place. Therefore, the Lancaster team should be stronger this year and more difficult to take on. Swimmers such as Tom Pope for Lancaster in the Breaststroke events should dominate against the York equivalents. However, overall, York should definitely still retain their crown, with Toby coming into the freestyle events this year, Michael Tansini dominating the Butterfly races and other team members taking part in what I’d imagine to be close encounters that will probably go the way of the white rose. These races include Jacob Shaw in the Backstroke races and Chris Unsworth in the 100 IM. Moreover, both relay teams are very strong for York this year meaning that Lancaster should be on the back foot in both races. Overall expect a decent York win and 4 points in the bag.
Player to watch – Toby Wong. As the clubs main scholarship swimmer, Toby should win every race he is swimming in at Roses. He is a freestyle specialist and so he will compete individually in the 50m and 100m freestyle and will swim freestyle legs in both the medley relay and the freestyle relay. His ability was seen in full at the BUCS Long course champs where he missed out on the 50m freestyle final by one place. His season’s bests outstrip anything that Lancaster have ever produced and hold the club records in all the events he’s swimming. He’ll rake in the points!!!
Predicted Score – York 61 Lancaster 41