By Vanessa Donhowe
UYSWC has had an extremely impressive first term, with a fast swimming squad consistently
delivering outstanding performances. At the first competition of the season- the BUCS event in
Sheffield – a well-prepared team smashed record after record. The season got to an excellent start
with the Men’s 200m freestyle team setting a new club record. The relay team, composed of Jacob
Shaw, Tomasz Dobrzycki, Michael Tansini and Lewis Cherry, swam a highly impressive 1:43.20.
The second day the team was unstoppable and even more club records were broken. In the Men’s
50m Breaststroke – Michael Tansini set a new club record of 32.7. In the Women’s 100m Butterfly,
a standout performance from fresher Alice Cary produced yet another club record. She gained 13th
place, and her time of 1:07.94, shaved over three seconds off the previous record of 1:11.01. In
the Women’s 200m backstroke, Kim Briscoe set the first official club record of 2:33.39 and came
17th. Elliot Thurland dominated the Backstroke events. In the 200m Backstroke he achieved a new
club record of 2:19.99, beating the previous one (2:28.34) by over 8 seconds, and in the 100m
Backstroke, his time of 1:03.87 also broke the club record.
On Sunday, the third day, the swimmers showed no signs of fatigue, and in the Men’s 200m
Individual Medley, Tomasz Dobrzycki swam a new club record of 2:22.76, beating the previous one
(2:26.95) by over 4 seconds.
Alice Cary’s amazing performance in the heats of the Women’s 50m butterfly with a time of 29.75
meant she qualified to swim in the finals. In the afternoon finals she again improved her time with
a highly impressive 29.67 and overall 7th place. In the 100m Backstroke, she gave another standout
performance, ending in a 6th overall final with a time of 1:07.10.
After the successes of the first competition, the swimming team again performed excellently at the
DBL sprint league, with the A Division team placing second out of six teams with 113 points, and the
Division B team also placing second with 105 points. UYSWC dominated the backstroke events, with
Andrew Taylor and Elliot Thurland winning both the 25m and 50m Backstroke in the A and B division
respectively. The women’s Backstroke were equally strong, with Kim Briscoe winning the 25m, and
Emily Huntingford scooping up firsts in all B division Backstroke events.
York saw more successes as Michael Tansini raced to victory in the Men’s 200m Freestyle with a
time of 2.08.01, and Alice Cary won the women’s 100m Individual Medley with a time of 1.12.00. For
the final event of the day, the York team, spurred on by their successes, put together two excellent
Mixed 4x50m Breastroke relays, with the A division team- Tomek Dobrzycki, Vanessa Donhowe-
Mason, Alice Cary, and Michael Tansini- coming in on a winning time of 2.26.09, and the B division
also placing first with a 2.39.60.
The final competition of the season was the Team Championships held at The Edge in Leeds. The
one day event saw excellent swims, resulting in UYSWC placing second out of 10 teams in the
third division with 221 points. York’s outstanding overall performance has been recognised by a
promotion into the second division. Team President Chris Unsworth said “I’m really proud
of the hard work that everyone has put in so far. The freshers influx has been amazing
with all our teams doing well.
The Women’s team were particularly strong. Alice Cary swam an outstanding 100m Freestyle with
a time of 1.00.86 arriving 7 seconds ahead of the second competitor. She again powered to a first
place finish with a time of 1.08.37 in the 100m Butterfly. First year Kim Briscoe swam the 100m
Backstroke in an excellent 1.13.53 that won another first place. In the 50m Freestyle Female Captain
Cesca Baguley beat the other swimmers with a 30.06, and Alice Whiley gave the team another first
place with an impressive 34.25 in the 50m Backstroke.
The Men’s standout performances came from their relay teams. They dominated every relay event,
scooping up first place finishes despite strong opposition from other teams. The 4×50 Medley relay
–Elliot Thurland, Michael Tansini, Tomek Dobrzycki and Lewis Cherry- swam a 1.56.51. And in the
4x50m Freestyle relay, Jacob Shaw, Tomek Dobrzycki, Michael Tansini and Lewis Cherry, gained the
team even more valuable points with a time of 1.43.93 that beat Leeds in a nailbiting neck and neck
race.
Female Captain Cesca Baguley commented: “I am ridiculously proud of all my swimmers”. Male
Captain Tomek Dobrzycki was similarly delighted saying: “I can’t express how happy I am with our
performance this term! The results everybody achieved make UYSWC a really good team with great
chances of getting a top place in the Shield finals.”