After almost a year of Covid-19 restrictions and stop-start training, swimmers from Stocksbridge Pentaqua Swimming Club are ready and waiting to return to the pool again, as soon as the 3rd national lockdown is lifted.
Despite a challenging year, however, the club has enjoyed lots of positives that swimmers, the committee, and the coaching team can be proud of…
The club were one of the first to return to the pool last August after the first national lockdown. Thanks to many hours of hard work by the committee and coaches putting together Covid-secure plans and procedures, plus the support of Stocksbridge Community Leisure Centre and Hoyland Leisure Centre, Stocksbridge swimmers were quickly back to training when restrictions allowed. Swimmers took the new procedures in their stride and enjoyed being back in the water.
Soon after the club’s return, Swim England announced the young swimmers selected for their National Development Programme. Stockbridge swimmer Logan P was one of the talented 13- and 14-year-olds invited to attend a learning and engagement day, which this year was held online due to Covid-19 restrictions. Well done Logan!
With many more clubs getting back to training but galas not able to go ahead, in September Swim England announced their virtual swimming competition, Level X, which would give swimmers the opportunity to compete with others from across the country within the comforts of their own club training sessions. Stocksbridge Pentaqua Swimming Club were thrilled to be one of only eleven clubs selected to pilot the event ahead of the official launch. The pilot event was a huge success with Stocksbridge swimmers relishing the chance to race once again.
Commenting on a challenging but successful 12-months, Stocksbridge Pentaqua Swimming Club’s Head Coach, David Wright said, “I am hugely proud of what our swimmers and the club has achieved over the last year despite ongoing restrictions. Everyone has worked extremely hard to implement the necessary procedures and our swimmers have acclimatised to them brilliantly. Although training routines have had to be adapted to conform to current guidelines, swimmers have still been able to train at a high level and work on both their stamina and technique, which showed in their fantastic Level X racing results. We hope to be able to return to training as soon as restrictions allow, and we look forward to seeing all our swimmers back in the water.”
Anyone interested in joining Stocksbridge Pentaqua Swimming Club when restrictions lift and capacity limits allow, can register their interest via the club’s website - https://www.stocksbridgepentaqua.co.uk/
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