Swimming All
Time: Friday 19.00
Location: Archibishop Holgate Swimming Pool
Points: York 4
York 87 - Lancaster 49
York “completely annihilates” Lancaster in swimming competition
A fantastic swimming performance on Friday saw York defeat Lancaster by 38 points.
The Women’s 4×50 metre Medley Relay set the tone for the rest of the competition, as York finished with a time of 2 minutes and 18 seconds to beat the opposition. The Men’s 4×50 metre Medley Relay was a closer race, but an aggressive finish by York got them the win.
The York Women’s team saw top performances as they dominated in every match. The 50 metre Breaststroke saw strong effort with both York swimmers finishing before their Lancaster competitors.
The 100 metre Individual Medley witnessed the women at their best, with a York swimmer finishing an incredible 10.52 seconds before her Lancaster competitors.
The Men’s performance was not quite as dominating, with Lancaster prevailing in the the 50 metre Butterfly seeing Lancaster defeat York by just under half a second. However the closest defeat for York came in the 50 metre Breaststroke as Lancaster finished a mere 0.15 seconds ahead.
Yet in every other race the Men’s won, finishing in top place even with competition from Lancaster. The most exciting race of the day came in the Men’s 4×50 metre Freestyle relay. Lancaster built an early and considerable lead, starting off at a quick pace.
Halfway into the relay York began to cut back Lancaster’s lead, but it still seemed they could only manage a close second. However, on the last stretch York pulled ahead to win with a time of 1 minute and 48 seconds to Lancaster’s 1 minute and 53 seconds.
With home fans already ecstatic about the 34 point lead, it seemed as if York were heading for a well-deserved win.
Lancaster continued to produce a strong effort and showed a great deal of determination. Yet their energy levels began to visibly drop, with losses in both the Men’s and Women’s 4×50 metre Freestyle Relays as the competition drew to an end.
The last race of the evening was the 8×25 metre Cannon Relay in which York finished 2.35 seconds ahead of Lancaster.
York took the points despite the fact that their star swimmer, Steven Knight, had to sit out the majority of the competition due to illness.
Unsurprisingly the York competitors were extremely pleased with their performance. Knight said: “It was an awesome team effort.” He also recognised that the home team had a key advantage, seeing as the team practices at the Holgate swimming pool.
Jo Betts praised York’s dedication and skill. She said: “This is the third year we’ve won, so everyone is really pleased. We thought it was going to be a close competition but we completely annihilated them.”
Natalie Nakasone
