In the first and second weekend of June, all attention is turned to the long course competition pool at Millfield school in Somerset where the top BAGCATS in the South West battle it out over four days of intense competition.
With 35 swimmers qualifying for the meet, Swindon Swim Squad were a force to be reckoned with.
Swindon’s most recent find, eleven year old Aiko Takahashi shook up the opposition with some superb performances in the 100m and 200m backstroke and 100m freestyle, taking gold medals in each and a new NQT in the freestyle. A further NQT followed in the 200m freestyle along with a bronze medal, and narrowly missing a third NQT in the 400m event, settling for a silver medal. Takahashi also showed her proficiency across all strokes by taking second place in the 200m individual medley and a third new NQT.
Charlotte Pitts was focused on her main aim of achieving the national mark in a distance freestyle event and by pacing her swim to perfection, did so comfortably in the 1500m. The 800m event was less fruitful, missing the national time but still taking a gold medal to match the 1500m award. A trio of gold came with another victory in the 400m event. Pitts also took a well deserved silver in the 100m freestyle and bronze in the 200m breaststroke.
For ten year old Adam Brown, this was his first year of regional BAGCATs and first taste of long course competition. Competing in nine events, Brown reached finals on four occasions, taking a silver in the 400m individual medley and bronze in the 200m butterfly.
Other medal winners included Samantha Berry with a silver in the 200m butterfly with a fourth place in the 400m freestyle giving her a new NQT. James Clark took bronze in the 100m breaststroke and in his final year of BAGCAT competition, finished a creditable third in the overall BAGCAT 14 years boys category with team-mate Thomas Howitt finishing eighth. BAGCAT third places also went to Aiko Takashi (girls 11 years), Charlotte Pitts (girls 12 years) and Samantha Berry (girls 13 years).
Full results and BAGCAT rankings are available on the Competition Page.
