Saturday 23rd February 2019, Furzefield Pool, Potters Bar

For the second round of Major League, on Saturday 23rd February we travelled to Potters Bar. On the night we raced against Watford, Costa, Hemel Hempstead, Bishop’s Stortford and Tring.

We were faced with the harder of the two Division 1 Galas, and prepared for the night with determination and great attitude to training.

On the night many excellent races were swum both from a technical and speed perspective, with a new club record achieved by Ashley Ransome in the 100 fly (1;07.06)! Diving at the shallow end of the pool represented an extra challenge for the younger swimmers, but they performed really good starts nonetheless. The team achieved one 1st, four 2nd and five 3rd places with a total of 49 PBs across all races, which proves the excellent progression and saw us finish in 5th place on the night.

The team spirit on the night was beyond all expectations with each swimmer engaged in supporting teammates of all age groups. But what really impressed me was the will to participate in the gala and go the extra mile for Hertford SC. The big majority of the selected swimmers accepted the invitation to the gala, and the few that could not attend had to decline mostly based on medical grounds. February half term is ‘skiing week’ for many, but all that went on holiday made a big effort to attend, even when there were only few hours between their coming back home and the gala, or when physical problems could have well justified a withdrawal. Teddy went to Joshua Holland for changing his holiday plans to support the team, just amazing!

Thank you all for the formidable support leading up to and at the gala: thanks to Rachel Fabri for the impeccable work on organising both hosting and team duties, to all parents and officials for their help on poolside, to the coaches for supporting the children so well, and to all the swimmers for such an enjoyable night!

#weareoneteam

Best wishes

Manuela