December Comeback Meet 1 - Singapore Swimming 2020

After many late nights of planning from the coaching staff, countless cups of coffee, seemingly endless phone calls and emails the Stamford Lions Swim Academy arrived this morning at OCBC aquatics centre to compete at a competition organised by Singapore Swimming. Following on from the Olympic Qualifier last week, this was now a further opportunity for others to race.

 

 

The first day was dominated by 100m backstroke events. Byron swam a credible 1:29, training partner Diego posted 1:33 in a well controlled race. Despite having slip off, Kaede steamed down his first lap and posted a 1:46. Arjan gave a good account of himself in 1:55. Armaan set a new PB of 1:46... a massive 35 second PB. Good to see some racing from the boys, the coaching staff will be interested to see this boys improve their self-management which seems so key at the minute. Next in line were the girls. It is indeed it interesting to see the differences in approach to racing. Katie was first up and she didn’t disappoint, 1:13 was a 4 second drop from her previous best! Hana had an awesome underwater start pushing all the way up to the 15m mark. She went 1:21 for an outstanding 7 second PB. Bianca was not to be outdone, having just witnessed her Team Captain drop 7 seconds she decided that was the target for her too. She went 1:28 for another massive PB. Courtney did a great job of her 100m backstroke, lowering her time to 1:27. She really hung on in the dying meters. Last but not least was Isa, who swam an evenly paced race to take a personal best of 1:31, catching the water beautifully. First day finishes with 8 personal bests from 10 swims and 10 athletes. Go Lions... 3 more days!!!

 

Second & third day of Comeback Meet 1 at the OCBC Aquatic centre saw new life breathed into our Stamford Swimmers, even Elf on the Shelf could tell! On Day 2 Jaiden was in form posting a 1:10 in his 100 butterfly. A superb job to get back to where he was given the number of sessions on offer. Saki posted a 1:39 for her fly race, a 9 second PB based on her last long course performance over this distance.

 

 

Day 3 saw the 100m breaststroke event. Lang was first up and swam well paced and technically brilliant race in 1:23 for a new PB. Seth made up for a less than perfect start posting a personal best of 1:29. Santi showed what he can actually produce when he puts his mind to it, a 1:26 PB was his reward. The younger boys brought some energy to the scene at OCBC. It certainly was a unique experience for them as they had to be more self-sufficient. Brothers Can & Ali were racing each other. This time it was Can on top with a 1:58, a huge 7 sec PB just ahead of brother Ali who went 1:59. I’m sure the rivalry will continue! Marc also produced an outstanding swim to knock another 4 seconds of his previous best in 1:29. We certainly will miss his energy. Roman & Nico swam bravely but sadly missed out due to a DQ. We are sure they will look to put it right next time they race. The younger girls really proved the strength of the younger grades at Stamford American. Courtney went 1:38 for her 100m breaststroke taking a massive 10 seconds of her time. It was well above her expectation. Mia was chasing hard, she took 9 seconds off to go 1:48. Mehr posted a 1:49 just 1 second over her best time while Shreya dipped under by 1 second to go 2:01 PB. Ebba had the biggest PB of the day knocking off a whopping 27 seconds to go 2:01.

 

Final day tomorrow for Comeback Meet 1. Stamford have 9 PBS from 13 swims brings the running total to 17 PBS from 23 PBS and 3 DQs. 

 

 

Day 4, the final day of racing at Comeback Meet 1. Today it was the turn of freestylers to race at the OCBC Aquatic Centre. Jaiden stepped up to the mark on his 100m freestyle posting a 1:02, right on his PB. Seth & Lang had great swims in their 100m freestyle posting a 1:07 and 1:08 respectively. They took chunks off their previous bests which was pleasing for coaches and athletes to see. Bianca really turned on the pace over the first 50m clocking a 1:12 for a nearly 5 second PB. She was pretty focussed and now looks determined to go further with her swimming. Last but never least girls captain Hana was in action. She had an outstanding underwater and posted a 1:16 long course swim, again nearly a 5 second PB. Final day on Friday for Comeback Meet 1 takes Stamford Lions Swim Academy to 21 PBS from 28 swims and 3 DQs....ohh it’s good to be back racing again!!!