On Saturday 27th September we took 25 swimmers, with 8 volunteers to Tadpoles gala, 20 of those swimmers had never competed in an official swim gala before.
Before the event started, we had lots of nervous energy, tears and a few refusals to wear the club t-shirts, however once we got started with the warmup, everything seemed to settle down and fall into place.
The team soon picked up the vibe that we were cheering on our swimmers when they were racing and happily kept saying “who’s in this race?” or “which lane is our swimmer in?” and the nervous energy became “when’s it my turn?” and “Can I go up yet?” you could tell they were ready.
Results for the event are currently being scrutineered; they have been published to myself but there have been a couple of errors found so I am not publishing till every team confirms they are happy. But overall, the team only got 2 DQ’s (disqualifications), from a group of swimmers who had never done it before that’s very impressive, and their behaviour and representation of Stockport Swimming Club was brilliant.
The whole event relied on volunteers both from our club and the other clubs that were taking part, to help with things like chaperoning swimmers and also run the event, a huge thanks must go out to Nathan, Andy L, Graham, Pat, Wendy, Declan and Joe B for all the various positions that they helped with on the night to help the gala run as smoothly as it did.
Many thanks to the parents and carers who brought the swimmers and supported on the night, you children are a credit to you, and you should be very proud of them, I certainly am.
Finally it only seems fitting to say that in years gone by we would have taken a group photo of the team and swimmers on the night, unfortunately that’s not really the correct thing to do anymore, which is such a shame, so the only photo of the night is of the team de-brief shortly after the gala finished to celebrate a job well done and an excellent event from all our swimmers.
Anna Carney
Team Manager
Stockport Swimming Club
Stockport Swimming Club 
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