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Sport
Swimming Sensations
Connie (Year 9) and Tom (Year 8) Dean both received
honorary Full Sports Colours this year for their swimming
successes outside of school. Here is a little detail of what
they have done this year.
The way swimming works is that you aim to qualify to
perform at County level – in Tom and Connie’s case Bucks
and Berks – and if good enough, aim to qualify to represent
the Region. Over seventy clubs from as far afield as
Jersey, the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth, Southampton right
through Kent and up to London send their top swimmers
to Regionals at Crawley – over 3000 individuals compete
over four long days across all distances and strokes. Connie
and Tom qualified for every single event, and competed in
distance, sprint and form races. Tom came first in the 200
breaststroke, third in the 100 breaststroke ( qualifying for
Nationals in the process). Connie placed in the top three
for every event, and was declared Regional Champion in
the 200 free and 200 IM. She has now qualified for British
Nationals in 8 events, which is quite something.
TYPICAL WEEKLY TRAINING
Mon: 6.am-7am swim. 6-6.45pm dry side training. 6.45-
8pm swim
Tues: 7-9pm swim
We’d: 6.30-8pm swim
Thurs:6-7am swim. 6.15-7.15 dry side land training.7.30-
9pm swim
Fri: 6-8pm swim
Sat: 6.30 - 8.30 am swim
Sun: 7-9 am swim
For Tom and Connie, most weekends are spent competing
at Open Meets around the country, which involve early
morning travel, two full days racing, home late Sunday
evening. This year alone Connie and Tom have swum as
far afield as Somerset, Sheffield, Coventry, Southampton
and London!
Both Connie and Tom are on the England Talent
Development Squad, and Connie qualified for this year’s
GB trials.
