On Saturday 10th November, Bishop’s Stortford Swimming Club was on fantastic form in Round 2 of the National Arena Swimming League at Inspire Luton. After a 5th place finish in Round 1, BSSC were joint 9th out of 16 clubs in the London Premier Division league table, with a place in 
the National final still up for grabs.
Round 2 saw some great performance across all ages, resulting in Stortford coming in overall 5th (again!), matching the position and gaining one gala point more than Round 1! An outstanding result against such strong opposition!
Too many swimmers achieved PBs on the night to name them all, but the individual highlights were Tom Ogden winning the 15&Under 100m Backstroke, Millie Fields coming 2nd in the 15&U 100m Freestyle and 100m Breaststroke, as well as 3rd in the Open 200m IM, James Gisborne getting 2nd in 13&U 100m Breaststroke and Mehdi El Mansar getting 3rd in 13&U 100m Freestyle.
Best BSSC relay team award goes to the 15&U Boys team of Alex Catton, James, Medhi and Tom who came 3rd in both the 4x50m Freestyle and Medley relays. Hardest fought race award goes to Dan Chada for coming 4th in the Open 100m Freestyle and taking 1 second off the PB he had only set a week ago at the Swim England East Region Championships! Whilst speeding tickets should be given out to Millie who broke the Open All Time Club Record for the 200m IM and Dan, Lauren Gore and Kaia Phillips who broke the 2018 Club Records in the Open 100m Freestyle, 13&U 100m Breaststroke and the 13&U 100m Backstroke.
Big thanks go to Danielle, Linda, Lorinda, Tony and Graham for their help on the night and to all of the Coaching Team, who were poolside, yelling and whistling. Finally, thanks also to the parents and supporters whom, we imagine, all went home with a headache!
With 9th position after two rounds, BSSC have narrowly missed out on the London Premier Final, but will head to Hatfield in a commanding position, ready to host the Gala and compete against Harlow Penguins, Chelsea & Westminster, Colchester, Romford Town, Enfield Squad A, Shiverers and Leander for their rightful place in the Premier Division in 2019! Go Stortford!
