County cap for Julia following National success.

The culmination of twelve months of training and covering an average of 40,000 metres per week was the National Championships that took place at Ponds Forge, Sheffield in August.

Skipton had five swimmers who had qualified to compete, Alex and Ellie Belk, Hannah Robertshaw, Julia Scrivin and Jenna Chatburn.

Ellie Belk, 12 was the first to compete, having been the last to qualify, in the 400 freestyle. Her first 200 was the fastest she has ever swam and her early commitment showed in the latter stages of her race and she finished just off her best in a time of 4.55.26. Her 200 freestyle a few days later showed that she had a fast turn of pace and swam a brave and strong swim leading the heat and finishing with a new lifetime best time of 2.20.27. Her 800 freestyle, the following day did not go as expected finishing in a time of 10.14.22.

Julia Scrivin, 13 who has had a meteoric rise through the ranks this season continued her progress by swimming to best times in the heats of both the 100 and 200 backstroke events. Having qualified 13th in the 100 and 15th in the 200, she knew she would have to produce fast heat swims to secure a place into the final. She did not disappoint, shaving nearly 1 second off her 100 (1.09.79) and a staggering 2.89seconds off her 200 (2.28.31), she qualified for both the 100 & 200 in 9th place. The finals again showed her determination to produce highly competitive swims. Finishing 7th in the 200 in a time of 2.28.05, and 8th in the 100 in a time of 1.09.54, again with lifetime personal bests. These swims have secured her a place in the Yorkshire Team for the forthcoming Inter Counties Championships in October in Sheffield.

Hannah Robertshaw, 12 who made two finals in 2005 was well placed to finals again this year in her favoured events of backstroke. Her swim time of 2.32.71 in the 200, just secured her a final place in 10th spot. In the final she produced a faster swim that her heat and improved her ranking by finishing 8th in a time of 2.31.72, which was just off her best. She was unfortunate not to make the final in the 100, and finished 12th overall in a time of 1.12.24. Her strongest swim came in the 400 Individual Medley (IM) where she swam a phenomenal opening 300 metres. After the first two strokes, butterfly and backstroke she was over 6 seconds quicker than her previous best and turned and swam a solid breaststroke leg. She did pay for the early pace and had to work hard to maintain technique on her freestyle. Finishing in a time of 5.33.34 which was a 2.5 second lifetime best.

Alex Belk, 15 was the busiest of the Skipton swimmers, having qualified for 5 events in the age band 15/16, (100 free, 100 & 200 breaststroke, 100 butterfly and 200 IM). He produced two lifetime personal best in the 100 breaststroke (1.11.41) and 100 butterfly (1.01.42). His other swims were all solid swims and were just of his best. Next year will see him competing in the top of his age band at Nationals. With another 12 months of training to do there is a good opportunity for him to final. His highest placing was 12th in the 100 butterfly in the 15yr age band.
Jenna Chatburn, 14 who produced a lifetime best in the 100 breaststroke at the British Championships in April competed in both the 100 & 200 at the Youth Nationals. Like Alex, she was competing as one of the youngest in the age band 14/15. This year has seen changes made to adapt her technique to give her solid long term benefits later into next year. She swam a second over her best in the 100 and had a solid swim in the 200 to give her a chance to try out her new technique ready for an assault next season to be competitive in the finals next year. Finishing 27th in the combined age but a very creditable 8th in her single age band in the 100 and 13th in the 200, she has a lot to swim for next year.

The new season starts on Wednesday 23rd August, with the first competition being the Winter County Championships in mid October. The question is……………who will be the first to qualify for National 2007 ?