Mission Control we have Blast Off!
The ‘Mets’ is always one of the highlights for Head Coach Jordan. It allows for some rare head to head racing while also showing what’s possible in the sport with some hard work and dedication. It also encourages excellent performances, and coming as it does, right at the start of the short course season, shakes off those cobwebs and boosts confidence going into the Winter Yorkshires. This year followed those traditions and served up an outstanding set of results for all our swimmers across the squads.
The DMasa Individual Championships, or The ‘Mets’ for short, is Doncaster's longest running meet that brings together all the local clubs to celebrate our sport in Doncaster. 2024 also saw an increase in the number of swimmers on poolside from the previous year, with over 180 swimmers on deck and ready to go. A true testament to all the hard work the coaches in Doncaster put in as we aim to revive what was once of the Big 4 clubs in Yorkshire.
The weekend saw a total of 303 swims from all our Dartes athletes, 235 of those were personal bests, well over half, a whopping 77.56% in fact. 56 Golds, 57 Silvers and 44 Bronze Medals. Included in that was some great performances from some of our younger up and coming stars.
Take a look in the results archive to see who claimed the medals and won all that shiny stuff.
Racing against your teammates and claiming those bragging rights is great, but it isn't the end of the achievements.
I could go on forever and a day about individual performances….
How Naya Chipisa (Adw) overcame a disappointing first swim in backstroke by misjudging her turn to PB in every other event and it has to be said, dominating the 50m Breaststroke.
Lexie Goddard (Drn) showing what was by far and a way the best underwater phase of the entire weekend, making 10m underwater off the fly/back turn look effortless and yet carrying plenty of speed, take note younger swimmers what practicing the basics everyday in training can do.
Ollie Castings (Adw) provided the wow factor into the finishes, demonstrating the importance of pace management and being able to find that extra gear in the final 25m to accelerate into the finish.
Meanwhile, Ruby Wakelin (dode) managed to find a huge PB for her 100m IM (her last attempt was as recent as June) despite feeling ill earlier on in the day, great job Zohan.
Sofia-Elyse Sanders (Arm) also took 3.8 seconds off her 100m fly time with a truly outstanding swim, there’s a 200m fly in there somewhere Sofia ;-)
But what’s more pleasing is the team spirit that has been fostered, regardless of which feeder club, all our athletes stayed together and this was most evident during Adam Robinson’s 100m Breaststroke. For anyone who knows Adam will know he hates this event with a passion, knowing this a huge cheerleading squad appeared at the shallow end to cheer him on.
A massive well done to everyone who swam on the weekend. It was a real pleasure cheering you all on.
The final big achievements of course are yet to come:
Phoebe Weatherill (Edl) demolished a 35 YEAR OLD Mets record in the 100m Butterfly with a time and personal best of 1:05.55. The record was originally set by Pamela Trickett, a legend in the Dartes family and a name you’ll see frequently in the records. Phoebe also claimed 2nd place on the Dartes all time records for the Girls 14 year old short course 100m Butterfly.
Kiera Binns (dode) also claimed the Mets 100m IM record that has stood since 2012 with a pb of 1:08.61. Kiera also added her name to the Dartes 14 year old Girls records, taking 3rd spot in the 100m IM and 6th in the 100m Breaststroke, just pipping Phoebe by 0.01s.
Congratulations go to the age group champions too, all spread across the Dartes Squads:
Boys 9 Years - Ewan Longley (dode)
Girls 9 Years - Naya Chipisa (Adw)
Girls 10 Years - Eloise King (Drn)
Boys 11 Years - Alex Belk (Adw)
Girls 11 Years - Ava Stocks (Edl)
Boys 12 Years - James Ellis (Arm)
Girls 12 Years - Sofia-Elyse Sanders (Arm)
Boys 13 Years - Isaac Ward (Drn)
Girls 13 Years - Millie Dey (Arm)
Boys 14 Years - Alfie Brown (dode)
Girls 14 Years - Phoebe Weatherill (Edl)
Boys 15 Years - Adam Robinson (dode)
Girls 15 Years - Kiera Binns (dode)
The final big achievement of course was when they announced the Top Club of the meet….
Doncaster DARTES!
So did we achieve that early season blow out?
Absolutely yes!
This Coach would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who helped on poolside, to the swimmers and of course to all parents for the rather loud cheering.
