Rhondda Swimming Club swimmers chalk up another victory and have sights set on future success
Rhondda Swimming Club continues its rise with more competition successes, the likes of which it once could only dream.
Glyn + Margaret Harris.JPG: Glyn And Margaret Harris presenting the winning shield to Rhondda Swimming Club captains Morgan Withey and Keenan Napper, watched by Head Coach Craig Napper
It won the Glyn & Margaret Harris inter-club gala on 11 March with a convincing victory after fielding a very strong team of boys and girls. It is the second year in a row that the club has won this gala, named after Rhondda’s Club President Margaret Harris and her husband Glyn, still one of the coaching team. They have both been with the club for over 40 years after initially offering to help out with their own children. The opposition clubs comprised Merthyr Tydfil, Cwmbran, Brecon and Barry.
The weekend before, the club entered some 50 swimmers to the third round of the RCT Grand Prix competition. They swam in individual events with other local clubs. “It was an awesome day,” says Head Coach Craig Napper. A new club record of 3:53.41 was set by eight-year-old Levi Thomas in the age nine-and-under 200-metre backstroke, smashing Charlie Nash’s record from 2016 by a whopping 18 seconds. Rhondda swimmers took 22 first places, 24 seconds and 16 third places, enough to make everyone go home full of smiles.
And this weekend, the club entered 16 swimmers in the Tiger Bay Open Meet in Cardiff, in which swimmers won medals and gained new personal bests.
The club has a busy programme of events lined up for the rest of the season. In April, the club will be entering the long course Level 1 Cardiff International Open Meet. Level 1 meets are relatively tough and we have 20 swimmers with qualifying times, the most anyone can remember for such a high level meet.
Mr Napper says: “The club is definitely operating at a new, higher level. Our numbers are strong, commitment is firm and as the gala results show, we’re bringing home the bacon. I’m a very proud head coach.”
We are a welcoming and inclusive club with a friendly atmosphere. Contact membership@rhondda-swimming-club.org.uk to request a trial.
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credit: Photographs by Mark Murphy
