Cracking COPS are theEast Midlands champions
The COPS A team were competing in the National Arena League’s East Midlands final in Corby and they absolutely smashed it.
They produced a solid all-round display, winning 23 of the 50 races and making the top three 45 times to win by 37 points from hosts Northampton A.
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Hide AdAnd as a result COPS will be lining up in the big National Arena League final next April in Cardiff. It’s the FA Cup final of swimming featuring the country’s top 10 clubs.
Final team placings: COPS A 252pts; Northampton A 215pts; Cambridge A 196pts; City of Milton Keynes 153pts; Norwich A 128pts; Lincoln 100pts.
The girls were in particulary dominant form for COPS. In the open age group Rebecca Burton, Mollie Allen, Chloe Hannam and Amelia Monaghan won both the medley and freestyle relays plus all their individual races.
And that fabulous feat was repeated by the girls Under 13 quartet of Harriet Salisbury, Olivia Lee, Brenna Howell and Ella McGhie.
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Hide AdDelighted COPS head coach Ben Negus said: “Our consistency was the key to such a huge win.
“It was an excellent team performance. It was great to see that we had strength in depth in all age groups, something we’ve not always been able to do.
“The team put in such a commanding performance that even when we weren’t in the mix to win, we fought for every point and made finishes count.
“I’m very proud of this team and look forward to representing the East Midlands in the National Final in Cardiff next year with one of our strongest teams to date.”
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Hide AdCOPS A team: Chloe Hannam, Tom Wiggins, Ruby Blakeley, Charlotte Shaw, Olivia Fullock-Holmes, Eliza Mardon, Ishmail Tajer, Josh Martin, Stafford Hewitt-White, Keiran Griffin, Ella McGhie, Olivia Lee, Brenna Howell, Harriet Sainsbury, Fabian Brudnicki, James Rothwell, Connor Walker, Anna Blakeley, Kenzie Whyatt, Mia Leach, Amelia Monaghan, henry pearce, Herbie Kinder, Myles Robinson-Young, Matthew Rothwell, Mollie Allen, Rebecca Burton, Jamie Scholes, Harry Whiteman, Stuart Clark, George Whiteman.
At the same time the B team were competing in their final Premier Division match at their own Regional Pool and were battling to avoid relegation.
And they pulled out all the stops to finish fourth and retain their place in the top flight.
Rebecca Barsby, age group coach for COPS, said: “It was a great result for a fairly fledgling team who we can develop and without doubt will be a force to be reckoned with in the future.”
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Hide AdCOPS B team: Lauren Harrison, Matt Gray, Ella Normington, Alex Harlow, Carys Horn, Calleigh Coull, Millie Pearce, Mark Krolik, Gagan Singh, Hoilly Greaves, Sophie Griffin, Jessica Shaw, Mark Goodes, Josh Spencer, Josh Smith, Eve Wright, Lauren Browne, Matt Newson, Emma Leslie, Poppy Richardson, Tom Stokes, Matt Wouldham, Panche Gurev-Markovachez, Gagan Singh, Erivan Shilani, Yasir Niami.
And completing a wonderful weekend for COPS, they had two medallists at the England Disability Sport Para-Swimming National Championships in Manchester.
Jack Anderson won three silver medals and a bronze while Jaxon Simmons struck gold in the 14/17 50m Freestyle S13 category.