Having qualified for IAPS national swimming finals for the last two years running, I was really worried I didn’t have a chance this year. I had broken my finger at the end of January , which meant I could not train for six weeks. One of the qualifiers was held at Shrewsbury School in March, where I managed to swim a top twenty qualifying time for U12 50m breaststroke. That saw me qualify for the national finals held at the Olympic pool in London on the same dive blocks as Adam Peaty and Michael Phelps, which is an amazing feeling.
In my race I achieved close to my PB and came sixteenth in the country for my age. IAPS sees over 5000 swim entries and the winner of my category was training nine times a week! Balancing with all my other sports and academic commitments, I am very proud of my achievement and I hope to make it a record four years running next year.
Gabe (Year 7)
