Swimmers head to Huyton for annual 'Shrimps' gala

COMPETITIVE COMPETITION: Southport's Molly Colling and Douglas Jones of

By Joe Coy

Southport held their annual 'Shrimps' gala at Huyton on Sunday, giving a great opportunity to inexperienced swimmers to gain competitive competition with a series of relay events. In an exciting gala, Leyland took first place, ahead of hosts’ Southport.

There was a tremendous battle for third place with Prescot just edging out Garston, who held off an enthusiastic Everton side that finished just three points ahead of Halton. Then came Crosby followed by Chorley.

Looking ahead, entries are now open for the North West Regional Championships, which take place on three consecutive weekends, commencing on April 20/21, with the first and third weekends at Manchester and the middle weekend at Wavertree Aquatic Centre. Closing date for entries is April 3.

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Looking further ahead, more swimmers than ever before will be invited to compete at a new-look 2024 Swim England National Summer Meet. The increased number of entries has been revealed as the qualification window for the British Summer Championships and the corresponding home nations meets was confirmed.

For the first time, the National Summer Meet will be held over six days, with a change to the format of previous years. The changes have been introduced to ‘give a better competition experience’ for swimmers, coaches, officials and parents.

Selection for the summer competitions are by invitation only based on long course times achieved during the qualifying window, which will open on Friday, March 8 and close on Sunday, May 12.

The top-ranked swimmers in each age group will be invited to compete at the British Summer Championships, which takes place at Sheffield’s Ponds Forge International Pool from Saturday, July 20 to Friday, July 26. Following that selection, swimmers will be invited to take part at the Swim England National Summer Meet.

This is also being held at Ponds Forge from Monday, July 29 to Saturday, August 3.

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