Trying to keep up with the swimmers from Diss Otters Swimming Club this weekend proved to be a near impossible task with four separate events taking place.
The annual Diss Otters club championships got underway on Thursday with various races taking place over the next two weeks during usual club nights at Diss Leisure Centre.
Saturday night saw swimmers competing in two galas – firstly, at the Riverside Pool in Norwich thirteen of the clubs younger members took part in a development gala organised by Great Yarmouth Swimming Club. Some great results by the Otters led to them achieving numerous pb’s and winning 7 gold, 12 silver and 10 bronze medals with clean sweeps of first, second and third in both the boys 10 year old butterfly and breaststroke events.
The second gala on Saturday evening was the Fenland League Final which took place at Newmarket Leisure Centre, where a team of 9 to 15 year olds from the Diss club led the five strong field from start to finish over a programme of 47 races. Otters swimmers finished top 3 in 39 of those events – winning 17. At the end of the night despite being pushed all the way by City of Ely, Diss lifted the trophy (see picture) winning by a margin of 9 points. Final scores Diss 176, Ely 167, Bottisham 144, First Strokes 131, Mildenhall 75.
Finally on Sunday three Otters travelled to Luton with the Norfolk squad to take part in the Junior Inter Counties gala. Cameron Day, Matthew Munnings and Thea Irvine all competed with great credit in a variety of individual and relay events but ultimately Norfolk couldn’t get close to the head of the points chart, with Essex crowned champions, from Suffolk second and Hertfordshire third.
Thanks to all coaches and poolside volunteers for their help over the weekend.
Anyone interested in joining Diss Otters can contact head coach Jamie Rush on 07738 427735.