The New Year brings a host of meets on the international calendar with swimmers getting in all the racing they can to gear up for 2019’s elite championships. Along with the South Australian State Championships, the Flanders Cup and 52nd Challenge international de Genève, among other meets happening just this week alone, the British are getting their 2019 domestic season underway as well.
Below is just a sampling of domestic meets to look for locally in GBR this week:
2019 City of Sunderland ASC – New Year Meet
2016 European Junior champion and 2017 World Junior champion in the women’s 200m butterfly, Emily Large, will be representing her club of Newcastle at the City of Sunderland New Year Meet kicking off on Friday, January 18th. She’ll be joined by Newcastle teammates such as Jacob Butterfield and Adam Wilson, along with several emerging racers from the likes of St. Thomas, Derwentside and Hearts of Midlothian.
A sizable Swim Ireland contingency will also be present at Sunderland Aquatic Center, with the National Squad Performance Pathway athletes appearing on the start lists. Alfie Kelly, Cadan McCarthy, Maria Godden, Ellie McKibbin and Jeremy O’Connor are among the Irish ready to make their marks early on this season.
The beginning of each calendar year in England is marked by the staging of the respective English County Championships, as well as the Welsh Regional and Scottish District events. Level 1 meets are long course and enable athletes to achieve qualifying times for entry into National, Regional and County Championships. Below are several of the various Level 1 County Championships taking place across the nation this week:
Level 1 County Championships: