National Relay Finals

On Friday 17 November, the Junior and Intermediate boys travelled up to Birmingham in preparation for the National Relay Finals on Saturday.

After an early night the boys awoke fresh, excited and ready to get to Sandwell Aquatic Centre to swim in the pool that some of the best swimmers competed in for the Commonwealth Games 2022.

The first event was the 4x50m individual medley relay with the junior team racing first. With Will leading off on a strong backstroke leg, handing over to Wilf for the breaststroke, followed by Misha on the fly, and Harry finishing with a fast 50m freestyle beating their qualifying time. Unfortunately, excitement got the better of the boys with an eager relay take over causing them to be disqualified. Next up was the intermediate boys: Charlie on the backstroke, Rocco on the breaststroke, Reuben on the fly, and Adam on the freestyle. A fantastic swim from all the boys saw them finish 20th in the country, in a time of 2.06.88.

Shaking off the disappointment of the medley, the Junior boys got ready to take on the 4x50m freestyle heats. The boys put in a super performance with all the students matching or beating their personal bests, finishing in 2nd place and securing their spot in the finals. With nothing to prove, the boys were focused and ready to enjoy every minute of racing in a final at such an iconic competition. With Wilf leading off with a superb dive and underwater phase saw him up with the majority of schools on the first change over. Harry then swam a strong 50m with a great change over and 3rd leg from Will to give Misha a fighting chance at catching up with some other teams. Misha rose to the challenge swimming a speedy 25.99s, starting his leg in 7th place; finishing in 5th. An incredible performance and achievement coming 5th in the country, the best a Churcher’s team has ever done, and beating some iconic swim schools along the way.