Success!!!

Joe swam a perfectly awesome 1500m freestyle at Crystal Palace this morning, in a time of 17.24, which qualifies him for the Zonal Meet (level below Nationals) in January, and stands him in good stead for a place at either the British, or English Nationals next year. At the moment the time would put him 20th in GB!

Coach was rather chuffed, to say the least! Not seen him so happy for a long time. He's not one to show much emotion and rarely outwardly cheers his swimmers on, but instead looks on, timing splits and making notes, and generally being cool, calm and collected. But today he gave Joe a big thumbs up at the finish and couldn't hide his grin! The occasion was made even more special by the fact that Coach hates 1500m events! And now he has to sit through at least one more. Which all adds to Joe's motivation! It was between Joe and another lad (red hat) for most of the swim- red hat just pipped him to the touch, but as they were in different age groups, Joe still walked away with Gold! He certainly deserves it though- he's been training 6 times a week, plus land training sessions and even running. And it must have been good, because Coach immediately tweeted that he couldn't believe he'd just enjoyed a 1500!
So proud!