Daniel Sliwinski
Swimmer of the Year 2008
The 2008 Lancashire Swimmer of the Year 2008 Daniel Sliwinski certainly had a year that will take some beating!
Daniel was selected to represent England in the Schools Championships (W.I.S.E.) where he broke the 100m and 200m Breaststroke records and also the 200 Individual Medley record.
A few weeks after this he competed at the British Trials in Sheffield where he became the Brtish Junior Champion in the 50m, 100m and 200m Breaststroke breaking both the 100m and 200m records to add to the 50m record he already held. Daniel was 17 whilst competing at the trials but his time in the 100m Breaststroke took him to the top of the world rankings for 18 years and under and third in the world rankings for the 200m Breaststroke.
He was selected to represent Great Britain at the FINA World Youth Games in Mexico and the LEN European Junior Championships in Belgrade. Whilst in Mexico Daniel broke the British record for the 50m Breaststroke in the heats and again in the final and also set a new World Youth Championship record. Not satisfied with taking gold in the 50m Daniel also took another gold medal for Great Britain in the 100m Breaststroke where once again he broke the British record and set a new World Youth Championship record. He was also a member of the winning Medley Relay team in Mexico and aslo at the Junior European Championships in Belgrade. The Medley Relay team also set a new World Youth record in Mexico and broke the European Junior record in Belgrade. The Medley Relay team also had two other Lancahsire County swimmers Rob Bale and James Doolan.
After his outstanding performances Daniel was selected onto the British Swimming Podium Squad to join the country's leading senior swimmers. He was invited to the Olympic Handover party at Buckingham Palace in August and gave a radio interview for Radio Five Live alongside Michael Phelps.
During this hectic year Daniel also managed to sit 'A' levels in Maths, Physics and Russian from which he was awarded a full scholarship at Indiana University in the United States following in the footsteps of the great Mark Spitz. Daniel was the only person to be awarded a full swimming scholarship since Mark Spitz.
Daniel's home club is Preston where he assists with the teaching programme. He has been training with Gallica Squad since February 2007. He has broken eight British records in 18 months with the first being at the Lancashire Championships in 2007 which was also the first British record to be broken in the Championships history.
Congratulations Daniel on all your achievements and may you continue to build on them in the future. Hopefully we will see you representing your country in London 2012.
Seven Up
The County Swim Team has done it again and entered seventh heaven! Our team proved that seven really is a lucky number by taking the asa’s National County Team Championships for the seventh year in a row in Sheffield on Sunday 19th October.
The title went right down to the last race with the Red Rose County having to finish ahead of their nearest rivals Northumberland and Durham to retain the title.
A total of 38 teams, and more than 1,000 competitors, had battled it out across two divisions, with 31 races in each division but it was the red rose which prevailed in the white rose county as the team emerged victorious in Division 1 with 480 points, followed closely by Northumberland and Durham with 476 points and Middlesex in third place with 473 points followed by the hosts Yorkshire in fourth place on 466 points for whom a relay disqualification saw the loss of a costly nineteen points and with it any realistic hope of victory.
Lancashire claimed its first win early on, with Danielle Lowe touching in 1:12.32 in the Girls 12/13 years 100m Breaststroke. Northumberland and Durham rival Laura Allison took second in 1:13.39, with Annabel Humphreys taking third in 1:13.99 for Berks and South Bucks. This was followed by a gutsy swim from Luke Wood in the Boys 16/17 years 100m Backstroke in 56.71 before the Girls 12/13 years Medley Team secured a third victory in the first half of the competition with a time of 2:02.71.
After 15 races, just under the half way point, Lancashire were out in front with 226 points but Northumberland and Durham were right behind with 223 points, with Middlesex pushing hard on 218 points.
Lancashire’s Boys Team Captain Nicholas Tawn led by example and took the Boys 16/17 years 100m Breaststroke in 1:04.00, just holding off Cheshire’s Russell Smith in 1:04.06 at the start of the second half of the event. Jack Scott cemented a fourth individual win for the team with a terrific swim in the Boys 12/13 years 100m Butterfly to see him hit the pads first with a time of 1:02.23.
As the teams headed into the relays, the Girls 16/17 years 200m Medley was to mirror the final results. Our team led from the start and held onto their lead finishing in 2:02.69. But we were pushed all the way by Durham, who finished second in 2:03.20.
Having missed out on a top three finish in the Boys 12/13 years Medley and the Girls 14/15 years 200m Medley, the swimmers in the final cannon knew they had to finish ahead of their rivals in the last race of the day – the mixed 6 x 50m Free relay.
Ultimately third place (2:35.60) in this event was enough to see us finish one place ahead of Durham (2:38.06) and with that victory was sealed.
Boy’s captain Nicholas Tawn commented: “We knew it was going to be tight but we really didn’t know if we had won until the end of that last race. We had a great team spirit and there were a lot of good swims which gave us the title.”
Girls Team Captain Katrina Alder added: “It is just brilliant to win again. I have been in the team ever since I was old enough and this year it was crazy!”
The final word goes to one of the Team Managers Helen Billington who said: “We knew we were in for a real battle this year and that everyone would have to swim out of their skin for us to win again and they did. It is just fantastic.”