Alastair Orr National Finalist

Alastair Orr represented St Bede’s at the IAPS National Swimming Finals at the Crawley K2 centre.

The finals day followed 35 regional qualifying rounds with over 3000 swimmers participating, with the top 16 in each event qualifying for the finals.

Alastair qualified for the U10 25m Breastroke, with a qualification time of 20.65 which was the second fastest qualification time.

On finals day, Alastair firstly had to swim in the preliminary round to gain a place in the final, which the fastest 8 out of 16 would qualify. The St Bede’s school pupil swam a superb length, gaining a P.B of 20.35 beating his already impressive qualification time; however Alastair wasn't the only swimmer to step up his time and swim an impressive length gaining a PB, leaving him a nervous wait to see if he had made the Final.

Alastair qualified and seeded 5th going into the final and swam extremely well with a brilliant dive to get his race off to a flyer and finished 6th overall, again beating his qualification time.

This is an extraordinary achievement for Alastair as he is not a club swimmer and is not used to swimming at such an intense and high profile event. Alastair has decided to continue to develop his swimming both within and outside of school.