Warwick swimmers make a splash

After an impressive weekend of swimming for the University of Warwick Swimming team at BUCs in Sheffield, with the club smashing nine university records, it was unsurprising to witness Coventry’s complete defeat by Warwick on the Saturday of Varsity.

The competition had two point-scoring lanes for each event, with one member of each team going against each other, and the other lanes for other members who wished to take part more casually. While there was of course some serious competition going on, the atmosphere at the competition overall was more supportive and high-spirited than perhaps the usual Varsity event. 

Not a single swim event was conceded by the women’s team. It appeared to be an effortless feat – but the women’s team were in top form in each event, with a clear lead after the first length of each race. At this point in the Varsity competition, Coventry had the lead, but there was a sense of confidence from the swimmers as they had won the previous Varsity in 2019.  

The events started with the 200m freestyle, with Alyssa Basinger in the point-scoring lane having a clear three-second lead against Coventry. This was followed by the 4x50m medley, and by the last leg, Warwick were half a length ahead – something that was not uncommon in the events. 

The event had a friendly atmosphere, despite Coventry not winning any of the women’s swimming events

One of the most impressive defeats was from Charlotte Taylor, who thrashed Coventry in the 100m fly, with a time of 1:12:03 compared to Coventry’s 1:27:16.  

The 100m events often started with neck and neck in the first length, with Coventry appearing to keep up with Warwick. But their bite was almost always short lived, and by the second lap Warwick had secured the win in each event. The Warwick women were a force to be reckoned with.  

In the last event of the first half, Warwick rounded things off with an impressive win from Basinger, who completed the 100m individual medley in 1:13:53 against Coventry’s 1:25:16 – miles ahead of her competitor.  

After a brief interlude of some interesting singing from UWSWP members (including a rendition of ‘Walking in the Air’), we went into the 50m events. The Warwick women’s swimmers did not let up, with the shorter events being won expertly, one after another. 

The swimming event had a friendly atmosphere: despite Coventry not winning any of the women’s swimming events, there was no animosity between the swimmers. It was a very relaxed and enjoyable event to be part of. And I was certainly in awe of the strong performance of all of the Warwick women’s swimming team; they did not let Coventry come anywhere close to winning the Varsity event. They did Warwick very proud.