It was a wonderful night of fantastic competition as 6 teams battled it out for the title of Arena League Champion. Guildford fielded two of those teams with the A team romping home with a huge margin. Rushmoor Royals and Amersham had an exciting competition with Rushmoor claiming 2nd place. The Guildford B team was comprised of many swimmers giving all a chance to swim and be part of the wonderful atmosphere on the night. The parents were out in force and cheered and supported the swimmers all the way.

We have won the Southern title for eight straight years – this time with a record 60 point margin over second place Rushmoor Royals. It is a true testament to our Club that both our “A” & “B” Teams made the Arena League final for the first time in our history, enabling so many of our swimmers & their families to celebrate our continued success at the top. This wonderful night has been nine months in the planning with the clear objective of having both teams competing together in the final. The Coaches believed that we were strong enough in depth to field two powerful mixed teams in the first two rounds and then to merge our very best in the “A” Team for the final. That also gave us the opportunity of fielding a large cross section of swimmers for the “B”s. In fact we had well over 100 swimmers on poolside at K2 on the night which proved to be a logistical challenge!

We are incredibly proud of all of our swimmers and their Coaches for their continued dedication & hard work. So many races were won with outstanding back end speed demonstrating not only an excellent skills based programme but also a superb fitness training culture across all squads.

Maintaining this level of excellence for nearly a decade takes a tremendous amount of teamwork and determination. Guildford City is thankful that it is managed by a Committee that truly understands a world class ethos and has supported the Coaching staff with their obsessed pursuit of sporting achievement.

As always I have to warn against complacency – our Coaches need to remain at the cutting edge of the sport – encouraging our swimmers with their innovative ideas & the positive reinforcement that has helped shape Guildford City into the amazing swimming Club that it is today.Richard Garfield