IN what had already been a blockbuster year for Calligo Tigers, the club closed out their 2023 campaign in style, on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
“The results have been there for all to see,” were the sentiments of coach Nathan Jegou and 16-year-olds Filip Nowacki and Sam Sterry were just two of the stand-out candidates in his youthful squad.
Representing Team GB’s junior team, over 3,000 miles from home, Nowacki broke new ground.
The teenager set the fastest ever 100m breaststroke time for a British 16-year-old en route to gold in Canada, along with two further wins in the discipline during the Ontario Junior International championship.
Meanwhile, in Sheffield, personal bests and club records tumbled at the Swim England National Short Course championships.
Tigers – who recently celebrated their 50th anniversary – have enjoyed the fruits of their labour across many decades, but Jegou described his current crop as contributing to a “golden era” of sustained success.
The coach said: “The squad missed out on a lot of early development due to the pandemic, so the way they have come back and smashed it is amazing.
“As a coach, I have personally loved the last couple of years.
“When you have over 30 kids showing up at the door at the crack of dawn, keen to get going, it makes what I do so rewarding.
“Collectively, to see the enjoyment that the squad have had hitting their targets is what it’s all about.
“If you had asked a lot of them a couple of years ago during lockdown, they had real concerns as to whether they would have had a youth swimming career at all.
“2024 is sure to bring fresh challenges. To try and exceed what we have achieved as a whole this year will be really tough, but everyone is keen to see what we can do.”
Nowacki’s campaign has been nothing short of exceptional, having already toppled a British age-group record in the 200m breaststroke final at the European Youth Olympics in Slovenia.
However, Ontario would mark another milestone. His new 16 years British record in the 100m breaststroke was set in a time of 59.82secs, becoming only the second Brit of his age to break the minute mark and the first Channel Islander to do so.
Further wins would follow in both the 200m and 50m breaststroke, setting a new Island record in the former and club record in the latter.
In Sheffield, more Tigers were yet again stamping their authority on the Swim England national stage.
Fellow 16-year-old Sterry continued the record-breaking theme, claiming two Island senior records in the 800m and 1500m freestyle, which had both stood since 2011.
The feats led the Caesarean to third and fourth-placed finishes respectively in the junior rankings, which includes ages 18 and under.
Underpinning his credentials nationally, he also swam in two youth finals in the 400m individual medley and 400m freestyle, both of which were huge lifetime best efforts.
Megan Hansford made a youth final in the ladies 200m backstroke, knocking a massive five seconds off her personal best and setting a new club record in the process, which had stood since 2001.
She would go on to claim a further two club records in the 50m and 100m backstroke, the latter earning her a swim-off in the youth final, only to narrowly miss out.
Another club record fell with Isaac Thompson in the men’s 200m backstroke, which earned him a place in the youth final at just 15 years old.
He would follow up with two more personal bests in the 50m and 100m backstroke.
Elsewhere, Matthew Deffains swam two lifetime bests in the 50m and 100m freestyle, with his 100 by a large margin.
A strong meet saw the Islander narrowly miss out on further personal bests in the 200m and 400m freestyle.
Meanwhile, Nowacki’s individual three wins in Ontario were part of more overall success.
He formed part of a British relay team in the 4x100m medley, swimming the breaststroke leg.
The quartet claimed silver, beaten by a Canadian side who broke their own national record.
However, the British team would claim a European junior record with their efforts.
Ultimately, across all of the meets, Calligo Tigers set four new Island records, eleven club records (heats and finals) and one European Junior relay record.
Nowacki’s stellar efforts saw the teenager sweep all the breaststroke races in Ontario.
