As the only rookie on the team and being the oldest swimmer there, it

was with a degree of anxiety when I arrived at Europa Bus station at 7am

on Thursday 18th March to travel to Sweden. This was my first time

competing for Ulster at any meet and I was nervous at the ripe old age

of 27 (that’s veteran age for a swimmer) it felt like the first time I

swam as a wee 8 year old teletot swimmer.

Luke Campbell (Bangor ASC), Steven McQuillan, Curtis Coulter (Ards ASC),

Gavin Williamson, Mark Wylie, Donna-Marie O’Prey (Larne ASC), Alison

Todd, Emily Heyburn, David Stronge (City of Belfast SC), Chelsey Wilson

(Ennskillen ASC), Ryan Wray, Iain Chisholm (Leander ASC) and Katie Reid (Lisburn ASC). The coaches on this occasion were Commonwealth Coach and

Head Coach of Ards ASC Nelson Lindsay and Head Coach of Bangor ASC Paul

Dennis. Muriel Todd and Maureen Pugh were our Team Managers.

I knew everyone on the trip but actually being on the same team was a

different experience for me as rivals in the domestic pool became team

mates. The bus journey to Dublin and the flight to Stockholm was a

fantastic ice breaker and everyone really got to know each other (or at

least I did). We arrived at our hotel around 5pm in the evening and it

was straight to the pool for a session to stretch out after 10 hours of

travelling. The National Swimming Centre was only 3 minutes walk from

our hotel and was a great facility boasting a ten lane competition pool

and a swim down pool with fifteen, twenty-five meter lanes to use, it

also had a dedicated diving complex and leisure pool.

The competition was structured with afternoon heats and morning finals

(this was the first time most swimmers had competed in such a format)

which give everyone an opportunity to swim fast as most athletes swim

faster in the evenings. Watching some of the other countries and teams

compete was a great experience, teams travelled from Estonia, France,

Italy, Romania and Finland and including Ulster, made for a very

international meet. I found it a real privilege to be competing under

the Ulster banner especially for my first time (and my last) in such a

prestigious International swimming meet. There was also some seriously

good world class competitors at the meet including Sarah Sjorstrom

(Sweden) who currently holds the world record for 100m Butterfly and

Stefan Nystrand one the fastest swimmers on the planet ranked third in

the world for the 50m Freestyle (short course).

Ulster really made their presence known with loads of swimmers making

finals and Jordan Sloan setting a new Ulster record in the men’s 100m

Backstroke. The support for every swimmer was loud and many personal

best times were set. Considering most swimmers competing are in the

middle of their training cycles for Irish Nationals the results were

even more impressive. The professionalism of the team was top class and

the meet ran like clockwork, with language barriers easily overcome as

everyone spoke great English.

I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my time away on the trip and I

think everyone else did. The accommodation was top class as was the food

Muriel and Maureen really looked after us and Nelson and Paul provided

fantastic feedback. My personal thanks to everyone who went to Stockholm

and made the trip so memorable and enjoyable. I hope everyone continues

competing for Ulster in many more competitions and camps to come.

Good Luck and Thank-you.

Dave Stronge