speedo league finals - preview
Six months of regional galas comes to final tumultuous conclusion as the Speedo League finals take place at Sheffield's Ponds Forge pool. Nearly 400 clubs set out at the start of the competition back in October and the final 16 have now made it through to contest the two national inter-league galas.
Last year's overall champions Kingston upon Hull were overpowered in the last qualifying round by frequent champions City of Leeds and as such will be unable to defend their title. Leeds on the other hand, having won the B final last year, will be determined to regain their place at the head of domestic club competition. The surprise absence from both finals of Portsmouth Northsea would appear to leave the City of Coventry as the main challengers to the Yorkshire club, with none of the other teams seeming to have the depth in their squad to mount a serious challenge, although Millfield could always provide a scare to the big two. First time finalists Leatherhead and City of Cambridge will also be looking to make a good impression, but are likely to be battling for the minor places.
Leeds will be competing without their long time chief coach Terry Denison, who hung up his stopwatch earlier this year and handed the reigns over to Ian Greyson. They will however, be strengthened by a host of senior international swimmers and up and coming talent. James Hickman is likely to lead their challenge with promising juniors Julia Preston and Rebecca Shaw also likely to weigh in with points.
But Coventry won't be overawed by Leeds' pedigree, sporting as they do a hugely impressive squad this year. Commonwealth 100m breastroke champion Adam Whitehead heads up their team, but they will boast numerous finalists from the recent British Championships. Whitehead is looking forward to the gala: "The Speedo League final is always one of the highlights of the year, there's normally a big crowd in, usually bigger than we get a national championships and it's good to swim for the team for a change. Swimming is a very individual sport so to get to swim with the people we train with and compete as a team is great"
Coventry were third placed in last year's final, and will be looking to repeat or better that performance. "We did really well last year and won all of the senior events" Whitehead recalls "We'll be looking to do that again and to improve on that 3rd place from last year, but just to be top 3 in the country would be great". Achieving that would seem to be well within Coventry's grasp, but who are the main rivals to a midlands victory? "Leeds are always one of the strongest teams" notes Whitehead, who also has an eye on one of the new faces in the final "If Leatherhead were good enough to beat Portsmouth they'll certainly be strong - but I think we'll be right up there"
So an intriguing final is in prospect. We perhaps unsurprisingly predict a Leeds victory, but not by much, with Coventry likely to push them all the way to the finish.
The B final features several of last year's A Finalists. Ipswich, Liverpool and Hull will be the favourites, but Beckenham pulled off a shock in the last round as they too beat Northsea, so are also to likely to challenge. It is probable, however, that the win will be heading back to Humberside.
| Lane 1. | Norwich (East Midlands) |
| Lane 2. | City of Salford (North West) |
| Lane 3. | Millfield (Western) |
| Lane 4. | City of Cambridge (London) |
| Lane 5. | City of Coventry (West Midlands) |
| Lane 6. | City of Leeds (North East) |
| Lane 7. | Leatherhead (South) |
| Lane 8. | Northampton (East Midlands) |
| Lane 1. | Nottingham Leander (East Midlands) |
| Lane 2. | City of Liverpool (North West) |
| Lane 3. | Plymouth Leander (Western) |
| Lane 4. | Ipswich (London) |
| Lane 5. | Perry Beeches (West Midlands) |
| Lane 6. | Kingston upon Hull (North East) |
| Lane 7. | Beckenham (South) |
| Lane 8. | Horwich Leisure Centre (North West) |