Latest / The PCR Sports Show / The PCR Sports Show - Friday 17th October 2025 - The COPS special with Morgan and Amalie Stevenson from City of Peterborough Swimming Club.

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The PCR Sports Show - Friday 17th October 2025 - The COPS special with Morgan and Amalie Stevenson from City of Peterborough Swimming Club. · The PCR Sports Show

0:00
Welcome to the PCR Sports Show here on PCR FM.
0:04
As always, thank you for joining us on this Friday evening.
0:08
We're here every Friday 6 till 7, bringing the latest sporting
0:11
headlines from across our city and today is certainly no
0:15
different. We're going to be talking all
0:17
about the City of Peterborough Swimming Club, certainly the
0:21
successes that they've had in the pool, but also the news that
0:24
broke this week about the plans for a new swimming pool for and
0:28
leisure facilities for our city, which could, could, fingers
0:32
crossed, be opened by 2028. And we'll be chatting to Morgan
0:36
Stevenson, Co chair of the club. And we've also got Emily, 14
0:40
year old Emily, in the studio with us this evening as well,
0:42
who will be talking about her swimming, her career, the
0:45
discipline that she has for training and generally just
0:48
competing at such a high level that they do at the City of
0:51
Peterborough Swimming Club, despite the lack of facilities
0:55
within our city. But first, let's cross over to
0:58
Nigel, who will bring you our sporting headlines.
1:00
This week, yeah, good evening. We'll check in with first with
1:04
the City of Peterborough Hockey Club and results from last
1:07
weekend across the club saw three wins, 3 draws and seven
1:11
losses. The men's ones ventured into
1:14
Nottingham but went down to 1. Joe find him with the goal for
1:18
Peterborough and goals from Alana Walker, Imogen Mason,
1:22
Rachel Fletcher and two each from Lily Craven and Hope Elkin
1:27
meant that the women's ones came out commanding 7 NIL winners at
1:31
home to UEA. Elsewhere there are wins for the
1:34
men's sixth versus Born Deep In and the men's seventh versus
1:38
Long Sutton. The women's seconds and the
1:41
women's thirds and the men's 8th shared the spoils spoils with
1:45
their opponents this weekend. The top of the table women's
1:48
first travel to Wisbech and there's also a top of the table
1:52
field to the men's first fixture as they travel to Leaders
1:55
League. Plenty of Hockey at Bretton Gate
1:57
tomorrow, with games starting from 10:00 AM all the way
2:01
through the day. And after the huge success of
2:04
last weekend's Great Eastern Run, the Greater Peterborough
2:07
Athletics Network is delighted to be hosting a flagship event
2:11
in support of England Athletics and Sport England's Let's Lift
2:15
the Curfew initiative. The event will be at
2:19
Peterborough Athletic Track on Wednesday the 29th of October
2:23
from 7:00 to 9:00 PM. Let's Lift the Curfew is an
2:27
initiative created and spearheaded by Sport England's
2:30
This Girl Can Run campaign, which highlights women's stories
2:34
and concerns around getting active outdoors in the darker
2:38
months. To mark the end of summertime, G
2:40
Pam will be organizing a number of short, safe runs at different
2:44
paces and distances from the athletics track for anyone who
2:48
would like to take up the sport but is concerned about running
2:51
in the dark. The evening is open to everyone
2:54
with free parking at the track, so it'd be amazing if you could
2:58
get along and support that one. Football then and Posh return to
3:02
action following the international break with a trip
3:04
to troubled Burton Albion. This one is another 1230 kick
3:09
off for Posh, with the game being televised on Sky Sports
3:12
Plus. The Brewers have hit a bit of
3:15
form recently, winning two of their last three games.
3:18
After a tricky start, Posh will be without the services of
3:21
defender Sam Hughes, left back Rio Adebisi and wingers Declan
3:26
Firth and Kian Hayes. The better news is that George
3:31
Nevitt, Jimmy J Morgan, David Accarbay and Matt Garber have
3:36
all returned from international duty without injuries.
3:40
Across the city and Peterborough, Support Sports
3:43
entertained strugglers Alfreton Town at Pyms Park in the
3:46
beginning of an important week for the turbines.
3:50
Buxton visit the city on Tuesday followed by trip to Curzon
3:53
Ashton next Saturday. Manager Phil Brown spoke
3:57
exclusively to PCR Sports last night, saying the club have an
4:01
opportunity to climb away from the bottom of the league and
4:04
build on their incredible win against Kidderminster Harriers
4:07
before the break. Brown also said long term injury
4:10
victim Shaquille Coulthurst was available for selection and key
4:14
winger Kane Felix came through his return against Kidderminster
4:18
with no problems after his injury.
4:21
You can hear that interview with Phil Brown on the PCR Sports
4:24
social media pages. Posh Women, meanwhile, have no
4:27
game this weekend. They're next in action at home
4:30
to Rail Bedford on Sunday the 26th of October in the first
4:34
round proper of the Women's FA Cup.
4:37
That's that one's a 2:00 PM kick off.
4:39
You can catch it with everything Posh Women shortly after that
4:42
game when they pop into the PCR Sports Show on Friday the 31st
4:47
of October. Elsewhere, Team GB just made it
4:50
into the semi finals of the European Wheelchair Basketball
4:53
Championships in Sarajevo on Thursday.
4:57
City * Lee Manning featured prominently in that game,
5:01
picking up a crucial 9 points to continue his good form.
5:05
The semi final is going on right now against Germany and we'll
5:08
try to bring you the score before we go off air tonight.
5:11
The winners of that game will face either Italy or Spain in
5:14
the final on Saturday. In cycling, Friend and Clarion
5:18
hosted Born Wheelers and King's Lynn based Belous Flyers in a
5:23
youth cycling event in the city last weekend.
5:26
Races as young as six years old took part in a series of close
5:30
four races. Paul and Mark Granite Gray
5:33
continued his winning streak in victory at the International
5:37
Rules Pool Over 40s Tour event in Newport Pagnell.
5:41
The City ace beat Stanford based Lewis Roberts in the final.
5:46
In boxing, Izzy Coston from Peterborough club and friends of
5:49
the PCR sports show Wolves Den has fought her way to a national
5:53
development semi final. The City fighter beat Devon
5:56
based Daisy Allison who was very well supported in a unanimous
6:00
points decision and finally pan backs Andrea Jenkins won her 6th
6:05
the European Masters gold in the 2025 Championships held in
6:09
Madeira. Jenkins threw 18.59 meters to
6:13
add to her impressive collection of world and European medals.
6:18
Major headlines. Nanesh.
6:19
Thank you very much Nigel, very much appreciated.
6:21
Plenty going on across the city once again this week.
6:24
Indeed. Yeah, football's back this week.
6:26
A bit of a bit of a, a, a a weekend with twiddling my thumbs
6:31
last weekend. But yeah, football's back this
6:33
weekend. And important for people of
6:35
sports and Peterborough United from a football perspective to
6:37
get back to winning ways very. Important yeah, it's a huge
6:40
weekend for sports. I think there might be news
6:44
tomorrow of yet another signing, so that will that will boost the
6:48
squad for tomorrow, but we'll wait for tomorrow for that news.
6:53
Keep your eyes peeled across Peterborough sports socials
6:55
ahead of kick off tomorrow for a potential new signing.
7:00
Tonight though we'll be focusing on the City of Peterborough
7:03
Swimming Club. We've got with us in the studio
7:05
Morgan Stevenson, who's Co chair and 14 year old Emily who will
7:09
be talking about her swimming career to date and we'll be
7:13
chatting to them very shortly after these messages.
7:17
You're listening to PCR Sport. Good evening and welcome back to
7:31
the PCR Sports Show here on PCR FM.
7:35
We're here every Friday 6 till 7, bringing you the latest
7:38
Sports News and headlines from in and around our city of
7:42
Peterborough. Our guests in the studio this
7:44
week are the City of Peterborough Swimming Club.
7:48
We've got Morgan Stevenson who's chair and 14 year old Amelie
7:52
who's a up and coming swimmer at the club itself as well.
7:57
We're going to start with the big news of the week though and
7:59
we'll go straight to Morgan Stephenson who is chair of the
8:02
club and to give us his reaction on the City Council approving a
8:07
25 metre pool for the city and hopefully opening in the next
8:12
three or four years that. Would be fantastic.
8:15
We need to get a facility in the city that we can all start
8:19
enjoying. It's been already too long since
8:21
the closure and start the start of the destruction of the
8:24
regional pool. I think everyone's asking why.
8:28
Why 25? Why not 50?
8:30
We. Certainly are.
8:31
The easiest answer to that question is no one has yet come
8:34
with fifty 152,000,000 lbs in order to make that facility 50
8:39
meters straight off the bat. And so there are a number of
8:42
challenges around how do we therefore get a facility that
8:46
fits the needs of the city that is an improvement on where the
8:51
regional was. Right now it's a puddle with
8:55
some with some gravel and dirt on the side of it.
8:59
So it's, it's not an easy facility to improve on.
9:04
But the the the task now is to get a facility that we can
9:07
afford as a city that we can get funding for and we can get built
9:11
in time for people to enjoy. So we're looking, sorry to use
9:16
the, the the term, but doesn't it seem like a short term view?
9:19
I appreciate there's money, but perhaps another leaving it
9:23
another year gives you a feet 50 metre pool and we've got
9:26
something that is, you know, the Grade one level I.
9:29
Think if someone could tell you exactly how long we would wait.
9:32
Then it would be an easier. Decision but it's taken nearly
9:35
two years to get to a place where we have support at
9:40
government level or the opportunity to ask for what's
9:44
what what we see as emergency funds given the state we are in
9:47
from a a requirement in this city in terms of balancing the
9:53
the the obesity in young children in this city the size
9:58
of the growth of this city and the needs for a number of clubs
10:03
not just ours but just children learning to swim and getting
10:05
confidence in water so the. Proposal and the The plans are
10:11
currently a 25 metre 8 lane pool with leisure facilities gym.
10:18
A very large learning pool, a tear 20 by 4 lane learning pool
10:23
with movable floor spectator seating that can collapse away
10:27
to save some space and when it's all fully available up to 300
10:31
seats. So that's a significant increase
10:34
in Pool space there than what the regional swimming pool was.
10:37
OK. That allows our program in
10:40
particular to, you know, have significantly more space to
10:45
train. That allows us to grow, which is
10:47
something we can't do very easily now.
10:50
It means you can bring multi use to that facility.
10:53
It means people can learn to swim and cops can operate.
10:57
It means we can host bigger, better meats at a higher grade
11:00
because of those extra that extra space.
11:02
So. So just focus on the grades
11:04
there. So what are we looking at
11:07
currently as to then what the new regional pool would give us
11:12
in? Terms of the grades of meats.
11:13
So there are four grades of meats.
11:15
A level 1, you require a 50 metre pool, right?
11:19
Grades two to four you, you can operate in A in A level in a 25
11:23
or A50. What the level two grade allows
11:27
you is the qualification of times allows you to apply for
11:31
different events and different grades.
11:33
So you can go up to national level.
11:35
So the lower your licensing means is that you have to
11:39
potentially travel to more events that are hosted outside
11:43
the city or we then struggle to attract other swimmers to come
11:46
to our city. For example, the COPS team are
11:49
in Birmingham this weekend and some of them are supporting
11:52
March Marlins who are hosting their meeting with to see good
11:55
luck to the March Marlins on Sunday.
11:57
And, you know, we're spending a lot of money to go to other
12:00
people's cities and spend time to to get time to other meats of
12:04
a better grade, so. In terms of the facilities in
12:06
this region, shall we say, where's the nearest 50m pool
12:09
then from an Olympic size there? Is no 50m pool that can
12:14
officially run meats in the whole of Cambridgeshire that is.
12:17
That is a a big problem for this whole county, not just our city.
12:21
The nearest 50 metre pools, we then tend to be Corby Luton and
12:24
then you're over into Norwich. So those, those facilities can,
12:30
can do all grades of meats and that's where those regional
12:34
championships are held. So again, we would we could, we
12:38
could do the regional short course, 25 metre regional events
12:42
in a in A258 lane pool in that facility because it provides it.
12:47
We couldn't do that at the regional pool in the in, in the
12:50
spec that that was. So that's where that's an
12:53
improvement in who we can attract to this city in a budget
12:57
and in a size of. Plot it is.
12:59
Doable. So the are the are we looking at
13:02
that regional pool site effectively being the not
13:07
exactly. There it's, it's, it's, it's,
13:10
it's, it's encompassing on the plans around the university,
13:14
which I think is a huge project for this city's growth and
13:16
aspiration and the types of individuals we want to attract
13:20
here. So it's been sensitive to the
13:22
plans of how that facility expands to its plan, which I
13:26
think is really important. And it's it, it nestles itself
13:30
right next to the Lido, which is another absolute jewel of this
13:33
city. And and if for many people who
13:36
may not be aware, there was a big push this year to save the
13:40
light though, because financially there's another area
13:43
that's struggling because not enough, not enough, enough of us
13:46
are using the facilities. And that's seems to have been a
13:49
good success. So to have a modern, fantastic
13:53
new facility for all types of people in this city, not just
13:57
our club, but you know, young children that want to learn to
14:00
swim and get confident in water, people that need to stay active
14:03
and be part of a community that's in the city centre.
14:07
That location is also important. There's not a lot of space to
14:10
put 50 meters and all the other facilities in that Segway and
14:14
have a university grow. And, and you know, there's lots
14:18
of things we need in Peterborough and this plan and
14:22
we're why we're supportive of it, is we feel it delivers
14:27
enough for everyone in a time frame at a cost that is
14:32
absolutely doable for this city. And we must make sure it
14:34
happens. We could love a new 50m
14:38
facility, but if it comes at a cost where no club can afford to
14:41
train in it, or people can't afford to go and learn to swim
14:44
in it, who's a 50m empty shell really for?
14:48
So what's next then? So obviously the council have
14:51
announced, you know this week that the local authority's
14:54
preferred option, as you mentioned, 25 metre pool
14:57
facility, What, what happens next?
14:59
Lots more work. We now work into a stage of
15:02
producing a new term that we've learnt as a club, a Green Book
15:07
spec. This is this is a government
15:09
grade as we understand it, request for the funds because
15:14
that's where the likes of Andrew Paakes has been a brilliant
15:17
champion at working with the government in.
15:20
Peterborough's MP Peterborough. 'S MP supported by the council
15:24
in getting these extra funds now if we can if we can open up that
15:29
some of that money that's a huge step forward and it takes the
15:32
pressure off where else we can beg, borrow and dare I say steal
15:36
the remaining funds of that thirty 637,000,000 lbs so the.
15:40
Full 36 million. I would love them to.
15:44
I would. Love them to turn around and say
15:47
Peterborough, we love you. And here's 51 million for A50
15:50
metre pool. And then we have.
15:52
A challenge of where's the best place to?
15:54
Build it. But if they give 20 million,
15:57
then that takes an awful lot of some of the pain of looking to
16:02
borrow that money through the council, which you know the cost
16:05
of borrowing now versus where we were three or four years ago.
16:09
Where might we be in another two or three years time all of a
16:12
sudden that dream of going for 50 and we still nowhere closer.
16:17
That's the risk. I'm just thinking out loud here.
16:20
Is there a collaboration here? Potentially?
16:23
Absolutely. They've been, they've been part
16:26
of the discussion, they've been great partners, they've
16:29
contributed a lot. And I and I think it would be
16:31
wonderful to make the Lido, the new facility, the university.
16:36
I think all of those three things sitting together, I think
16:39
it's a brilliant opportunity. But again, that's one of the
16:42
reasons there's not enough space there for 50m.
16:45
So even if we had all the money, we would have to make another
16:49
difficult decision as a city. Where, where, where is right?
16:53
Because actually you want that facility in the city.
16:56
You want that available for as many people to enjoy, not just
16:59
the few that might be able to travel outside or on the edge of
17:02
the city. So there are difficult decisions
17:06
everywhere. And it isn't just now, you know,
17:08
clearly difficult decisions in the past doesn't feel like
17:12
they've been made in the interest of everyone.
17:15
And now, now we're in a much difficult position.
17:18
So it's easy to look at why not? Why aren't we being?
17:22
Ambitious enough? I can assure everyone we are
17:24
trying very hard to drive the best opportunity for, for, for
17:29
the city and everyone rather than just, you know, thinking
17:32
about, oh, couldn't we have this?
17:33
Couldn't we have that? It's easy to be a keyboard
17:36
warrior on Facebook and demand. Why aren't we having this when
17:40
not enough people need to? We're very much thinking about
17:42
the whole city here. Yes, you might be one part of,
17:46
you know, one element of the driving force behind this new
17:48
facility, but there's other people, other organisations that
17:53
are very much involved in this process and discussion to make
17:57
sure that we're facilitating something for the whole city,
18:00
for the growth with the city and not just the swimming club here.
18:03
Yeah. Absolutely, because we need a
18:06
whole community to utilise that facility to make it a success.
18:10
It's it's very similar to where we were facing the danger of
18:14
where the Lido's future was going to be.
18:15
The Lido's going to celebrate its 90th birthday next year.
18:18
That's fantastic. And the, and the club itself was
18:21
formed three days after the Lido.
18:24
So you know, that should be a year of absolute celebration of
18:27
these wonderful facilities. And if by the end of that year,
18:32
we've, we're starting to see some spades and grounds and
18:36
things like that would be fantastic.
18:37
You know, there's still a long way to go.
18:39
There's funding to approve, there's more borrowing.
18:41
And and like I say, there's there's definitely some begging
18:45
of other funds that people can contribute to try and chip away.
18:49
No one wants the city to be continually to borrow more
18:52
money, but needs must. It's that is the reality.
18:55
There isn't big pots of money to spend on new facilities.
18:59
And Peter needs a lot of new facilities.
19:02
So we're looking at the likes of potentially, I don't know, Sport
19:04
England, for example, to contribute to that.
19:07
Swim England potentially contribute to that in some way.
19:10
And there'll be other bodies around that that will be able to
19:14
work together and form some sort of conglomerate to work together
19:19
to build and deliver this pool for the city, everyone.
19:22
Can contribute a little something, we get there quicker
19:25
and and everyone benefits. And I'm sure you know there are
19:30
many big brand businesses that have benefited from Peterborough
19:34
as a city economically. If they can, I'm thinking about
19:37
Jeff and his Amazon business might be able to make a small
19:39
contribution, £51 million from Jeff.
19:43
Will be fabulous. I'm sure he's in this now,
19:47
right? OK, despite all of that, and
19:50
we've talked about, you know, the challenges that you've had,
19:53
you've had some great success in your temporary home, shall we
19:57
say, over at the Manor Leisure Centre in Whittlesey.
20:00
And we're going to be talking to Emily and certainly Morgan again
20:03
about the success the club has been having over the course of
20:06
the last few years, despite being effectively not having a
20:10
home pool. You're listening to PCR sports.
20:30
Good evening, welcome back. This is the PCR Sports Show on
20:32
PCR FM. We're here every Friday 6 till 7
20:35
bringing the latest Sports News from in and around our city of
20:39
Peterborough. If you have missed the first
20:41
half an hour or so of the show, you can listen back using the
20:45
online through the website whichispcrfm.co.uk or just go to
20:50
the PCR FM app and you'll be able to listen back to the show
20:55
this evening. We're talking to the City of
20:59
Peterborough Swimming Club this evening and they've had some
21:01
encouraging news, shall we say, about proposed plans for a new
21:05
25 metre, 8 lane swimming pool and associated facilities within
21:11
our city, where the hope could be that the pool is open by 2028
21:17
and there's plenty of work to be done ahead of that potential
21:21
opening date. But despite all that, the City
21:25
of Peterborough Swimming Club have enjoyed lots of success
21:28
away from the pool in Peterborough.
21:32
They've been using the Manor Leisure Centre over in
21:35
Whittlesey and no doubt they're very grateful to have that space
21:38
available to them for the success that they've been
21:41
having. We're very grateful.
21:43
We've got 14 year old Emily from the club with us this evening
21:47
and Emily swimming. You love it.
21:52
You've been talking to us about it off air.
21:54
What does it give to you? What do you enjoy so much about
21:57
swimming? Like when we spend so much time
22:00
at school, like kids my age, that swimming is one of those
22:04
sports where we get to go to everyday.
22:06
And if you love it so much, then you will enjoy going to it
22:10
everyday and it gives you like a space to just escape whatever
22:13
happened at like school or whatever.
22:17
But yeah, it's just a way to get out of what's happening around
22:21
you, yeah. And in terms of the early
22:24
mornings, because I've talked to Morgan previously about the
22:28
discipline that needs to go in to be a swimmer, do you cope
22:32
with those early morning swim sessions?
22:34
Honestly I sleep in the car on the way there.
22:37
Genuinely, it does not get easier as however many times you
22:40
do it, but it does make me feel more productive when I go to
22:44
school and then go swimming in the evening.
22:46
It makes me feel like I have done a lot in that day, yeah.
22:50
So how long have you been swimming?
22:51
When did you start swimming? So I started COPS around the age
22:55
of 7 and I have not stopped. I have continuing stayed at the
22:59
club. I have grown at the club.
23:03
I did swimming before I went to COPS and then at COPS is also
23:10
giving me an opportunity to do open water outside.
23:14
Rather you than me, and open water swimming is obviously
23:20
different. What's the difference between
23:23
open water swimming and swimming in a pool for you?
23:26
Open water is a lot more of I would say stress free
23:30
environment. Some people would say it
23:32
increases your stress with the temperatures, but I feel like
23:38
the longer distances give me a bit of Peace of Mind, if you
23:42
know what I mean. I can set into a rhythm without
23:44
having to worry about have I gone quick enough, if you know
23:49
what I mean. Like I can change the race.
23:51
Perfect. And what sort of distances do
23:54
you swim at the moment? What sort of competition level
23:56
are you at and what medals have you won?
23:59
So I swim mostly the longer distances, so 800 meters, 1500
24:04
meters. And then I take part in the open
24:07
water seasons every season. Open water wise, two years in a
24:13
row I've reached the National Open Water Championships.
24:16
Brilliant where I did the 3K and the 5K. 5K of open water
24:21
swimming, Yes. How long did that take you if
24:23
you don't mind me asking? An.
24:24
Hour and 6 minutes. You were swimming for that long?
24:28
Yeah. And do you get to take a, A, a
24:30
break to take on water or anything like that?
24:33
Unfortunately not only. However, when you do reach the
24:36
7.5 you do get a break or a feeding station.
24:40
Wow. So 5K of open water swimming.
24:44
That's 3.1 miles, Nigel. I know, I know.
24:48
It's it's high water. It is.
24:50
I mean, I can run 3.1 miles, but I'm not sure I could.
24:53
Well, there's no chance of me swimming at 100 yards, let alone
24:55
3.1. But right.
24:58
So going back to the pool itself, did you ever swim at the
25:03
regional? Yes.
25:04
So you were at the club at that point?
25:06
I had a few. Years at the regional and we
25:08
loved it, genuinely. We do our mornings there, we do
25:11
our evenings there pretty much every single day.
25:13
We were at the regional and I sort of miss hosting
25:17
competitions there because there was so much spectator seating.
25:22
When you are that young and you see so many people watching you,
25:25
you feel like really proud of yourself that you're a big
25:28
competition. And so it was, it was nice and
25:31
there was so much space. Like we didn't have to worry
25:34
about if there was people on top of us or people diving on top of
25:37
us because we just comfortable there, you know what I mean?
25:41
So you're obviously grateful to be over at the Manor so you can
25:44
still continue swimming, but it does have its constraints.
25:47
But you know, as a club you're doing brilliantly.
25:50
Yeah. And what, what's the season hold
25:53
for you then going forward? What's you've got to meet
25:56
tomorrow? Yeah.
25:57
Nottingham hope this is our last chance to qualify for short
26:01
course regionals. OK.
26:03
And then what's? Short course, sorry.
26:05
You just talked 2525 meters, OK. Which will be hosted in Luton
26:10
and then hopefully aiming for either British or English
26:15
nationals in Nepal, which is 50 meters long course.
26:20
And then we've got, well, the season starts with mostly 25m
26:26
ball competitions and then as it goes on, what?
26:29
Do you need to do tomorrow then to qualify?
26:31
Tomorrow I need to go one minute and three seconds for 100
26:36
freestyle if I wanted to qualify for that event, but because it's
26:41
so early on in the season which the club's priority is processes
26:45
and how we're actually racing. Racing and your technique and
26:48
getting into this is, for the want of a better word, a little
26:51
bit of a pre season for you tomorrow just to try and hone
26:54
what you've been coached over the last few weeks and months
26:58
and years. Yeah, OK.
27:00
Morgan chances tomorrow. Good chance, Always a good
27:04
chance. Going with a positive attitude,
27:08
What should be good? What?
27:09
Sort of team are you taking tomorrow?
27:10
Is it a big team it. Is I don't it is a big team,
27:13
it'd be about two or three of our squads.
27:16
And the more I would say younger squads will be supporting the
27:19
March Marlins on Sunday. And so the the more it's not so
27:24
much an age group, but it's more the the higher, the the more
27:29
progressed swimmers who are going for those regional times.
27:32
This is kind of the last opportunity.
27:34
The deadline to submit for regionals is Monday nights.
27:37
This is the last weekend, the last meet available.
27:41
So that's that should be good. OK, but you've had some great
27:45
success as well. You sent some notes across to
27:48
me, but you've been reaching finals of every competition that
27:52
you could possibly have got to and some great commitment.
27:56
Absolutely sensational. Well, towards the end of the
27:58
last season we had a really strong GB Aquatics championship
28:03
in particular. We had 15 members go and swim
28:08
there. They reached 10 national finals.
28:13
We had a couple of really good performances.
28:15
Jacob Bacon got a couple of great medals and two swimmers
28:19
broke 2 club records. Joshua Zachary re broke his
28:22
previous record and Luke Tunstall broke a record that's
28:26
been in, it's been around for 16 years.
28:29
So he's 100m freestyle record was was a great result so.
28:34
Despite not having a home pull, the success that the club is
28:37
enjoying is just unparalleled. By the sounds of it, it is it's.
28:42
Absolutely credit to the coaching team and and in
28:46
particular our our two real paid members in Ben Negus, who's been
28:50
a coach now for 18 years at the club.
28:53
You know he's been promised a new pool for a number of years
28:57
if anyone can. You cut the ribbon.
28:59
Can you be the first one to dive in?
29:00
But. He's definitely going in first
29:03
and and the wider coaching team, many of which are volunteers,
29:06
give up their time and and support as well as all our
29:09
parents supporting their kids who do the to do all the
29:13
training and do the travelling and the cost.
29:15
It's not an easy sport to to continue with.
29:22
And so I think it's just credit to everyone who's been flexible
29:24
and supporting what we've had to do.
29:26
Travel a lot more, go to smaller pools.
29:29
You know, some of the pools that are under pressure aren't as
29:33
many lanes. You know, Jack Hunt is only a
29:35
four lane pool. So as Emily was highlighting,
29:38
when you're training early in the morning and you're trying to
29:41
get the best as as many swimmers to progress and they're all
29:44
jammed in four lanes, 8 lanes all of a sudden becomes a bit of
29:48
a dream. Just going back to at the very
29:52
early stages here, how do how does somebody get involved in
29:55
the Culps? You have training sessions, you
29:58
have opportunities for children to come along.
30:01
First thing is they've got to learn to swim.
30:03
Most important because we're a competitive swimming club.
30:07
We're not, we don't. We have an Academy squad that we
30:10
can help accelerate those that come in towards the end of their
30:14
qualifications. So they're around levels seven
30:16
and eight of their qualification.
30:19
And then, yeah, we host, we have some great contacts with the
30:22
local schools. I think it's brilliant that the
30:24
local schools organise to take some of their children to the
30:27
pool. It's become much harder without
30:29
the regional and that's a real shame.
30:31
There's quite a lot of children that are on a long wait list and
30:34
learn to swim. That's a real problem for the
30:35
city. And then we host a number of
30:38
open evenings where the children are invited to come over to one
30:42
of the facilities that we're offering and we we use some of
30:45
our training time and they can come and give it a go.
30:47
They come and meet the coaches, they can have an listen to what
30:51
some of that coaching is about how the sort of techniques that
30:54
we're going to focus on and come and give it a try and hopefully
30:58
come and join us. And that's been a a big part of
31:00
our survival in increasing our numbers and growing our
31:04
membership. There is that's another
31:06
challenge when you don't have the pool space, but it's.
31:08
About giving that opportunity and the first and foremost isn't
31:11
it, you know, and if there is swimmers out there with that
31:15
sign of potential, then there's opportunity to take it further
31:19
if they wish to, if they. Wish to and you know, we promote
31:21
check us out on Facebook, follow us.
31:23
We share the dates of those open evenings.
31:26
We do connect with this local schools and the other swimming
31:30
clubs swim schools because we like to share if those coaches,
31:34
they're very helpful at saying I think this this this
31:37
individual's got something special and is really enjoying
31:39
it. We want them to make sure they
31:40
know there's an option for them to carry on with that passion
31:43
and that dedication. We're very committed to raising
31:46
young adults as well as hopefully future, future
31:50
athletes and Olympians. Fingers crossed, fingers crossed
31:53
that there will be somebody from the City of Peterborough
31:56
Swimming Club that reaches that aim right.
31:59
We're just going to take another short break but we'll be back
32:02
with Amelie and Morgan from the City of Peterborough Swimming
32:05
Club just after these messages. You're listening to PCR sports.
32:19
Welcome back, you are listening to the PCR Sports Show here on
32:22
PCR FM. Our guests this evening are the
32:25
City of Peterborough Swimming Club.
32:28
When in the first part of the show we were just talking about
32:30
new proposals to build a new 8 lane 25 metre pool and
32:36
associated facilities for our city with the hope that it could
32:41
open by 2028. And what it would do not just
32:44
for swimming but the economy and the extra influx of people into
32:50
our city with having our own first class facility.
32:55
We've also got 14 year old Amelie in the studio with us
32:57
this evening. She's been talking about a
32:59
swimming career to date and you're swimming Amelie.
33:02
It's not just in the pool, but it's very much open water.
33:05
And you're just saying off air how much you enjoy open water
33:08
swimming. Yeah, I love.
33:10
It especially like the cold water and it gives you the
33:14
longer races give you so much more time to set into a rhythm.
33:18
And the feeling once you complete a long race like a 5K
33:22
or A3K is so good when you feel so accomplished that you've just
33:27
swam that far in that amount of time.
33:29
And does that aid you when you're doing your short course
33:32
swimming as well? Then because you've built up
33:34
that endurance level effectively doing a shorter swim, you feel
33:38
like you've got that within you to do.
33:41
Yeah. Especially this shoulder
33:43
strength. When we're swimming freestyle
33:46
for so long, our arms have to get used to swimming for that
33:50
long. And especially like our entire
33:52
body. So when we get back into the
33:53
pool, we can swim for longer and we can swim faster for longer.
33:57
Yeah. I still can't get over the fact
34:00
that you're swimming like 5K, which is like 3.1 miles in open
34:05
water swimming the technique, you know, we'll come on to that.
34:10
But in terms of just fuelling yourself, you know, you're
34:12
training in the morning, you're training after school.
34:14
That's a lot of calories you're taking on board, no doubt.
34:17
I eat before morning training, then after morning training,
34:21
before school, then after school, before evening training,
34:25
then after evening training as well.
34:28
And what does that consist of? What we, what we what we're
34:30
talking about here? We're not talking sweet cereal,
34:32
chocolate, are we? Potentially sometimes.
34:37
So before morning training it's more just filling myself up
34:40
because when you're after sleeping you didn't, as you
34:45
know, you probably have nothing left in your stomach.
34:47
So getting full before a 2 hour swim is not easy.
34:53
So I probably will have yogurt or porridge, something that will
34:57
really fill me up. And then after swimming, I've
35:00
kind of burnt all of that often. So yeah, I mean your.
35:04
Second breakfast similar. Thing toast, bagels, yoghurt and
35:09
then after school I have a pot lunch because we have 20 minutes
35:14
to get to the next pool straight from school.
35:17
So sandwich, all that sort of stuff.
35:20
And then I have like a full dinner after training.
35:24
So like last night we had Curry and rice.
35:27
It was really good. You're making me hungry now with
35:30
this, with a sense of a Korean rice, definitely.
35:34
How do you fit all that in? You know around you, your
35:37
schoolwork, your homework, socializing with your friends
35:40
and just being Amelie and 14 years old.
35:43
So it's definitely difficult and I have like, especially when I
35:47
was younger, understanding that maybe some days I cannot go out
35:51
with my friends because I do have training was not the
35:54
easiest thing to get over. But now that my timetable has
35:58
set into a rhythm with swimming, I do have some nights off.
36:02
I have a Wednesday and a Sunday and that's good.
36:04
Of your coach, yeah. I have to make sure that I do
36:07
get my homework done in that time and not save it to the last
36:10
minute and just I have to, whether I want to do it or not,
36:13
I have got to get it done, yeah. Because that just makes you, you
36:16
know, as a rounded athlete, effectively, you know, swimming.
36:19
You've certainly got a huge passion for it.
36:21
I can see the smile on your face when you talk about swimming.
36:24
You do swimming every minute of the day if you could.
36:26
Yeah, I would. I totally would.
36:29
Do a bit of running as well, yeah, Cross country, yeah.
36:32
Today we went to Cambridge and we did the England schools cross
36:36
country. That was nice because it was not
36:40
more individual, it was more as a team.
36:42
So it wasn't if you did have a bad race and it wasn't really
36:46
put on yourself, you could. Everyone contributed to the
36:49
school, that's their points. So you love your sport, by the
36:51
sounds of it. What do you fancy doing, You
36:55
know, once you leave school? 18, definitely, yeah.
36:59
Running. Swimming, running.
37:00
Swimming and I do play. I'm starting to get into tennis.
37:03
I really like tennis, so whenever we get a free weekend,
37:06
me and dad go book a court and we play.
37:09
So it's yeah, I love sport. Wonderful to hear.
37:12
So you certainly like being active, to say the least.
37:15
Definitely. Yeah.
37:16
Brilliant stuff, Morgan. Emily, I guess just typifies
37:21
what happens across the club, you know, these young children
37:25
dedicating being disciplined, giving up their social time with
37:29
their friends to really push themselves as far as they can
37:33
potentially go and wish to go within the world of swimming.
37:36
Yeah. Absolutely.
37:37
I mean, it's great that they form such great friendships
37:41
because of the intensity of the time they spend together.
37:44
But that discipline and that relentlessness and it's so, so
37:48
good to see how they utilize that from a sport passion.
37:53
And then they bring that to their further education.
37:55
We see a lot of swimmers go off to university and then when they
37:57
bring it to their careers, then, you know, we always say we're
38:01
not just, we're not just, you know, we dream of seeing
38:03
national, international athletes, but really what we're
38:07
really looking for is great, great human beings.
38:10
And, and the club's been driven to deliver that for nearly 90
38:15
years. So we we wanted that to
38:16
continue. We plan to celebrate 90 years.
38:20
Yeah, we are. Emily's shaking her head and
38:22
they're saying yes. She's nodding her head in
38:24
approval. Conversations again, meeting new
38:27
people through the opportunity to get into the plans of the new
38:31
pool. We've, we've met with the
38:32
friends of Lido and Claire and the team there have been really
38:35
welcoming and we want to see what we can do together and try
38:39
and make some noise across the city that the building of the
38:42
Lido is absolutely gorgeous and it's something that we should be
38:45
very proud of. It's got a lot of architectural
38:47
heritage. And I think, you know, the, the
38:50
sun hopefully will be shining around May and that if if it is
38:53
that weekend, hopefully we get some great, I'm sure we will
38:56
great support from the Pittsby City Council in having a really
39:00
good party of some kind. It's almost like you need
39:02
something else to do rather than getting a new pool, isn't it?
39:06
You know you need another job to organise all that we can.
39:08
Get 51 million people there with apparently.
39:11
That would also be fabulous as well.
39:14
Just going back to the new pool. I mean, what would that do for
39:16
the club quickly, you know, to sum it up, and not just for the
39:20
club, for the city. From your perspective,
39:22
absolutely. Which is why I think, you know,
39:23
being in a city centre location in the heart of the city with
39:27
the Lido as a as a, as a neighbor and being part of the,
39:31
the, the sporting extension of the what they're doing at the
39:34
university. I just think it's A to have that
39:37
as a reality in not that far away feels a long time.
39:41
It's, it's, it's not, it's almost as far away as what we've
39:45
done without the regional. And so that's the reality, the
39:48
pragmatic reality that the city needs to really focus on
39:51
delivering rather than talking like what ifs because we need it
39:56
now. We've already had a generation
39:58
of children missing out on potentially not learning to
40:01
swim. So for us it's huge.
40:03
It will it will enable another gear change to the club's
40:07
success because it gives us space to grow in terms of
40:10
numbers. And the skills and the impact
40:13
we're having on the on the swimmers that we.
40:14
Have today, it's almost everything, isn't it?
40:16
Because the you've done amazingly well to carry on this
40:20
long with our pool, but it's not sustainable, is there?
40:23
It's not. Sustainable, not sustainable.
40:24
It's very difficult financially to move across multiple pools.
40:27
This this could, you know, absolutely be the foundation of
40:30
the next 90 years for this club and the impact it has on this
40:34
city. And I think it would be a
40:36
phenomenal facility in this plan for Peterborough.
40:40
Wonderful Morgan Amelie City of Peter Swimming Club We wish you
40:44
every success starting off tomorrow though first in your
40:48
short course competition and hopefully you will meet that
40:53
time of one minute 3 seconds, 63 seconds is the goal tomorrow.
40:59
Fingers crossed, thank. You.
41:00
For having us, not a problem and we look forward to having you
41:03
back on the show in the coming weeks and months to tell us more
41:06
about the success the club is having and hopefully the
41:09
progress that we're making towards a new pool and
41:12
associated facilities. Not just for the City of
41:14
Peterborough Swimming Club, but more importantly for the wider
41:17
city and this region that we live in and breathe in.
41:21
Nigel, thank you very much again for your time this evening.
41:24
Much appreciated. And whatever your plans this
41:27
weekend, whatever your involvement in sport, whether
41:30
it's volunteering, playing or spectating, we do wish you a
41:33
very successful and enjoyable sporting weekend.