Welcome to our news & updates April edition – again another busy month at the NOVA camp with various end of cycle target meets, along with the Aquatics GB Championships and of course final preparations for the upcoming East Midlands Long Course Championships… However busy and full on is just how we like it!
April Highlights | Racing
April saw the NOVA Centurion army take to the pool at the London Aquatic Centre, attending the London Legacy Meet. This was a first time meet for us and definitely one we will be back too! A strong squad of swimmers from the Performance and National teams saw a very high PB rate over the 3 days of swimming. With plenty of opportunities to final, the meet created great racing experience for swimmers to try to go even faster in the evening finals, which they sure did!
Our younger squads took to the pool at Leeds for their last meet of the cycle in preparation for Regionals. Again, a super strong showing saw lots of swimmers making finals, giving them brilliant race experience, and swimming even faster in the evening saw our swimmers taking home some lovely bling. We also saw swimmers securing some fabulous times on the interim rankings for summer nationals. Very exciting times ahead.
All Eyes on London | Aquatics GB Championships
We are very proud of the group of swimmers who qualified for the Aquatics GB Championships. For some it was their first competing at such a high-level meet.
Representing NOVA were:
- Lily Jackson-Oates – 100 & 200 Breaststroke, 200 & 400 IM
- Cira Fletcher – 50, 100 & 200 Breaststroke, 200 IM
- Tyler Tombs – 50, 100 & 200 Breaststroke
- Joe Greaves – 200 IM, 200 Freestyle
- Pippa Hickman – 100 & 200 Breaststroke
- Dan Walker – 1500 Freestyle
- Freya Jones – 1500 Freestyle
- Maya Almohammed – 50 Butterfly
With the programme going from strength to strength we are looking forward to seeing what we can achieve in 2026.
Trial Time | New Swimmers Alert
It’s that time of the year again when we open up our development squads for trials. Over a period of 2 weeks our coaches saw nearly 20 swimmers’ trial for a place at either Nottingham or Mansfield. We want to thank all the base clubs that continue to work with us to help progress and support swimmers to be the best they can be in Nottinghamshire, the emerging talent that is coming through is very exciting and we’re really looking forward to working with the newly invited swimmers and clubs.
Food for Thought | Nutrition Talk
We were very lucky in April to have the fabulous Tiffany Williams pop over to Harvey Hadden to talk to our Regional and National Development Squads all things food related.
Tiffany is a registered Performance Nutritionist with extensive experience in supporting elite athletes across various sports. Early days of her career were spent learning her trade under the guidance of British Swimming’s Head Nutritionist & Physical Performance Lead, Richard Chessor, at the Loughborough National Centre, where she supported lead coaches Mel Marshall & Dave Hemmings and their respective training groups. Since moving on from British Swimming, Tiffany has worked with talented swimmers from across the UK and Dubai, delivering group nutrition workshops for Clubs and swim camps, as well as providing individual support for families. In recent years, Tiffany has also expanded her horizons to work with other types of elite athletes, including Premier League footballers, Formula 1 drivers and ultra-endurance athletes.
Not only did Tiffany talk all things food related but she bought some incredible homemade snacks for the swimmers (and parents) to try.
Stay fast, stay focused
Team NOVA
