In October 2020 Swim Wales, the National Governing Body for Aquatics in Wales, launched its first ever virtual competition as an alternative response to the usual swimming competitions which had all been cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The virtual competition provided opportunities for swimmers to compete against others in a Covid-19 conscious, safe environment and focus on their own competition goals and aspirations for coaches to assess the effectiveness of their training plans during and post-lockdown. The competition took place during the usual training sessions and were supported by a team of dedicated volunteers performing roles such as timekeepers, stroke judges and starter. 

Sixteen swimmers from Nofio Sir Gar swam a total of 115 races in the three rounds of the competition, which took place in October, November, and December and all performed very well amid tough competition, where most events attracted over 200 participants representing all areas of Wales. Forty-three of these swims gained top ten placings with a further twenty three gaining top twenty placings. 

Nofio Sir Gar coach, Austyn Shortman was delighted with the way the swimmers conducted themselves during this competition and noted that ‘all swimmers showed commitment to training and great resilience during the lockdown periods and their positive attitudes have paid off with the tremendous performances they have shown during this virtual competition’.  Nofio Sir Gar Chairman, Justin Cressey-Rodgers was thrilled with the performances of all swimmers who took part and believes that this provides a great platform from which to continue their development once lockdown measures relax in the future.