Sliema swimmers strike success at 30th Easter International competition

The 30th Easter International Swimming Competition proved successful for Sliema BMIT ASC as they placed first in the overall team medal rankings while breaking numerous meet records. The Local Swimming Club has dominated the Maltese swimming scene for the past five years.

The Easter Meet competition, organised by the ASA of Malta, is an annual event attracting international swimmers.

This year, 17 swimming clubs participated, making it one of the largest local competitions in recent years. Clubs from Germany, Italy and Poland were in full attendance.

The Sliema ASC swimmers, led by head coach Francesca Paollela, managed to tally 77 medals, including 32 gold medals, bringing overall success to the club, as Sliema ASC topped the club rankings in medal winnings.

Sliema ASC was the only Maltese team to finish above all International swim clubs at the Easter meet competition this year. 

Two of the Sliema ASC‘s top swimmers, Sasha Gatt and Dylan Cachia, established new Easter meet records. 

Gatt broke her previous record in the 1,500m freestyle by a full six seconds with a new time of 17:25.20, and Dylan Cachia lowered the previous Easter meet record set by Aleksandar Savic, in the 800m freestyle, with a time of 8:25.76.

Matthew Satariano, a young top squad swimmer from the Sliema ASC Academy, established an Age Group D Easter meet record in the 100m freestyle with a time of 55.35.

“Overall the club dominated the podium, with both male and female teams undefeated throughout the competition in every relay on the start list,” Sliema ASC said in a statement.

“The Club saw an outstanding amount of Personal Bests set throughout the competition from all age groups.”

Paolella spoke about the great achievements throughout the three-day meet as she described it as a “long, exhausting but extremely rewarding 3 days.”

“From juniors to seniors, swimmers got up on the blocks and gave their all throughout every performance. From a coaching perspective many goals were achieved and some still to be further improved.

“Our main focusis the Malta National Championships and to build on the performance and momentum of these Easter meets. It was also nice to see a true sense of unity between the team and not excluding the parents and volunteers who take time out of their lives to give their children the opportunity to train, race, perform and improve. Always proud of our team”

Meanwhile assistant head coach and technical coach Jeffrey Galea also expressed his satisfaction in the overall results.

“Having seen more academy and junior swimmers improving their Personal Bests and medaling on an international Level. He believes there is a promising future in the sport and is keen to devote his time to the Sliema ASC academy to improve prospects further,” he said.