NATIONAL ARENA SWIMMING LEAGUE GRAND FINALS (UK)
- Saturday, March 7th & Sunday, March 8th
- Cardiff International Pool, Cardiff, UK
- 50m (LCM)
- SwimSwam Preview
- Results
- Live Stream
The 51st edition of the National Arena Swimming League’s Grand Finals took place this weekend at Cardiff International Pool, with the lower 10 teams competing for the B-Final team trophy on Saturday, March 7th.
As the UK’s premier competitive swimming league, the NASL pits Olympians against club swimmers in a thrilling team format. The organization is made up of 6 leagues across England and Wales, with 333 teams representing East Midlands, London, North West, South, Western and West Midlands.
The City of Cardiff wound up on top of the B-Final trophy standings, amassing a total of 368 points to hold off runners-up Swansea Aquatics and third-place finisher Camden Swiss.
| Place | Team | Points |
| 1. | Co Cardiff | 368 |
| 2. | Swansea Aq | 309 |
| 3. | Camden Swiss | 306 |
| 4. | Chelsea&West | 286 |
| 5. | RTW Monson | 277 |
| 6. | Thanet Swim | 265 |
| 7. | Co Cambridge | 258 |
| 8. | Co Oxford | 252 |
| 9. | Preston | 238 |
| 10. | Boldmere | 189 |
Harriet Jones & Xavier Castelli, courtesy of Allan Thornton
Both the top male and female swimmers from the B-Final affair stemmed from the City of Cardiff, as Xavier Castelli and Harriet Jones each took home MVP honors.
Castelli earned 836 FINA points for his 100m back performance, which resulted in a time of 55.03 to take the gold in that event along with the 200mIM (2:01.86).
Jones’ 100m fly performance garnered her the most FINA points at 799, with the Cardiff athlete posting a winning effort of 59.77. She also took the 100m free win in 57.88.
On the team victory, City of Cardiff head coach Graham Wardell, commented, “I’m delighted for our team who just missed out on a place in the Cup Final.
“It’s a great team event for everyone joyed racing for their club and today was a tight competition all the way through and across all the age groups.
“Delighted for Xavier, who at the age of 30 is still winning great and enjoying being involved with the team event, Harriet also a really great swim today, for both of them is a few more weeks of preparation before trials and we’ll see what they can do in London.”
