This year, Clevedon Swimming Club managed to get 8 swimmers through to the Western Counties Championships at either Age Group or Youth Levels and last weekend these 8 swimmers were able to compete in the Western Counties Sprint Meet at Gloucester on Sunday 1st July.

All eight have performed magnificently to qualify for the premier West of England Championships and between them they put together an extraordinary performance in the Sprints. All swimmers were eligible to swim 50m at all four strokes and a 100m Individual Medley.

Steve Bowen, remarkably, gained a podium place in all five events! He won Silver for the 50m Freestyle and the 100m IM and Bronze in the other three. He set 4 PB's and finished overall second in his age group. Elena Ibal won three Gold Medals in Backstroke, Freestyle and the IM as well as a fourth place in the Butterfly. She set 1 PB and, but for a disqualification in the Breastroke, would surely have taken her overall age group championship. India Thomas was first in the Butterfly for her age group and 6th in Freestyle, breaking 4 PB's in the process. Jenni Gilbert also picked up a Gold medal for Fly and set 4 PB's including a stunning 6.50 sec reduction in her IM time. Hayley Burston took the Silver behind Elena in the Freestyle, with a PB, and was 6th in Breastroke. Amber Summerell is more of a distance swimmer than a sprinter, but still took Silver in the Breastroke, came 4th in the IM and set 4 PB's. Megan Prideaux won a silver medal in the Backstroke before a cruel slip on the side of the pool caused her to retire from the rest of the events. Chelsie Kirman set a very good PB in the Fly with a time of 33.78 seconds.

Overall, the squad brought back a record haul of medals - 5 Gold, 5 Silver and 3 Bronze. The whole club is very proud of their achievement.

Graham Feboul
Press Officer