Christmas has come early for two of Clevedon Swimming Club's younger swimmers! Both have achieved the marvellous distinction of having two British Age Group best times confirmed on the official British Swimming Rankings. Olivia Richardson tops the GB rankings in the 200m Breastroke, achieved at the Welsh Capital Open in Cardiff and the 50m Breaststroke, achieved at the Avalon Open held at Millfield. Amelia Chappell's two current records were set in the 50m Backstroke and 50m Butterfly both at the Welsh Capital Open. All the times are in the olympic, long course, distance and for the 9 and under age group.

Clevedon, sponsored by Bristol Hotspring Limited, have never had an age group record and to gain 4 best times so close together is a massive fillip for the club and a sign that the Club has arrived on the national stage. The entire club is very proud of these two youngsters and is expecting great things from them in the future.

The Welsh Capital Open had entrants from 43 clubs from near and far,  Wales , Oxford , Essex, Somerset , Ireland , Gloucester were all represented

Friday saw the start of 3 long days racing at Cardiff ’s International 50m 10 lane pool and the meet kicked off with an impressive swim in the 800m Freestyle by Megan Finnie smashing an incredible 20secs off her pb.

Saturday morning at 7:45 saw our swimmers starting the 2nd day with a very early warm-up. Gold medal in the 50m Backstroke in session one was matched with another gold in the 50m Butterfly by Amelia Chappell (both in fastest times swum this year by a 9 year old), whilst sister Ellie achieved a gold for her age groups 50m Backstroke and silver in the 50m Butterfly. Steph Reynolds also won silver in her age groups 50m backstroke, gaining a District qualification time in the process.

Sunday and another early start, saw medals for Olivia Richardson (silver 50m Freestyle, gold 50m Breastroke & 200m Breaststroke), Ellie Chappell (gold 200m Backstroke, silver 100m Backstroke), Erika Mason (bronze 50m Breaststroke) and district QT’s set by Lizzie Warnes 400m Individual Medley, Rebecca Parsons 200m Freestyle and Steph Reynolds in the 50m Butterfly & 50m Freestyle.

A total of 57 pb’s were achieved by the 19 swimmers taking part in the meet.

Just to proove that the squad don't just turn it on when swimming as individuals in prestigeous Open events. The Mini Seris squad have also performed superbly in a recent gala. Not for the first time this season, Clevedon's youngster were beaten into second place by a tough Soundwell outfit, but outdistanced all the other local clubs by a significant margin.

Final positions and points were:

Soundwell - 283         

Clevedon - 223 

Bristol Penguins - 185

Bristol Central - 142                               

Bishopsworth - 137      

Bristol North - 129

Winning swims came from: Laura Hearn, Daniel Jones, Amelia Chappell, Ellie Chappell (2) and Matt Bray, In the relays, victories came from: Gabriel Jones, David Warnes, Charlie Durnell, Robert Jones, Guy Prideaux (2), Ben Horner (2), Matt Bray (2) and Lee Hicks (2). 

Personal Bests came from Lee Hicks (2), Ella Cemlyn-Jones, Guy Prideaux, Bridie King, David Warnes, George Symonds, Abi Sudol, Amelia Chappell (2), Simeon Howlett, Ellen Gentry and Elena Crossan 

Star swimmers were Ellie Chappell for two first places in her individual races and Guy Prideaux for great swimming in a higher age group and to both swimmers for being great team players.

Amelia Chappel (l) and Olivia Richardson (r)