FIVE members of Frome Swimming Club qualified to swim in the regional championships held over two weekends in June at Millfield pool in Street and Hengrove Pool, Bristol.
Kameron Smith and Chandler Saer swam under Frome and Amy Gordon, Charlie Head and Henry Dixon swam under Aquae Sulis, the performance club in Bath, where they train alongside Olympian Stephanie Millward.
Chandler swam one event, the 200m fly, where he achieved a personal best time. Kameron made the finals in both the 100m and 200m breast stroke where he lined up against Charlie who also qualified for both finals, with Kameron placed 6th in the 200m and 4th in the 100m and Charlie took silver in the 200m and bronze in the 100m.
Charlie also earned a bronze in the 200m fly and made the top spot on the podium taking gold in both the 200m and 400m Individual Medley. Charlie has secured national qualifying times in all three events along with the 100 and 200 breast stroke and will be competing against the best young swimmers in the country at the National Championships in Sheffield at the end of July.
Joining him at Nationals will be team mate and fellow Frome member, Henry Dixon, who swam 6 events at Regionals and secured a 4th place, National qualifying time in the 400 freestyle, which he added to his 1500m freestyle qualification to take him to Sheffield with two events to swim.
Both boys are also key members of the Aquae Sulis Relay Team who have qualified for the national competition in 3 relay events.
Amy Gordon qualified for an impressive 11 events at Regionals and her best results were the 100m and 200m breast stroke where she was a finalist for both events coming 5th and 7th. She was also 4th in the 400m Individual Medley and came 12th out of 62 swimmers in the BAGCATS awarded to swimmers who take part in a variety of events and are awarded points based on their place and time.
Frome coach Susie Hann said, “To have swimmers from Frome not only qualifying for Regionals, but featuring in so many finals is a wonderful achievement. I wish Charlie and Henry the best of luck for Nationals and can’t wait to see what they can achieve.”
For further information about Frome Swimming Club please visit the web site www.fromeswimming .weebly.com
Swimming success for juniors
Frome girl Lily Hastings-McMahon aged 8, swam in her first ASA open meet at Torfaen Dolphins Performance Centre in Wales.
Lily swam in five events, managing to achieve a medal from each event.
Lily achieved one gold, one silver, and three bronze medals. The young swimmer trains regularly with the Frome Swimming Club, as well as twice a week with the transitional squad at Bath University. She joined the squad after completing a trial following her 8th birthday and hopes to swim for England once she reaches 9.
Harry Hastings-McMahon aged 7, also had a successful weekend, swimming in the Trowbridge Friendly Gala. Harry entered three events, managing to achieve a gold in each of his events too.
Both started swimming at a very young age and began one-to-one coaching at Frome as soon as they were able.