Dolphin Up with the Best at Regional Champs

Event: British Gas ASA South West Region Youth Championships 2011
Venue: Millfield
Date: 30th April to 2nd May 2011

Following the phenomenal success of Swindon Dolphin at the Wiltshire County Youth Championships in March, a squad of 25 were at Millfield last weekend for the British Gas South West Region Youth Championships finishing a creditable fifth in the overall medal table.

As expected, the Championships were dominated by the unsurpassable excellence of Plymouth Leander and Millfield who between them won well over half of the titles on offer. However, Swindon Dolphin were one of the few other competing clubs that broke their monopoly on medal positions and as in the county competition, outclassed the few other Wiltshire clubs that had also made the grade to regional standard.

Charlotte Pitts was Dolphins most successful swimmer, winning 2 gold medals in the 400m and 800m freestyle and only denied a further gold in the 200m event by Millfield’s British age group record holder Amelia Maughan.  Elizabeth Beckett also struck gold for Dolphin in the 200m breaststroke and picked up silver and bronze 100m and 50m breaststroke respectively.  Samantha Berry’s return to form continued as she fought and won a hard earned silver and bronze in the 200m and 100m butterfly.  Pitts, Beckett and Berry were joined by Megan Jones for the 4 x 200m freestyle relay and an exciting race saw them fend off Plymouth Leander A to take the bronze medal just behind winners Kelly College and runners up Millfield A.

Charlotte Pitts ~ Double Gold Medallist

Jon Audis deservedly achieved his main target of hitting his 100m backstroke national qualifying time with an impressively paced swim.  Leading into the competition, swimmers looking most likely to add their names to the list of Dolphin national qualifiers were Charlotte Pitts, Mathew Sambrook and Samantha Berry and all three came agonisingly close to booking their place at Sheffield with swims within just one percent of the mark.

Of the Dolphin contingent of 25, up from 15 last year, 12 swimmers made a total of 21 appearances in finals including multiple appearances on five occasions, a feat only also achieved by Plymouth, Millfield and Kelly College.  Dolphin’s constant presence was not only felt in the pool, but also in the poolside support given by coaches and swimmers and arguably showed the best show of support from any club.

Louise Clayton, Dolphin’s Chief Coach, commented “To finish 5th in the medal table in what is a very tough region is a testament to the dedication and hard work the swimmers and coaches have put in over the past year.  This is a fantastic achievement for all concerned and one that I think we should all take a lot of confidence from.”

Medals and Statistics