SKIPTON Swimming Club squad swimmers Paige Fenton and Ned Sharp had the most amazing opportunity to attend an offshore camp and international competition in Dubai 6 to 13 February 2022 as part of their Diploma.

This was the first away camp for the course in more than two years. Hamilton Aquatics in Dubai, one of the nations’ most prestigious swimming clubs, welcomed the group of 90 talented athletes for three days of high-performance training followed by three days of racing at the Middle East Open and Junior Championships (MEOJC).

The camp and competition were held in The Hamdan Sports Complex. The highlight of the camp was the competition where both Fenton and Sharp were successful enough to compete in many finals for their events.

Sharp was victorious in the 50m butterfly achieving a PB of 24.96 and contested an extremely close race adding a silver medal to his gold in 100m butterfly with a further PB of 54.95. He also achieved the finals for 200 butterfly coming ninth. In addition, Sharp competed in the 50m, 100m & 200m freestyle events. Fenton competed in the 50m freestyle event, 50m & 100m butterfly achieving a PB in the 50m event with a time of 29.68 and also coming ninth in the 100m butterfly final. She also raced the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke coming seventh, seventh and eighth respectively in the finals. Both of them agreed that it was a fantastic experience; it was “full-on” in terms of education and training and was their first taste of international competition racing for their country.