SKIPTON Swimming Club lived up to their strapline ‘Small Club, Big Talent’ at this year’s Yorkshire Swimming Championships with an impressive haul of 40 medals, including 10 golds.
More than 20 youngsters from the club qualified for the prestigious championships, held over three weekends at John Charles Centre for Sport in Leeds and Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield.
Leading the way in the medals tally was 16-year-old Jack Jenkinson, who now also coaches youngsters at the club.
He took five gold medals in his individual events to become Yorkshire County Champion in 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle and 100m butterfly.
He also took silver in the 50m and 200m butterfly, 400m Individual Medley (IM) and bronze in the 200m IM.
Sam Smith took home eight medals in his individual events, including gold in 50m butterfly, silver in 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle and 100m and 200m butterfly and 400m IM and bronze in the 200m IM.
Rohan Smith and Fenn Turner were also crowned county champions in the 100m and 50m breaststrike respectively and the age 15-16 boys team, comprising of Sean Smith, Keelan Beehan, Sam Smith and Jack Jenkinson, triumphed with two further golds in their medley and free relay events.
Siblings Poppy and Stanley Dunne qualified for 26 events between them, reaching 17 finals, with the latter securing four silvers and a bronze.
Other individual medallists included Ned Sharp, Will Oliver, Sean Smith, Keelan Beehan, Zak Sheriff and Paige Fenton.
New qualifiers also took to the water, gaining a coveted place in the Skipton squad, including Milly Timbers, Lily Oddy and Izzy Wright.
They swam alongside further county qualifiers Harvey Pennington, Roan Sheriff, Niall Smith, Joe Burgess, Harry Cockburn, Archie Appleby, Kaye Fenton, Lily Pratt, Ruby Byrne and Amelia Redfearn.
Numerous club records were broken during the competition and Ned Sharp, Paige Fenton, Rohan Smith, Jack Jenkinson and Sam Smith all qualified for the British Swimming Championships next month.
Skipton Swimming Club head coach Ian Scrivin said: “We are so proud of the way all our swimmers represented Skipton SC at such a high level – these are prestigious long course county championships with tough competition from qualifiers throughout Yorkshire.
“We may be a small club but when it comes to talent, dedication and hard work we commit in a big way, and it pays off time and again. We look forward to the continued success of our members.”
For more information about swimming with Skipton Swimming Club, please visit their website skiptonsc.co.uk
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here