FIVE talented squad swimmers from Skipton Swimming Club have qualified to compete at the 2022 British Swimming Championships which is due to be held at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield this week, April 5-10.

The meet is a flagship domestic meet for British Swimming and will be used as a key selection meet for numerous senior and junior national teams for 2022.

The quintuple consists of 18-year-old Club Captains Ned Sharp and Paige Fenton, who study at Craven College and South Craven School respectively, Rohan Smith aged 17 and 15-year-olds Jack Jenkinson and Sam Smith who are all students at Ermysted’s Grammar School.

 Sharp will be racing in six events 50, 100 & 200m butterfly and 50, 100 & 200m freestyle; Fenton will be racing in the 50, 100 & 200m breaststroke, and 50m butterfly; Rohan Smith qualified for the 50m freestyle, 50m butterfly and 50, 100 & 200m breaststroke;  Jenkinson’s events are 200 & 400m freestyle, 200m butterfly and 400m IM and Samuel Smith qualified to race the 50m butterfly.

The 2022 meet is more inclusive when compared to the 2021 meet in Glasgow which was hugely scaled down due to the Pandemic; however, disappointingly, due to last minute session capacity limits, a restriction has been made on entry numbers for some events which has meant disappointingly Sam Smith is unable to compete on this occasion even though he trained hard and has shown dedication in order to be within the entry time.

To have these athletes representing Skipton Swimming Club is a massive achievement and one they should be proud of for they will be competing against athletes from the renowned National Swimming Centres and Swim England Performance Centres. The success of these swimmers is due to their passion for the sport, their determination and stamina for the relentless training required to be an elite athlete and of course to the superb coaching from the dedicated head coach Ian Scrivin supported by his coaching team and committee at Skipton Swimming Club.