SKIPTON Swimming Club swimmers made a spectacular splash at this year’s British Swimming Championships, qualifying for 20 events, reaching five finals and coming home with a silver and a bronze medal.

Skipton’s Ned Sharp took the sensational silver in the Men’s Priority Paris 50m fly, narrowly missing out on the gold by just three one hundredths of a second at the prestigious national event at Ponds Forge International Pool, in Sheffield.

Both Sharp (19) and Paige Fenton (19) qualified for the Championships in 2020 and 2021, which were cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. They finally got their chance to swim this year, with Sharp qualifying for six events. He reached the Men’s Priority Pairs finals in the 100m and 50m fly, taking the bronze and silver respectively.

Fenton qualified for four events (50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke and 50m fly) in what was her first-time swimming in the open age category at national level.

Rohan Smith (17) competed in five events, swimming personal bests in all and reaching the finals of the junior 50m and 100m breaststroke and 50 m freestyle. An inspirational moment for Rohan was lining up in the call room for the 100m Breaststroke Junior final with triple Olympic champion Adam Peaty who, moments later, went on to be crowned British Champion in the senior 100m breaststroke final.

Rohan, a student at Ermysted’s Grammar School, is now in the top five in the GB rankings for his age in his three strongest events and will be going to France later this month to represent England in the World Schools Games.

At just 15, Jack Jenkinson was one of the youngest competitors at the British Championships. A fellow student at Ermysted’s Grammar School, Jack qualified for four events, the 200m and 400m free, 400m IM and 200m fly, swam personal bests in two events and broke four club records.

Sam Smith (14) qualified for the 50m fly but was unable to compete at the Championships this time, even though he trained hard and showed huge commitment and dedication to achieve the qualification time. He has been selected for Phase 2 of the Swim England National Development Programme. This face to face, poolside-based camp will focus on stroke efficiency and turn development and will provide an opportunity for young swimmers to be supported, inspired and to connect with each other in their quest to achieve senior international podium success. The event will take place later this month at Sandwell Aquatics Centre in Birmingham and Sam has been selected as a national cohort from the national rankings database.

Skipton Swimming Club head coach, Ian Scrivin said: “The performance our swimmers gave at the British Championships was nothing short of amazing. To have this many swimmers competing at this level from a relatively small club is testament to not only their hard work and dedication but the support given to them from across the club as a whole.

“They are a true inspiration, especially to the younger members of the club who look up to them and hope to follow them one day. Given the cancellation of the event for the past two years it has been even more special this year to see our swimmers back and competing at meets of this magnitude. I am so proud of their achievements and look forward to supporting them and the rest of our squad in preparing for their next set of events.”

For more information about swimming with Skipton Swimming Club please visit skiptonsc.co.uk