All of the hard work since City of Ely Swimming Club’s move to the Hive has paid off with incredibly strong performances at the Cambridgeshire ASA County Swimming Championships held over the last month in Whittlesey and Cambridge.
Maximillian Veiga was crowned Top 12 Year Old Boy and Iona Trainer Top 16 Year Old Girl. Iona won 7 Gold, 2 Silver and 4 Bronze medals reaching 8 sprint finals and Max won 7 Golds, 2 Silvers and 2 Bronze medals winning 7 sprint finals.
Ely’s swimmers impressively gained further Eastern Region qualifying times such that by the end of the County Championships Iona Trainer, Daniel Kendall Georgia Holgate and Maximillian Veiga each have numerous times for the Regional Championships starting in May. Thomas Alderton and Tia Hill have also qualified and special mention goes to Hannah Turner, Amelie Hawksley and Georgia Holgate achieving their first Eastern Regional qualifying times.
Overall Ely’s team of 32 swimmers competing in individual events finished 3rd out of the 9 competing Cambridgeshire clubs, a rise in position on 2018. Achievements included 18 Gold medals, 13 Silver medals, 14 Bronze medals, many new Eastern Region qualifying times and over 100 Personal Bests.
As well as Iona and Maximilian, the medal winners were Georgia Holgate (2 Gold, 4 Silver and 3 Bronze), Sarah Hardiment (1 Gold and 2 Bronze), Daniel Kendall (4 Silver), Inez Trainer (1 Gold), Lexi Harrison (1 Silver), Tia Hill (2 Bronze) and Amelie Hawksley (1 Bronze). Other swimmers qualifying to swim individually for Ely at the County Championships were Kendle Putter, Mienke Putter, Maxim Manokhin, Roman Manokhin, Robert Banwell, Jake Challenger, Alex Millard, Daniel Millard, Hannah Turner, George Sporle, Jennifer Holland, Oliver Davey, Orla Harrison, Bryony-Rose Brodie, Olivia Brodie, Grace Stevenson, Isabella Pillow, Kaci Gibson, Amber Lloyd, Enya Freimantaite, Finley Jones, Emil Kwiecien and Adrian Kwiecien.
The final events of the Championships were Sunday’s team relays at Parkside Pools Cambridge which saw some exciting racing. Swimmers joining their teammates for Sunday’s relays were Jake Dunham, Tom Ryan, Phoebe Bishop, Nathan Okoro, Thomas Alderton, Ella Dunham, Dominic Jones, Derrell Jackson, Ellie Staines, Jessica Hill, Joslyn Carter, Breanna Kehren, Harriet Smith and Mark Banwell.
Head coach Elaine Hill expressing her pride in her swimmers said “We have had such strong swims across all age groups at the club and it has been particularly satisfying to see so many of our young swimmers qualifying to attend Counties for the first time, others achieving their first regional times and Iona and Max gaining their individual age group wins and all of the swimmers enjoying themselves so much when swimming together for the final session of team relays. Many thanks for all officials and volunteers from the Club who made our entry possible. Congratulations to everyone.”
Press release from City of Ely Swimming Club
