WARRIORS of Warrington swimmers brought home a glut of medals from home nations championships.

Seven club members succeeded in the invitational Swim England Summer National Meet in Sheffield, with Alex Watkinson, 17, Coral Farrell, 16, Dan Kinsella, 15, Matthew Domville, 21, Shannon Campbell, 18, and Lauren Sanders, 19, collecting medals.

READ: Warriors success at British Championships

Gabrielle Melbourne-Smith, 15, and her brother Tyler, 12, were two of the club’s British Championships qualifiers among the prizes at the Swim Wales National Summer Meet in Swansea.

 

Also, eight Warriors of Warrington national squad swimmers achieved qualifying times to enter the Swim Wales National Summer Meet on an open basis.

Performances by Dan Kinsella, Kyle Briars, 12, and Sophie Weston, 12, were rewarded with medals, while Millie Duncan, Natasha Gayter, 13, and Oliver Houghton, 20, reached finals, produced personal best times or delivered top-drawer displays.

Rhys Croasdale, 11, bagged medals in the Swim Wales Development Meet also.

“Following on from success at the British Championships the previous week, the swimmers have all continued to work hard and strive to achieve their best swimming in the home nations championships too,” said Darren Ashley, head coach of Warriors of Warrington, and head of Warrington’s Livewire Performance Squad Training Programme.

 

British Championships competitors

“To achieve 26 medals at home nations competitions with a squad of 17 swimmers is something to be really proud of.

“I’m delighted with the team’s performance and I know the swimmers are proud of themselves too!”

“This year has been a successful year for the club. The swimmers are working hard and progressing well. I’m looking forward to the next season commencing.”

Performances in detail:

Swim England Summer National Meet, Ponds Forge International Swimming Pool, Sheffield

Warriors of Warrington had a seven-strong team of English swimmers invited by Swim England to compete against the highest ranking swimmers in England:

 

From left, Alex Watkinson, Coral Farrell and Dan Kinsella

Alex Watkinson aged 17 achieved silver medal in the 200m IM final with a time of 2.08.64, he took the gold medal in the 50m backstroke final in 27.35, and swam a 2.05.42 in the 200m Butterfly winning the gold medal.

Coral Farrell aged 16 achieved 6th place in the women’s multi classification 100m breaststroke final with a personal best of 1.33.72, she came first in the MC open 200 IM heats with a time of 2.54.67 and went on to take the gold medal in the final in a personal best time of 2.52.42. Coral came 5th in the MC open 100m butterfly in 1.23.98, and 6th in the MC open 100m backstroke final in a swim of 1.21.17.

Dan Kinsella, aged 15 won the silver medal in the men’s 16 year 200 breaststroke final in a time of 2.29.98, and went on to win the gold medal in the 50 breaststroke final in a personal best time of 31.07.

Matthew Domville aged 21 took the gold medal in the 200m IM final in 2.03.75.

 

Matthew Domville

Shannon Campbell aged 18, came 17th in the open age group 200m Breaststroke in a time of 2.49.56. Millie Ravenscroft came 16th in the women’s 14 year 100m Breaststroke with a swim of 1.20.74.

Lauren Sanders aged 32 raced in the women’s multi classification open 100m freestyle claiming 24th place in a time of 1.48.63, she came 16th in the women’s open MC 100m breaststroke with 2.33.41, and achieved 18th position in the MC 400m freestyle with 7.46.35.

Swim Wales National Competition, Welsh National Pool, Swansea

Two of Warriors of Warrington’s British qualifiers were invited to compete. They train with Warriors all year but swim for their dual Welsh swimming club, City of Swansea Aquatics, at the Swim Wales meet. They were invited to swim at this national event due to their qualification times and high rankings within Swim Wales.

 

Gabrielle Melbourne-Smith and Tyler Melbourne-Smith

Gabrielle Melbourne-Smith aged 15, took the gold medal in the women’s 15 year 50m backstroke final with a time of 31.63, she achieved the gold medal in the 100m backstroke with a swim of 1.08.17. Gabrielle also won the gold medal in the 200m freestyle in a personal best time of 2.11.37, she went on to take the gold medal in the 400m freestyle in a personal best time of 4.39.98, and won the bronze medal in the 400 IM in 5.30.63.

Tyler Melbourne-Smith aged 12, won the gold medal in the men’s 13 year 50m butterfly in 28.92, he took the gold medal in the 100m butterfly final with a time of 1.03.36, achieved the gold medal in the 50m freestyle in 26.96. Tyler achieved the gold medal in a time of 2.06.75 in the 200m freestyle, he took the gold medal in the 400m freestyle in a time of 4.30.04. Tyler won the gold medal in the 800m freestyle in 9.08.50, he came 5th in the 100m backstroke final in 1.10.38, and he took the gold medal in the 200 IM in a personal best time of 2.24.19.

Swim Wales National Competition, Welsh National Pool, Swansea

Eight Warriors of Warrington national squad swimmers achieved qualifying times to also enter the Swim Wales National Meet on an 'open' basis, 'open' meaning the swimmers are not of Welsh nationality

 

From left to right: Kyle Briars, Dan Kinsella, Sophie Weston, Natasha Gayter and Millie Duncan

 

From left to right: Kyle Briars, Oliver Houghton, Niamh Wigglesworth, and Millie Duncan

Dan Kinsella aged 15, won the bronze medal in the men’s 15 year 100m freestyle final with a time of 56.04, and 5th place in the 100m butterfly final with a personal best of 1.02.96.

 

Dan Kinsella

Kyle Briars aged 12, took the silver medal in the men’s 12 year 1500m freestyle in 20.14.14, he came 8th in the 200 IM final with a time of 2.48.33, he ranked 3rd in the 400 IM winning the bronze medal in a personal best time of 5.52.57, he achieved 5th position in the 400m freestyle with a time of 5.11.44, he came 13th in the 200m freestyle with 2.32.87. Kyle swam a personal best time of 2.56.02 in the 200m breaststroke final giving him a 4th position, he achieved 5th place in the final of the 100m breaststroke with a of 1.25.28, and he narrowly missed out on a place in the 50m breaststroke final with 9th place with a personal best of 40.03.

 

Kyle Briars

Millie Duncan aged 12, came 11th in the women’s 12 year 50m back stroke with a time of 36.09, she came 8th in the 100m backstroke final with a time of 1.17.54, she achieved 8th place in the 200m backstroke final with a personal best time of 2.42.93, she swam a 32.27 in the 50m freestyle giving her 24th position, she came 13th in the 100m freestyle in 1.08.37. Millie ranked 19th in the 200m freestyle in a personal best time of 2.27.78, she swam a 10.35.14 coming 9th in the 800m freestyle, and took 9th place in the 1500m freestyle in 20.40.73, she came 23rd in the 200m IM in 2.51.81, and she swam a 5.50.54 in the 400m IM giving her a 12th ranking, she came 8th in the 50m butterfly final with a PB of 32.62, she came 9th in the 100m butterfly with 1.14.19, and achieved 5th place in the 200m butterfly final in 2.42.45.

Natasha Gayter aged 13, swam in the women’s 13 year 50m backstroke taking 13th place in a personal best time of 35.04, she achieved 7th position in the 200m backstroke final in a pb of 2.34.81, and 47th in the 200m freestyle with a time of 2.33.39.

Sophie Weston aged 12, came 8th in the women’s 12 year 100m breaststroke in 1.25.54, she marginally missed out on a place in the 200m breaststroke final with 9th place in a time of 3.04.54, Sophie took the gold medal in the 50m backstroke final with a PB of 34.00, and achieved the gold medal in the 100m backstroke with a personal best time of 1.12.59.

 

Sophie Weston

Oliver Houghton aged 20, came 7th in the men’s 17 years and over 200m freestyle final in 2.02.28, he achieved 5th place in the 50m backstroke final in 28.75, and came 7th in the 100m backstroke final in a time of 1.01.93.

Niamh Wigglesworth aged 12, achieved 10th position in the women’s 13 year 200m butterfly in a time of 2.53.31.

Swim Wales Development Meet

Specifically for swimmers aged 10 or 11.

Rhys Croasdale, aged 11, achieved silver medal in the men’s 11 year 200m freestyle heats in a time of 2.27.78, he took silver medal in the 200m IM heats with a swim of 2.51.21, he went on to take the gold medal in the 100m breaststroke heats in 1.33.89, and 6th in the 100m backstroke with 1.22.67.

 

Rhys Croasdale