WARRINGTON'S swimmers raised a cheer during the British Championships in Sheffield.
Kathleen Dawson and James Guy won medals in open finals, Tyler Melbourne-Smith achieved two top-five placings and there was joy for Warriors of Warrington at junior level in the flagship domestic swimming event which plays a key role in the selection process for July's World Aquatics Championships in Japan.
Former Warriors star Dawson, the European 100m backstroke record holder who is working her way back to her best, collected bronze for University of Sterling.
A blistering start from European medallist Medi Harris (Swim Wales High Performance Centre) steered her to the gold, holding firm for the victory despite the best efforts of Loughborough University's Lauren Cox to claw back into the lead.
Tokyo Olympics relay gold medallist Dawson, a former student at Great Sankey High School, progressed on her morning’s qualifying time to follow the pair in closely.
Fellow Tokyo 2020 relay hero Guy was among the highest quality company in Sunday's showstopping men's 200m freestyle final, which brought the curtain down on six days of racing.
The four-lap contest featured four Olympic champions and seven Olympians overall, including Guy's Tokyo gold-medal winning 4x200m freestyle teammates Tom Dean, Matt Richards and Duncan Scott.
Bath Performance Centre swimmer Guy, who studied at Cardinal Newman High School during the time he lived in Warrington, finished with a bronze to add to the silver he won earlier in the week in the 100m butterfly.
Bath Performance Centre man Dean led at the first turn from lane four, with the entire field hot on his heels.
Guy did not let his teammate have it all his own way though, as he maintained his presence in second place by going stroke for stroke with the reigning Olympic champion in the event as the race reached the halfway stage.
University of Stirling’s Scott kept with the leaders throughout the race from what proved to be a difficult lane one, but it was Richards (Millfield) who made his mark down the third length – moving himself up into second place and blowing the race wide open ahead of the final length.
Breathing away from Richards, Dean’s strong pace dropped challenges from Guy and Scott as the length progressed, but it was Richards who stole the show by taking inches out of Dean’s lead with every passing stroke before ultimately sealing the win and qualifying for this summer’s World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka with a time of 1:44.83.
Dean’s performance was enough for a clear silver medal as he also went under the qualifying time with a time of 1:44.93.
Guy took the bronze and Scott finished in fourth place – the pair making consideration times with 1:45.85 and 1:45.90 respectively, as a sign of the ongoing world-class strength in this field.
Guy's 100m fly silver came on a day when his training partner Jacob Peters was too good and took gold.
Peters was full of praise for his teammate.
“We're great teammates, great friends," he said.
"I've been racing him for a while now and it's nice to say I've eventually got one up on him, but it's far from over - we'll be racing each other again this summer and fighting each other for those relay spots," said Jacob.
“But to be honest, I couldn't ask for a better competitor and training partner."
Former Warriors of Warrington starlet Tyler Melbourne-Smith, who went into the championships not ruling out a late bid for the 2024 Paris Olympics, came home fourth in the 1500m freestyle and fifth in the 400m freestyle final.
The 17-year-old, who now competes for City of Liverpool, cleaned up at the Swim England National Winter Championships in December, romping to six golds over 400, 800, and 1500 metres across both junior and open freestyle categories.
He also added junior 200m freestyle silver to his burgeoning collection of medals.
“My targets right now are to qualify for the European Juniors and the Youth Commonwealth Games, I have not really looked into medalling too much," said Melbourne-Smith.
“Long-term, I definitely want to go to the Olympics. 2028 is a definite target, 2024 is way too early to call.
“The chances aren’t big, but I will see what I can do. You never know what happens; I can’t shut out that possibility.”
The teenager, who was named Swim Wales Junior Performance Athlete of the Year, is a product of a childhood spent in the water almost from birth, after his parents encouraged him to learn to swim after swapping Warrington for Dubai when he was just three weeks old.
A move back to the north west followed seven years later, but Melbourne-Smith’s unfailing love for the water remained.
“I got into swimming just for safety, as there are a lot of beaches and my parents wanted me to learn how to swim,” he said.
“I just loved the water, and my parents got me swimming at a club, and ever since then I have just stuck at it.
“As long as I can remember I have been pretty good, since I was seven or eight, I have always been up there.
“I have never played any other sports. I watch a lot of other sports, but I don’t play them.”
Warriors had seven of their current swimmers competing at the British Swimming Championships.
Joseph Ashley came second in the 200m breaststroke junior final, and in a new 14-year age group British record 2.20.11.
Sophie Weston swam under the European Junior Championships qualification time for 200m backstroke in the final.
Additionally, Kerrie Hennie, Lauren Jones, and Payton Chesters competed in the 1500m freestyle while Matty Warburton and George Daintith achieved lifetime bests in their respective 1500m swims.
LiveWire and Warriors are actively seeking young athletes to develop their competitive talent.
Parents of any child over six-years-old whose child can already swim one pool length (free, back and breast) should contact Darren Ashley at headcoach@swimwarriors.org.uk to arrange a trial at LiveWire Woolston Hub on a Wednesday evening.
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