College Swimmers Take 25 Medals At ISA National Swimming Championships
16 Dec
Princethorpe College is celebrating after pupils had a super successful outing at the Independent School Association’s National Swimming Championships. Together pupils brought home 12 Gold medals, 8 Silver medals and 5 Bronze medals, an incredible haul!
A team of nine swimmers had qualified to swim for the Midlands team at the Regional Finals in October and on Saturday 3 December they travelled down to the London Aquatics Centre at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to take part.
Year 7, Issey Cleary was on fine form taking a Gold medal in the Year 7 50m Breaststroke in 39.36 seconds and a Silver in the Year 7 50m Butterfly in 37.21. Stephanie Bolton did nearly as well earning herself two Silver medals after finishing in second place in the Year 7 50m Backstroke in 35.81 and in the 50m Freestyle in 31.35. Both girls then swam for the Midlands team in the 4x50m Medley Relay helping the team finish in first place for a Gold medal in a team time of 2.24.94 minutes and then the 4x50m Freestyle Relay where they also took the Gold in a team time of 2.10.29.
Year 8 Charlotte Gower brought home a Silver and a Bronze medal after finishing in second place in the Year 8 50m Backstroke in 35.42 seconds and in third place in the Year 8 50m Freestyle in 30.53. Year 8, Tara Rodgers also won herself a Silver medal in the Year 8 50m Butterfly in 33.36 seconds. Together the girls swam for the Midlands team in the Year 8 4x50m Medley Relay finishing third for another bronze medal each in a team time of 2.24.94 minutes. Charlotte then swam in the Year 8 4x50m Freestyle Relay helping her team finish in 2.07.79 and earning herself another Bronze medal.
Year 10, André Onyekwe swam superbly in four events and came away with three Gold medals and one Silver. In the Year 9&10 100m Freestyle he finished in first place in a time of 56.67 seconds, while in the Year 9&10 100m Backstroke he took the Gold in 1.06.62 minutes. Then in the Year 9&10 4x50m Freestyle Relay he helped his team to first place in a team time of 1.47.49 and finally in the Year 9&10 4x50m Medley Relay another strong swim helped the team finish second in a team time of 2.06.34. Year 10, Harrison Guest joined André in the Medley Relay, swimming the Breaststroke leg and earning himself a Silver medal too, to add to his Bronze medal from the Year 9&10 100m Breaststroke where he finished third in 1.24.50.
In the senior races, Year 11, Lottie Hunter claimed a Gold medal in the Year 11-13 100m Freestyle finishing the course in 1.02.57 minutes and then took a second Gold when she helped the Midlands team finish first in the 4x50m Freestyle Relay in a team time of 1.57.96 minutes. Year 12, Connor Silvester earned himself a Silver medal in the 4x50m Freestyle Relay in a team time of 1.45.24.
Together pupils’ medal winning performances helped the Midlands team finish in second place overall at the national event.
Foundation Director of Sport, Lee Cassell, was delighted and said, "Our swimmers have traditionally done well in the ISA Swimming Championships, and they have had another really successful outing this year. Well done to everyone who competed in both the National Championships and in the qualifying regional competitions."