Swimmers in the fast lane!
Club returns from county championships with a huge medal haul
Thursday, 8th February — By Steve Barnett
Camden Swiss Cottage swimmers in Hillingdon for the Middlesex County Championships
SPEEDY young swimmers from Camden Swiss Cottage Swimming Club enjoyed an avalanche of success at the Middlesex County Championships, returning home with no fewer than 55 medals.
The super-squads, made up of youngsters ranging from nine to 16 years old, also recorded a plethora of personal bests and even smashed a couple of club records at the showpiece, which was held in Hillingdon and the London Aquatics Centre in Stratford over back-to-back weekends.
Ellie Zobel
Competing across distances from 50m to 1,500m, the swim stars poured onto the podium, race after race, as they added 14 golds, 18 silvers and 23 bronze medals to the club’s already overwhelming list of honours.
Praising the youngsters for all their efforts, team manager Tom Watson said: “Superb results. So proud of everyone who took part, particularly our youngest swimmers, many of which had never raced long course before.”
Llewellyn Porter
Among the top pool performers in the competition was Finn Mathers, who struck gold in the 100m and 200m butterfly, the 400m individual medley and the 800m freestyle. Isabella Thanassoulas also grabbed multiple golds, winning the 200m and 400m individual medley and the 100m freestyle.
Nine-year-old Laurence da Silva bagged a bronze in the 200m breaststroke to make him the club’s youngest medal winner in the 10/11 age category, while Thor Frost and Olivia Mason, both aged 10, were among the young swimmers who marked their first long-course races by bringing back bronzes.
Alex Thanassoulas
February is still fresh and already members from Camden Swiss Cottage are making waves in 2024. The mighty medal haul at the Middlesex County Championships arrived hot on the heels of unrivalled success at the prestigious Derby Excel meet, which was held in Sheffield last month.
Laurence da Silva
In total, the club’s swimmers collectively secured 66 medals – consisting of 27 golds, 19 silvers and 20 bronzes.
Incredibly, 18 of those gold medals sparked a sibling celebration, with Eleanor Porter topping the podium 10 times with wins in the 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle, the 200m and 400m individual medley, the 50m, 100m and 200m butterfly and the 200m backstroke, while her brother, Llewellyn, secured eight golds, touching home first in the 50m, 100m and 400m freestyle, the 50m, 100m and 200m butterfly, and the 200m and 400m individual medley.
Camden Swiss Cottage won 55 medals after competing over two weekends
Llewellyn’s success continues an unstoppable streak that also recently saw the talented swimmer clock a series of impressive records. Competing at the Swim England Winter Championships in December, the 15-year-old won the 200m individual medley in 2:00.69 to set a new British and English junior short course record, while he also won the 400m freestyle in 03:54.04, which was a new English junior short-course record.
Results…
Gold
Isabella Thanassoulas, 200m & 400m individual medley & 100m freestyle; Alex Nicorici, 50m butterfly; Finn Mathers, 100m & 200m butterfly, 400m individual medley & 800m freestyle; Henry Gillam, 800m freestyle; Daisy Maclean, 200m butterfly; Bianca Jamal, 100m backstroke; Dahlia Bonfiglio, 200m backstroke; Marina Kennedy, 100m breaststroke; Martin Vermaat, 200m freestyle
Silver
Finn Mathers, 400m freestyle; Henry Gillam, 400m & 1,500m freestyle & 200m butterfly; Eleanor Porter, 800m freestyle; Daisy Maclean, 800m freestyle; Amir Jelbaoui, 50m butterfly; Isabella Thanassoulas, 400m freestyle; Victor Gould, 200m individual medley; Carmen Biss, 100m & 200m breaststroke; Jade Trincano, 400m individual medley; Keira Osorio, 200m butterfly; Bianca Jamal, 100m freestyle; Alex Thanassoulas, 1,500m freestyle; Alex Nicorici, 100m butterfly; Olivia Mason, 100m breaststroke; Ellie Zobel, 1,500m freestyle
Bronze
Laurence da Silva, 200m breaststroke; Sauren Singh, 400m freestyle; Olivia Mason, 50m backstroke, 100m freestyle & 200m individual medley; Tess Jackson, 200m individual medley; Amy Fielding, 800m freestyle; Finn Mathers, 200m individual medley & 200m freestyle; Liam Ardill, 50m backstroke; Amir Jelbaoui, 50m backstroke, 50m freestyle & 100m butterfly; Eva Chamorro, 200m breaststroke; Alex Nicorici, 50m freestyle; Jason Gholami, 200m backstroke; Thor Frost, 100m butterfly; Maya Fitzhardinge, 200m backstroke; Luc Bonfiglio, 200m butterfly; Jade Trincano, 100m breaststroke; Ashley-Jane Ang, 1,500m freestyle; Victor Gould, 200m freestyle; Evie Tran, 100m butterfly
Derby Excel Meet (pictured)
Gold
Eleanor Porter, 50m, 100m, 200m & 400m freestyle, 200m & 400m individual medley, 50m, 100m & 200m butterfly & 200m backstroke; Llewellyn Porter, 50m, 100m & 400m freestyle, 50m, 100m & 200m butterfly, 200m & 400m individual medley; Nina Morii, 50m & 200m breaststroke; Jemima da Silva, 100m breaststroke; Marina Kennedy, 200m breaststroke; Charlotte Shao, 50m breaststroke; Martin Vermaat, 100m & 200m breaststroke; Ines Guimond-Beetham, 400m individual medley; Atai Parnes Molcho, 50m breaststroke
Silver
Amy Fielding, 100m & 400m freestyle, 50m backstroke & 200m individual medley; Martin Vermaat, 200m & 400m individual medley, 200m butterfly & 400m freestyle; Jemima da Silva, 50m & 200m breaststroke; Ines Guimond-Beetham, 200m breaststroke, 200m backstroke & 200m freestyle; Nina Morii, 200m individual medley; Olivia Zobek, 50m breaststroke; Vincent Wun, 100m & 200m breaststroke; Llewellyn Porter, 100m breaststroke; Lucy Fielding, 200m butterfly
Bronze
Nina Morii, 200m & 400m freestyle, 400m individual medley; Lucy Fielding, 100m butterfly, 200m & 400m individual medley; Lulu Hurcombe, 50m breaststroke; Bianca Jamal, 50m backstroke; Marina Kennedy, 200m individual medley; Eva Ondrejkova, 50m breaststroke & 50m freestyle; Martin Vermaat, 50m butterfly & 200m backstroke; Amy Fielding, 100m & 200m backstroke, 400m individual medley; Leon Biss, 50m & 200m backstroke; Ines Guimond-Beetham, 200m butterfly; Victor Gould, 50m breaststroke
