Camden Swiss Cottage swimmers enjoyed success at national championships

A SUCCESSFUL squad made up of swimmers from across Camden and Islington have dived back into the pool following a deserved break.

Young swim stars from Camden Swiss Cottage Swimming Club will be looking to build on their previous performances, which saw them cap off a memorable season with a series of unprecedented swims at two national championship meets.

Ellie Simmonds, Ally Larson, Brandon Biss, Lauren Brantley, Leo He, Charlotte Hyde, Alexis Lambropoulos, Ella McEver, Leah O’Connell, Jackson Olin, Anna Podurgiel, Georgina Winters and Grace Wylie all took to the pool for the British Summer Championships, which were held in Glasgow in July, after being ranked in the top 20 fastest swimmers in the UK in their respective age groups.

The club returned from the competition boasting a total of four medals having competed in 28 British national finals. Simmonds, 25, won gold in the 400m freestyle, while Larson, 19, made three trips to the podium, finishing second in the 200m butterfly and third in the 200m and 400m individual medleys.

An action-packed summer also saw a squad head to Sheffield to compete in the Swim England National Summer Meet, returning home with five medals after reaching 15 English national finals.

Donatas Dragasius, 15, won gold in the 1,500m freestyle, while teammate Charlotte Hyde, 17, won gold in the 100m breaststroke.

Yann Divet, 16, and Leah O’Connell, 17, both won silver medals after finishing second in their respective 800m freestyle and 100m freestyle races.

Alexis Lambropoulos, 15, finished things off with a third-place finish in the 100m freestyle.

Other talented young swimmers from the club who reached English national finals were Ella McEver, Jackson Olin, Drew Dill, Georgina Winters, Alexander Chen and Oliver Wright.

And the success didn’t stop there, with a strong contingent from Camden Swiss Cottage winning a mighty medal haul at the Swim Wales National Summer Meet, which were held in Swansea.

Lucas Bohm won gold medals in the 50m freestyle and the 50m and 100m breaststroke.

The 12-year-old also scooped a silver medal in the 200m breaststroke.

There were also silver medals for teammates Leonardo Brero and William Chen.

Brero, 12, finished second in the 800m freestyle and the 400m individual medley, while Chen, 15, finished in second spot in the 200m backstroke.

There were also bronze medals for Nick Finch, 13, in both the 50m backstroke and the 50m butterfly, Damian Miceta, 12, in the 100m breaststroke, and Grace Wylie, 18, in the 200m backstroke.