Junior swimmers in the medals:
- Fishguard Flyer Carys Thomas the 2nd fastest from Wales in 5k Open water swim
- Louisa Twigg of Haverfordwest 1st Welsh swimmer home in 3 k race.
Young swimmers from across Pembrokeshire made a splash in the pool this summer at several national events.
Members of the county swimming squad grabbed an impressive five gold medals, nine silver and 11 bronze at the Swim Wales Summer Nationals in Swansea.
The Pembrokeshire County Swimming (PCS) squad was up against the best young swimmers from across Britain over the course of the week-long gala.
PCS is a partnership between Pembrokeshire County Council and the county’s six competitive swimming clubs – Haverfordwest Seals; Fishguard Flyers; Pembroke & District; Tenby Dolphins; Milford Tigers; and Preseli Panthers. It provides talented young swimmers with a recognised coaching pathway through to national and international level competitions.
Sam Jones, assistant development coach at Pembrokeshire County Swimming, said: “I am very proud of everyone who represented the county at these meets. There were lots of medals and lots of great swims and it shows the huge amount of talent we have in the county.”
Louisa Twigg, 15, swam a lifetime best to win gold in the 200m individual medley (IM) in a time of 2:27.74. The young Haverfordwest swimmer followed this up with gold in the 400m freestyle. Charlotte Whalley, 12, bagged two golds – in the 100m freestyle and 50m backstroke. Tomas Webb, 16, also won gold in the 100 breast stroke in a time of 1:10.75.
There were a lot of strong swims outside the medals, as squad members came in the top 8 on 47 occasions.
Younger PCS members, aged 10 and 11, competed in the corresponding Development Meet. They won one silver medal and attained seven top 8 finishes.
Elsewhere this summer, Louisa Twigg competed in the British Summer Championship in Sheffield, where she came 15th in the 400m IM.
A small, but talented, group of PCS swimmers also competed in the Open Water Championship in Sheffield. Against some of the strongest age group swimmers in the UK, PCS members put in a strong performance.
Carys Thomas of Fishguard Flyers competed in the 17/18 year old 5 kilometre race, finishing 7th overall and was the second fastest Welsh swimmer.
Twigg also finished 8th (1st Welsh swimmer) in the 3km race for 15 year olds. Whalley was 17th (1st Welsh swimmer) among 12 year olds over the 1.5km course, while her PCS teammate Bethan Jones finished 21st among 13 year olds over the same distance.