Young Cardigan swimmer Dean James made a successful start in his first ever event in a 50 metre pool when he picked up two medals at the Swansea Legends meet recently.
Dean who was representing Cardigan Swimming Club at the Swansea pool won two bronze medals, one for 50m breaststroke and the other for his 100m individual medley.
Dean James was also in fine form when he and Ellie Griffiths (top pic) attended the Llanelli Autumn Open meet with young James coming home with four gold medals after winning the 100m backstroke, 100m individual medley, 50m breaststroke and 100m breaststroke and Ellie won a bronze medal for her 100m backstroke.
James joined up with fellow club members Ellie Griffiths, Gwilym Rees and Teleri Selby (not pictured) when representing the club at the Ceredigion Championship Gala and they all did well and ended up with a trophy. Dean won gold for age 11 boys, Ellie bronze for 10 year old girls and Gwilym silver in the age 9 boys category.
Gwilym was also awarded the Dave Jones trophy for the best individual swim at the gala for his individual medley race and overall performance on the day. The trophy was given by Dave Jones himself, a very well respected international level swimming official. The trophy was awarded jointly with Teleri another Cardigan swimmer, both of them a real credit to the coaches at the club.
CLUB INFO : Currently sessions are being held three nights a week for all ages and abilities. Children can start at the age of 4 and progress up the pool through their levels until they join our medal winning squad. If you have any enquiries about joining our friendly club contact Louise Rees by email on louise.rees0@icloud.com
Pembrokeshire swimmers impress at Nationals.
Four of the best young swimmers in Pembrokeshire were part of a West Wales team that competed in last month’s National County Team Championships.
Tomos Webb (16), Charlotte Whalley (12), Sean Barrett (14) and Arabella Haley (15) travelled to Sheffield Ponds Forge international pool to swim against the best in Britain.
The four are members of the Pembrokeshire County Swimming (PCS) squad and were selected to represent the West Wales region, which includes Swansea and as far east as Bridgend.
The West Wales team was led by Craig Nelson, head coach of PCS, and Sam Jones, assistant development coach of PCS.
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.
Jones said: “It was a hard day of racing in Sheffield, but we have a talented set of swimmers who gave everything. It is also good to see PCS so well represented and flying the Pembrokeshire flag for the region.”
Barrett, from Haverfordwest Seals, stepped up an age group to finish 19th in the 100m breaststroke in the 14/15 year old class in a time of 1:12.36. The young Seal also swam in the boys 13/14 years 200m medley relay on the breastroke leg, clocking a time of 33.02. The relay team finished 16th with a time of 1:54.66.
Webb, also from the Seals, finished 19th in the 16/17 year old 100m butterfly with a respectable time of 1:01.78.
The Haverfordwest teenager was also part of the 16/17 year old 200m medley relay team. He swam the 50m butterfly leg of the relay in a time of 27.81, helping the West Wales team to a 17th place finish in a respectable time of 1:52.18.
Whalley, another member of the Seals, grabbed 13th place in the 100m backstroke in the 12/13 year group in a time of 1:09.06. She also got the girls 12/13 years 200m medley relay team off to a flying start, with a 50m backstroke time of 31.03 that saw the team secure 13th place.
Haley, from Tenby Dolphins, chalked up a 16th place finish in the 100m backstroke in the 14/15 year age group in a time of 1:07.25.
The Tenby swimmer also swam the backstroke leg for West Wales in the medley relay, with a 31.70 time to help the team finish in 2:04.03.
Swim Wales West finished the inter-counties gala in 20th spot with 187 points, aided by the four PCS members. The championships was won by a strong Yorkshire team, with 544 points.
Nelson added: “The West Wales team put their heart and soul into their swims to get points of the board for the team. I would like to thank the swimmers, coaching team and team managers for all their hard work.”
