Swimming

THE final day of the Kent County Swimming Championships brought 26 swimmers from Sevenoaks Swimming Club out for their last day of excitement in the relay galas at Gillingham.

The squads were as follows: under 12: Ellen Willumsen, Ellen Benn, Charlotte Coxon, Emily Lobely, Hugo Caven, William Luckham-Down, Fred Biggs and Ben Earl; age 13-14: Gabby Norris, Lindsay Sawyer, Katie Lobely, Emily Skinner, Chloe Rouse, Alexander Robbins, Patrick Ham, Joseph Choong and Ben Van Leeuwen; 15-16: Sarah Hickey, AJ Airey, Caroline Gloyne, Emily Cast, Katie Hoskin, Xander Alari-Williams, Ford Curran, Angus Wyatt and Leandre Stevens.

Competing across these four age groups and in an open category of under 16, the squads made every single final, apart from one girls' and one boys' team, where they were first reserve.

This is the best set of results the club has ever had.

The boys' 13/14 team were second in both the medley and freestyle events and only pipped to the post by Beckenham, the top club in the county.

The girls' 15/16 medley and boys' under-16 medley were also both in silver medal position, again beaten only by Beckenham.

In a very exciting fingertip finish, the girls' 15/16 freestyle squad made it into third place, while a two-second better time was enough for fourth place in the girls' under-16 race.

The boys' 15/16 medley squad were also in fourth position.

The boys' under-12 and 15/16 free-stylers both managed fifth place.

The girls' under-12 team, making the finals in both freestyle and medley for the first time, both came sixth and were all delighted to come away with two medals each. All four girls swam personal-best times in all their splits.

The girls' 13/14 group were sixth in their medley and the under-16 medley team were also in sixth place.

Many of the swimmers in the upper age group were finishing one race, only to dive straight back in for another one.

Joseph Choong and Patrick Ham swam in the 13/14 teams and the under-16 teams, churning out an amazing number of fast times with no drop in speed, as did Ford Curran and Xander Alari-Williams in both the 15/16 and under-16 squads.

Sarah Hickey, AJ Airey, Emily Cast and Caroline Gloyne were in all the 15/16 and under-16 races and put up sterling performances in each and every one.