NATIONAL & BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIPS: Medals and records galore for Deepings

The Deepings Swimming Club national squad left to right: Bailie Harrison, Isabel Spinley, Louis Metselaar, Chloe Jones, Ben Beedell and Tom Adams. (Alex Wray not pictured)

The seven swimmers competed in 16 events at the two championships, which took place on consecutive weeks at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield from July 25 to August 6.

Sixteen-year-old Isabel Spinley led the way at the British Summer Championships winning silver in the 100m butterfly final and bronze in the 200m butterfly final. In both events, she swam new club and Lincolnshire county records.

Spinley also made the final of the 50m butterfly, finishing just outside the medals in fifth, after swimming yet another new club and county record in the heats.

Deepings’ front crawl superstar Alex Wray, now swimming for Loughborough University, won bronze in the 50m freestyle before anchoring the 4x100 relay team to gold. He also made the 100m freestyle final, finishing eighth with a new personal best.

Tom Adams and Bailie Harrison also put in outstanding performances at the British Championships. Adams made the final of the 100m butterfly, finishing eighth in a new club and county record of 59.71 seconds – the first time the record for 15-year-olds has dipped below one minute. He was just outside his personal best in the 50m butterfly, finishing 18th in his age group.

Harrison also narrowly missed her personal best in the 50m butterfly, but swam strongly to finish a creditable 16th in her age group.

Spinley, Harrison and Adams also competed at the England National Summer Meet, where they were joined by Louis Metselaar, Ben Beedell and Chloe Jones.

The team enjoyed another exceptional competition. Metselaar, swimming in his first national meet, won bronze in the 100m breaststroke with a new club record and finished sixth in the 50m breaststroke with another club record.

Adams followed up his British Championships medal-winning performance with a bronze in the 200m butterfly after smashing the club record. Beedell also competed in the 200m butterfly but narrowly missed the final in his first national swim.

Spinley finished just outside the medals in the 400m individual medley, in fourth with a new pb, while Harrison was eighth in the final of the 100m butterfly, just outside her best time.

Jones competed in the England Nationals for the first time and produced an excellent performance in the 800m freestyle, finishing eighth.

Lynn Chapman, Deepings SC head coach, said: “This has been our best-ever summer nationals. Our swimmers prepared well and each one performed at an exceptional level over the two weeks. I am immensely proud of all of them. They deserve their summer break and then the hard work starts again in September as we look to get them to the winter nationals.”