City of Peterborough Swimming Club celebrated another outstanding year in the pool with an international star

Mini award winner Ben Piscopo with guest of honour Michael Gunning.

COPs head coach Ben Negus said: “After two years of continued changes, challenges and lots of new ground for all, it was a breath of fresh air to come together as a family and celebrate the hard work that our members, families and volunteers have put in to keep our club on track and thriving again.

“It was evident from the reaction to Michael’s speech, our members are open minded and raring to get the most out of their swimming journeys. Awards night was just an excellent celebration of that.”

COPs chairman Nathan Griffiths added: “It was a wonderful to be able to have an awards evening and get the whole club together to celebrate some amazing achievements, recognise some brilliant contributions and enjoy spending time with each other and having some fun. This is what being part of COPs is all about.

COPs female swimmer of the year Hannah Willis with Michael Gunning.

“The insight into Michael Gunning’s career as a Jamaican 200 Butterfly specialist heading for the Commonwealth Games and personal journey was also truly insightful and inspirational and we were really lucky to have been able to have him come and talk to us.’

COPs award winners for 2021: Performance: Harriet Salisbury. Age Group performance: Weronika Mikolajewski. Competitive Plus: Kieran Griffin & Jemima Tuffnell. Junior Performance: Emma Cushion.

Development 1: Alfie Larham. Development 2: Alannah Leadbitter. Competitive & Masters: Jaia Bull.

Mini 1: Ben Piscopo. Mini 2: Makyala Makaka. Most Improved Male: Daniel Moyes. Most Improved Female: Jess Shaw. Male Swimmer of the Year: Fabian Brudnicki. Female Swimmer of the Year: Hannah Willis. Volunteer of the Year: Anna Bertou-Bridges. Official of the Year: Jane Leigh. Highly commended: Sam Gyselings & Jem Borgognoni.