Wyre Forest Swimming Club [WFSC] broke all their own records, with 44 swimmers competing in 265 events over the three weekends; this was an increase of over 30% on 2019. But the success did not end at the numbers, as the team brought home 3 senior titles with Tegan Hands winning the women’s 1500 free, Rob Darbyshire winning the Men’s 200 Free title and Nathaniel Crowther winning the Men’s 200m Backcrawl title. In fact, WFSC won all three senior medals in the women’s 1500 Free with Hands 1st, Ruth Hadley 2nd and Mollie Kilgour 3rd.
The trophies kept on coming with a further 6 Junior Titles being picked up as Joel Hands won the boys 1500 free, Tegan also won the Junior 1500 Free, Martha Stead won both the 100m & 200m back crawl junior titles whilst Girls Captain Jasmin Yates took home both the 100m & 200m Butterfly junior trophies.
In total WFSC swimmers took home a total of 115 medals as 29 age group titles were won.
A full list of medallists can be found on the WFSC website at www.wfsc.org.uk however the age champions were
12 years Brecon Westwood 100, 400 & 800m Free, 100m Breaststroke
Lily Colley 1500 Freestyle
13 years Lillie Grover 200,400m Free, 50,100 & 200 Back, 50,100 & 200 Fly
Isabella Hoare 800, 1500 Free
14 years Ryan Bloomer 1500m Free
15 Years Joel Hands 1500m Free
Mollie Kilgour 1500m Free
Tegan Hands 1500m Free (plus Senior & Junior Champion), 200 IM*
Martha Stead 100, 200m Backcrawl (Junior Champion in both)
Jasmin Yates 100, 200m Butterfly (Junior Champion in both)
16 years Jeremy Summers 400, 1500 Free
17 years+ Ruth Hadley 1500 Free
Rob Darbyshire 200 Free (plus Senior Champion)
Nathaniel Crowther 200 Backcrawl (plus Senior Champion)
(*IM = Individual Medley)
Key stories:
For one family there was double celebration for twins Joel and Tegan Hands who not only won their respective male & female 15-year-old age group 1500 Freestyle but also the overall Junior titles. Tegan was also the overall winner of the event for females, with Wyre Forest taking a clean sweep winning the top three places as Ruth Hadley came second and Mollie Kilgour took 3rd.
Jasmin Yates success came after two years battling shoulder injuries and saw her recording massive personal bests to win her two titles, leading to emotional scenes in the stands.
Overall Wyre Forest came home as 3rd Club on points at the Championships, their highest ever finish