Swim club keep it in the family (From Penarth Times)

Swim club keep it in the family

PENARTH SWIMMING Club head coach Andrew Kean had special reason to be delighted with the efforts of his swimmers when the annual club championships were held at Cogan Leisure Centre.

Two days of competition produced many exciting races and countless lifetime-best performances from Penarth's many talented youngsters, while proud Dad Andrew was also able to enjoy a notable family double.

Daughter Sophie walked away with the trophy as overall age group champion after winning four out of five events in the girls 15-and-under, while son Michael took the honours in the boys 16-and-over age group after a close-run battle with Tom Troth.

Welsh national finalist Lucy White was dominant in the senior girls events, completing a clean sweep in the 16-and-over finals and adding three further victories in the 200m open races. All this just weeks after Lucy was rushed into hospital to have her appendix removed - imagine what she could do when fully fit!

The championships also highlighted the strength Penarth possesses in the junior ranks, with no fewer than 29 individual swims achieving qualification times for this summer's Welsh Age Group Championships in Swansea.

The policy of bringing youngsters through into the senior squad coaching set-up is clearly paying dividends, with the likes of Alice Davies, Lauren Hughes, Alex Thau, Frances Bowerman and sisters Rachel and Rebecca Salvidge all making big strides in the nine-and-unders.

A special word, too, for champion-of-the future Jessica Clements who must be one of the youngest swimmers ever to make a club final. Three days short of her seventh birthday, Jessica, who has already represented Penarth at Diddy League level, took on girls two or three years her senior in the 50m front crawl and fully deserved her finalists' ribbon - the first of many.

Older brother Sam was top boy in the nine-and-unders, while Adrian Curtis, Gareth Thomas, Edward Bennett and Michael Kean were the other boys' age group champions.

Joining Sophie Kean and Lucy White as girls' age group champions were Rachel Salvidge, Rachel Lane and Emma James, who also swam brilliantly to win the 200m open breaststroke.

Other gold medallists included: Joshua Rowe, Joshua Hole, Alice Davies, Jack David, Dafydd ap Glyn, Dominic Jackson, Felicity Davies, Tim Miller, John Butterworth, Alex Bennett, Rebecca Thomas, Steven Lane and Tom Troth.

However, not everyone can be a winner on the day. Alex Claxton, for instance, underwent a heart operation a year ago yet improved his best time by 23 seconds to take silver in the 15-and-under 100m butterfly - an example to us all.

A full list of results will be published in next week's Penarth Times.