Watford Swimming Club make a big splash at County Championships

An impressive 62 swimmers from Watford headed to the 2023 Swim England Hertfordshire County Championships in Borehamwood returning with an impressive stash of medals. The swimmers from Watford smashed personal best times at the event that stretched over 3 weekends, returning to Watford with an impressive haul of 134 medals. The swimmers, aged from 9 to 19, grabbed 49 golds, 44 silvers and 41 bronzes as they reaffirmed their position as a leading club in the region. To cap these achievements a number of swimmers were also awarded county age group trophies;  Boys 16+: Benjamin Taggart (7th); Girls 16+: Amy Harper (6th), Chloe Simpson (8th); Boys 15: Raffy May (1st); Girls 15: Angelica Lazauskaite (5th); Boys 14: William Harris (2nd); Karson Chan (3rd); Boys 13: Gabriel Taggart (3rd); Felipe Irvine (5th); Boys 12: Constantine Calliafas (2nd): Boys 10/11: Monty Brewster (1st); Max Perry (3rd); Girls 10/11: Isabelle Cowie (2nd); Esmee Hui (5th).

The success at the Championships was also a celebration for all the members of the club who, through their dedication to training, have helped create an environment that encourages young swimmers to enjoy the sport and develop long lasting friendships. 

The last few years have been challenging for many local sports clubs, and the results at the County Championships are testament to the dedication of the young swimmers and coaches at Watford. These recent set of results come on the back of a successful period for the club. At the back-end of 2022, Watford reinforced its position in the Premier Division of the London Region of the National Arena Swimming League. Moving into 2023 the club is looking to build on this success and has announced the appointment of Jamie Irvine as Head Coach and Tom Sullivanas the Junior Competitive Squad Coach. Both have an impressive track recording in coaching and will be joining Watford’s established team of coaches Claire Houchin, Josie Hoare and Alan Coldwell. 

Chairman of Watford Swimming Club Gareth Harper is proud of the achievements and is eager to emphasise it’s a team effort that has helped create an environment that allows the swimmers to excel: “We are a very supportive club and it is so wonderful to see our swimmers achieve 134 medals at the County Championships. We want to build on this success but also maintain an environment that enables local children to compete at all different levels of competition, whether it’s club championships, local galas, county championships, regionals or nationals. The appointments of Jamie and Tom to our already experienced coaching team are key to Watford Swimming Club providing expert swimming coaching for local children from Watford and the surrounding areas.”

Watford Swimming Club is actively seeking new members across all its junior, senior, masters and open water swimming squads. For more information please contact the membership team via email: [email protected]