Mount Kelly swimming ‘splashed it’ this summer, bringing home 91 medals (34 gold, 39 silver and 18 bronze) and demonstrated yet again that they are top of the UK swimming leader board, with some epic performances and swimming success.
The highlight of the season has seen Mount Kelly swimming athletes bringing home an impressive haul of 46 medals in the 2023 British Summer Championships this July, which included competing in 91 finals to secure 17 gold, 20 silver and nine bronze medals.
Splashing other clubs clear out of the water, Mount Kelly’s 55 athletes well and truly swept the board with their podium success across individual and relay events and record honours including five open, all six senior relays, 26 age group and two out of the six junior relay events.
The annual British Summer Championship at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre 50-metre pool in Sheffield aims to increase and support junior talent on the journey to senior medal-winning performance. And this summer saw Mount Kelly’s most successful ever year at this national event.
Mount Kelly’s British Summer Championship 2023 Winners
17 Gold Medals
Jonathan Turck – 200m Freestyle
Gabrielle Idle-Beavers – 50m Breaststroke
Riccardo Lucarelli – 200m Butterfly
Flawia Kamzol – 50m Backstroke, 100m Backstroke, 50m Butterfly and 100m Butterfly
Hollie Widdows – 100m Freestyle and 200m Ind. Medley
Edie Price – 100m and 200m Butterfly
Vadim Bosc – 400m Ind. Medley
Abdul Adama – 50m Freestyle
Matthew Ward – 50m Freestyle
Fergus Thomson – 200m Backstroke
Hollie Widdows, Erin Little, Leah Whittaker, Beth Hall – Women’s 4x100m Freestyle
Blythe Kinsman, Gabrielle Idle-Beavers, Flawia Kamzol, Sophie Benn – Girls 4x100m Medley
20 Silver Medals
Oliver Rowe – 800m Freestyle and 1500m Freestyle
Ruby Griffiths – 400m Freestyle and 800m Freestyle
Sophie Brassington – 200m Breaststroke
Alex D’Onofrio – 50m Freestyle and 100m Freestyle
Flawia Kamzol – 50m Freestyle and 100m Freestyle
Hollie Widdows – 50m Freestyle and 200m Freestyle
Fergus Thomson – 400m Ind. Medley
Abdul Adama – 100m Butterfly
Riccardo Lucarelli – 100m Butterfly
Arun Oelkers – 50m Freestyle
Leah Whittaker – 50m Backstroke
Ben Uff – 200m Backstroke
Sophie Benn, Ella Justice, Edie Price, Flawia Kamzol – Girls 4x100m Freestyle
Beth Hall, Hollie Widdows, Ruby Griffiths, Erin Little – Women’s 4x200m Freestyle
Ben Uff, Abdul Adama, Fergus Thomson, Alex D’Onofrio – Boys 4x100m Freestyle
Nine Bronze Medals
Ruby Griffiths – 1500m Freestyle
Fergus Thomson – 100m Backstroke
Abdul Adama – 100m Freestyle
Arun Oelkers – 100m Freestyle
Hollie Widdows – 50m Butterfly
Erin Little – 100m Freestyle
Jonathan Turck – 200m Ind. Medley
Matthew Ward, Riccardo Lucarelli, Jonathan Turck, Oliver Rowe – Men’s 4x200m Freestyle
Sophie Benn, Ella Justice, Edie Price, Flawia Kamzol – Girls 4x200m Freestyle
Mount Kelly’s other swimming successes this season, includes:
Emily Forwood took the title of South West Open Water Swimming of the Year, following her impressive racing last summer.
‘Incredibly proud’ best describes the performances of five Mount Kelly swimmers Vadim Bosc, Blythe Kinsman, Matthew Ward, Moritz Baumgartner and Erin Little who represented GB and Austria in the European Junior Championships in Belgrade, Serbia this July. They brought home two silver medals, four bronze medals, broke two British records and five open Mount Kelly records.
Brydan Byrne, representing Ireland, reached the final of the European Youth Olympic Festival in Maribor, Slovenia.
At the Irish Summer National Youth Championships Shannon Byrne won the B final of the 50m Backstroke, while Breanna Chamberlain claimed bronze in the 1500m Freestyle.
A standout performance at the Swim England Open Water Nationals saw Nathan Chapman secure a silver medal.
At the Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS) National finals Mount Kelly Year 8 girls finished runners-up, whilst the boys team finished overall runners-up.
Congratulations to Gabrielle Idle Beavers who concludes the 2022-2023 season for Mount Kelly with her performances at the U/15 ISF World School Games in Rio de Janeiro. She returned with three relay medals as well as making two individual finals.
At the English Nationals Dontas Dragasius, Ben Uff, Beth Hall, Tom Parrott and Ralph Sereki won six gold, three silver and two bronze medals between them.
At the Welsh Nationals Katie Bamborough, Ryan Hardy and Joe Fowler scooped four silver and two bronze medals.
At the seventh Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago this August Erin Little and Blyth Kinsman represented Team England. Sophie Brassington represented Team Wales; Abdul Adama and Iman Adama represented Team Nigeria; Magnus Kelly and Ella Justice represented Team Isle of Man and Matthew Ward represented Team Scotland. They came away with an impressive haul of 13 medals – seven gold and six silver.
But it was the performance of former Mount Kelly Head Boy Matthew Ward, that impressed the most as he became the most successful Team Scotland athlete in Commonwealth Youth Games history. He won four gold and three silver medals and is the first Team Scotland athlete to win more than five medals at a single Youth Games.
“It’s like a dream come true”, said Matthew. “It’s not easy, it’s not simple, but it makes the training worth it. I didn’t look at the times, I was just going for it and seeing what I could do, so I’m really proud.”
Mount Kelly has delivered world class swimming and coaching performances for three decades. As Emma Collings-Barnes, Director of Swimming and coach at Mount Kelly said, “This summer’s amazing results have been the result of 12-months hard work and resilience. It was a long season for all, but swimmers and coaches never took their eyes off what could be achieved. And achieve we did.
“Winning medals is fantastic, but we also saw a great effort from our B and C teams in the relay events, all smashing their entry times and moving up the rankings at the 2023 British Summer Championships. I couldn’t be prouder.
“Our results show that the Mount Kelly swimming family offers the opportunity to benefit from excellent coaching and facilities and gives aspiring athletes the chance to be their best.”
Categories: News Swimming
