A team of Stockport swimmers are celebrating a summer of success in the pool.
More than 20 swimmers from Stockport Metro Swimming Club, a part of the Life Leisure performance swimming programme which trains at Life Leisure facilities in Stockport, competed in at the British Summer Nationals and the Swim England National Championships in Sheffield this summer, winning 15 medals between them.
At the Swim England National Championships, they won 10 medals, including three gold, six silver and one bronze. And at the British Summer Nationals the swimmers earned three gold and two bronze.
Rick Hall, who is head of performance swimming at Life Leisure, said: “I’m really proud of the whole team, they swam well and put in a fantastic effort at both events.
“I would like to say a special thank you to our coaches, Joel Weston and Liam Selby, who have coached two weeks of very long days dealing with all the highs and lows of competition.”
Fifteen-year-old Peiqi Wu, from Stockport, brought home a gold in the 50m back and a silver in the 50m free, and 16-year-old Tom O’ Brien, from Knutsford, earned a gold in the 200m breast. Tylia Glynn won the third gold of the event for the para MC (Multi Class) 200m free, plus a bronze for the para MC 100m fly.
Silver medals went to: Sophie Triall, 17, from Cheadle, for the 200m free; Lily O’ Neil, 16, from Trafford, for the 100m fly; Aleks Moskwa, 16, from Trafford, for the 50m fly; Gabby Giblin, 15, from Oldham, for the 200m breast; and Siena Oxby, 17 from Knutsford, for the para MC 200 Individual Medley open.
At the British Summer Nationals 14-year-old Mir Al Dabak, and 16-year-old Henry Taylor, from Stockport, won bronze medals in freestyle and backstroke respectively, and 15-year-old Daniel Khodaverdi, from Bury, won three gold medals in the 200m,400 and 800 free.
The team ranked 20th on the medal table (out of over 150 clubs including university and schools), reaching 15 finals, and qualifying for five relay teams, which means they had to be among the top 30 teams in the country.
Eliza Pinkstone, 19, from Bramhall, earned her first PB in the 100 fly after two years following a knee injury, reaching the final of the 100m fly, and Sophie Traill reached the final in four events, earning a new PBs in all her main events.
Henry Taylor, Tom O’Brien, Daniel Khodaverdi and Mir Al Dabak fought hard in the 4×100 medley relay to finish ninth.
Rick added: “Daniel’s gold medals at the British Summer Nationals mean he’s ranked in the top five of all time 15-year-olds ever, and both Sophie and Eliza gained PBs (personal bests) after overcoming significant injuries which is incredibly impressive.
“On top of that, our PB rate at the Summer Nationals was an incredibly high 75 percent – which means three quarters of the swims on the day were personal bests!”
For more information about Stockport Metro to go https://stockportmetrosc.org.uk/ or https://www.lifeleisure.net/.
