Of the 28 sporting events hosted by the IAPS, swimming is the largest: over 250 schools and over 4000 swimmers compete in the preliminary rounds. Only the top 16 relay teams and top 20 individual swimmers in the country qualify for the final, so all swimmers should be proud of this achievement.
This years final was a thrilling event, held in the London Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park. The morning saw some incredible achievements by the boys. For U12 50m breaststroke, a magnificent swim by J Clarke took him from his qualifying rank of 20th place to 12th in the final. C Duetoft took an amazing 2 seconds off his qualifying time in U13 50m backstroke and won a silver medal. The highlight of the morning, however, belonged to the U13 freestyle relay team, who had qualified in 18th place. Swimming the race of their lives, C Duetoft, J Clarke, C Scott and J Patient achieved 4th place!
The girls also gave a wonderful performance in the afternoon. For U13 50m backstroke, A Koep came 16th, and for U13 25m butterfly Z Lawrence placed 8th. The U13 relay team swam brilliantly, with L Kelly stepping in for S Thompson, sadly ill, to join A Koep, S Broccardo, and Z Lawrence in 7th and 5th place for the medley and freestyle relays. Not only did L Kelly step in to join the U13 relay team, but she gave a spectacular individual swim, winning silver in U12 25m Butterfly.
Congratulations to everyone who took part, giving an excellent representation of Danes Hill with your sportsmanship and incredible swimming!
