COACH Pete Withey was delighted as Tonbridge Swimming Club enjoyed their most successful County Championships ever.
After the four-week extravaganza, they came away with a tally of 11 gold medals, two silvers and six bronzes. Eleven-year-old Caitlin Ebbage picked up ten of those golds on her own.
The small team of nine swimmers all achieved personal best (PB) times and almost all their swims were new long course club records.
The medal tally saw them placed seventh in the rankings, an outstanding result when compared to the much bigger clubs which had many more swimmers competing.
The last weekend of the Kent Championships saw swimmers switch to the London Aquatic Centre in Stratford, east London and the fast–developing team scooped three golds, one silver and two bronzes.
In the Girls 12 years 50m -Backstroke final, Caitlin swam a PB, winning an eighth gold of the -championships with a new club record.
Then in the 12 years 50m Freestyle, Caitlin took her tally to nine golds in an oustanding final.
And in the first event on Sunday, the girls 12 years 200m Individual Medley, Caitlin captured her 10th gold of the championships, with a 10-second PB in a time of 2min 39.47sec.
Dan Brice took silver in the boys 12 years 50m Backstroke. Having qualified for the final in second place with a PB, he shaved another couple of tenths of a second to record a time of 33.29.
Dan had won his second bronze of the -Championships the previous day in the boys 13 years 50m Butterfly with an improved time of 31.28sec, which was a new club record.
The ever–improving Sarah Brown won the club’s third bronze of the weekend when she came third in her girls 16 years 50m Butterfly final.
Tonbridge’s attentions now turn to the South-East Regional Championships in May.
