Three Swimmers Qualify for British Championships

The Olympic Park venue in Stratford, London

Following an excellent weekend of swimming in the London Aquatics Centre at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Exeter City Swimming Club now have three swimmers who have qualified at the highest national level.  James Wamsley and Tom Downs had previously qualified to swim at the British Championships, and Dominic Wooldridge added to this group by gaining the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly.

The British Championships are held in April and attract the best swimmers from England, Scotland and Wales. This year’s event will double as British selection trials for the World Championships in Kazan, Russia as well as the European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan and European Youth Olympic Festival in Tbilisi, Georgia.

The ASA South Zonal competition saw some of the best clubs from London, the South East and the South West racing to achieve some early season goals.  It was a successful weekend with personal best times, finalists and medallists.  On the way to attaining the championship qualifying time, Dominic won the gold medal in the 100m butterfly, having previously won the 50m butterfly.  Liam White added to the medal tally with a bronze in the 50m backstroke, having also qualified for the 100m backstroke final. Other finalists were James Wamsley in 100m breaststroke, Tom Downs in 100m and 200m butterfly, Warren Barrett in 50m butterfly,  and Katie Townsend in 50m backstroke.  It was also great to see Jack Pearson competing at this level after an illness toward the end of last year affected his training for a few months.

The next national qualifying opportunity for Exeter City Swimmers will be at Portsmouth over the Easter weekend, where they will hope to post fast times in a bid to qualify for British and English nationals in the summer.