English National Summer Swimming Championships 2026 - Report
A total of 9 Winsford swimmers made the trek over the Pennines (or from further afield) to Ponds Forge in Sheffield for the English National 50m Championships. Most made it to the Championships in top form, some for their very first time. An unlucky few proved their resilience representing our orange aquatic army despite suffering significant setbacks in the run up, and two of our swimmers had tired arms (and the odd bruise – although I strongly suspect they inflicted a few too) after competing in the National Open Water Championships held just 2 days prior.
Qualifying for a total of 21 events between them we made 14 finals – a staggering final making rate of 67%. Battles were fought in the pool as well as within heads, medals were won on the touch in thrilling races, new Personal Bests were set, tears of joy and frustration were shed, and some - heartbreakingly - just missed out on medal bling despite swimming out of their skins.
Hen Chick opened for us with in the 400IM heats on Monday and closed us out with the 200IM Final on Saturday. Also proudly wearing Orange were Gus Fraser (200IM, 100FL, 50FL, 400IM), Georgio Oxby (200IM, 100FR, 200FR, 100BR), Luke Nevin-Suarez (200FL, 100FR, 200FR, 50FR), Charlotte Ainscough (1500FR, 200FL), Hannah Keegan (200FR, 400FR) , Ed Smalley (200BK), Eris Coxon (200FL) and Hattie Lawson (200FL).
Your finalists were:
Gus – SILVER 400IM, BRONZE 100FL, BRONZE 50FL, 8th 200IM
Georgio – BRONZE 200IM, BRONZE 100BR, 6th 200FR, 8th 100FR
Charlotte – 4th 200FL, 9th 1500FR
Hen – 4th 400IM, 10th 200IM
Ed – 9th 200BK
Hannah – 10th 400FR
A huge thank you to the parents for supporting your swimmers throughout their journey and your support for the club and its Coaches (especially me through the week!). A special thank you to Jayne Fraser for being Team Manager when I needed it most, and to Coach John for Coaching Wednesday evening’s finals session to allow me to nip home so my eldest (Toby) could buy me a pint on his 18th birthday.
A celebratory Waterpolo practice for everyone is imminent!
Enjoy your summer everyone, please find some time to relax over the rest of the holidays (whilst keeping your cardio ticking over please swimmers!).
It was (and always is) a privilege for me to be their Coach.
Coach Andy
