Last weekend saw another highly successful raid by Sutton & Cheam Swimming Club on the Surrey County Age Group Championships with an 11 medal haul.

On Saturday, Michael Rees (11) got the club off to the start they needed with Gold in the 200m breaststroke. Not to be outdone, April Hedges (10) took a second Gold in the 200 backstroke by over 5 seconds and William Ward added Silver with an excellent swim in the 200 breaststroke.

Sunday followed with 6 silver medals for Athena Lewis Gkogka (15) in the Girls 100m SC Meter Breaststroke; Michael Rees in the Boys 200m SC Meter Freestyle and 200m SC Individual Medley; April Hedges in the Girls 200m SC Meter IM; William Ward in the 200 SC Meter IM and 100 SC Meter Breaststroke; and two other bronze medals for Ace Taylor (17) in the Boys 16 & Over 100 SC Meter Breaststroke and April Hedges in the Girls 200 SC Meter Freestyle.

It didn’t just end there, Athena just missing out on two more bronze medals finishing 4th in both the Girls 100m SC Butterfly and 200m SC Individual events whilst Lois Martin, James DeBrunner, Brooke Tafazolli, Ace Taylor, Charlie Carr, Adam Smith, Aaron Prince, WilliamWard, Athen Lewis Gkogka and Erin Andrew all had ‘top 8’ finishes.

With 18 medals so far, after just two weekends of the Surrey Championships, the club is already over halfway to last year’s 35 medals. In the medals table, Sutton & Cheam is currently lying in 9th spot with 2 Gold, 11 Silver and 5 bronze medals. In the Overall combined table the club is in 6th place, the highest recorded for many years.

In the BAGCATs, April Hedges (2nd) Michael Rees (2nd), William Ward (4th), Charlie Carr (8th), Dario Kan (9th) and Adam Smith (10th) are all in the top 10 with 9 year-old Erin Andrew just outside in 11th and 12 year-old Lois Martin in 13th.

With well over 70% of the swimmers turning in Personal Best times, Squad coaches Helen Andrews and Jim Walker were delighted with the weekend’s efforts.

Qualifiers: Aaron Prince, Ace Taylor, Adam Smith, Alex Wimbush, April Hedges, Athena Lewis Gkogka, Brooke Tafazolli, Charlie Carr, Chris Carr, Daisy Meffan, Dario Kan, Erin Andrew, Jake Meffan, James DeBrunner, Joe Phillpott-Clark, Kieran Rutter, Lois Martin, Lucy Pearson, Michael Rees, Natalie Andrew, Nathan Eves, Rosie Heape, Samuel Rees, Tomas Gibson, William Ward.