Teddington Swimming Club head coach Ed Sinclair praised the achievements of his home grown talents after a record-breaking performance in the pool.

The 27-strong team came away from the London Regional Swimming Championships at Crystal Palace with a club record 12 medals.

Moreover, the group of 10 to 14-year-olds had swimmers in 28 finals – eventually bringing home two golds, four silver and six bronze medals.
Leading the way were 12-year-old Thalia Poaros and 14-year-old Mollie Allen.

Poaros won gold in the 100m butterfly, clocking one minute, 9.93 seconds, and bronze in the 200m individual medley in 2:39.01 – she will now go on to compete in the UK National Age Group Championships in Sheffield next month.

Allen won gold in the 200m backstroke (2:27.64), and silver in the individual medley 400m in 5:22.99.

But it was the overall team performance that had Sinclair brimming with pride.

He said: “I am really proud of our young swimmers. They have been training well and the benefits are starting to show.

“We had three out of eight finalists in some events, which is a fantastic achievement for a small club.

“As a result Teddington is one of the up and coming London teams so it is an exciting time for everyone, and many of the swimmers who have done so well this year will still be competing at the London Age Groups next year.” 

There was a double silver haul for breaststroke specialist Alice Patterson, 12, over 100m (1:23.64) and 200m.

Club-mate Sophie Fussell won silver in the 11-year-olds’ group 200m breaststroke (3:01. 60) and a bronze in the 100m breaststroke (1:26. 21).
 

Three other swimmers picked up bronze gongs. Sophie Johnson, 12, was third in the 100m butterfly in 1:12.45, Alice Smail, 12, clocked 1:13.12 for third in the 100m backstroke and Toby Tolson also 12, took bronze in the 200m individual medley in 2:31.83.

Sinclair said: “One of the team’s strengths is that they all support each other and show good team spirit which makes them a strong group.
 

“They spent a week together in Greece at an Easter training camp and they undertook team building exercises in the lead-up to the championship.

“We are still a small club and we aim to look after our home grown talent.

“Our swimmers come from the local area and train in the Richmond borough pools, and we are grateful to Richmond Council for their help and support.  

“We are a young team with a very bright future.”

In all, Poaros, Allen, Tolson and Johnson will be competing at the UK National Age Group Championships in Sheffield.