Alnwick Dolphins smash personal bests and club records at Short Course North East Regional Championships

Matilda Wilson and Harriet Oldfield of Alnwick Dolphins won medals at the Short Course North East Regional Championships. Picture: Alnwick Dolphins

Three swimmers from the club achieved the tough qualifying times for the Open competition – for swimmers aged 15 and above.

Conor Carolan swam the 100m individual medley and the 100m back crawl, in which he achieved a personal best time of 1.04.42 and ranked 23rd in the 15/16 years age group.

Megan Park competed in six events, coming 28th in the 100m front crawl and 29th in the 50m fly respectively.

Ed Brown, 17, took part in an impressive nine swims, ranking 22nd in both the 200m front crawl and 200m back crawl, breaking the club’s Open record in the back crawl and narrowly missing the final of the 400m front crawl, where he finished 14th.

In the Age Group competitions, Finn Orr knocked 12 seconds off his personal best in the 1,500m freestyle, finishing eighth in the 12 years age group.

It was a first swim at a NER Championship for 11-year-old Eliza Hodson, who swam twice and took six seconds off her PB in the 200m fly.

Felicity Oliva broke the club’s record in the 100m back crawl, finishing fifth in a time of 1.08.41.

William Oliver was also competing in his first regional championship and took two seconds off his PB in the 200m fly to finish as the seventh 14-year-old.

There was heartbreak for Sandy Brown as he just missed out on a medal in the 200m front crawl after he missed full contact with the wall when lying in second place. He fought back to finish fifth. There was some consolation for Brown as he smashed the club’s 800m front crawl record time for a 13-year-old that had stood since 1997.

Andrew Batley swam in four breaststroke events and set new PBs in the 100m and 200m events.

The club did come home with some medals thanks to 11-year-old Matilda Wilson and Harriet Oldfield, 14.

Wilson won the 100m individual medley, came second in the 100m breast stroke and third in the 50m breast stroke.

Oldfield won an impressive two golds, a silver and a bronze, as well as breaking several club records and reaching English Winter National qualifying times in three events.