County success for West Norfolk Swimming Club

West Norfolk Swimming Club had 91 swimmers taking part in the Norfolk County Championships, held at the UEA Sportspark, Norwich, across three weekends.Battling against the best in the county, West Norfolk brought home an impressive 54 county titles, 162 top-three place medals and 249 final appearances.For many of the younger swimmers, this was the first time swimming in a 50m pool, and personal best times came thick and fast for all.The championships kicked off with the distance events weekend and West Norfolk started strong.Jamie Wilson took the gold medal title for the 16 years male 800m freestyle, while Den Vojevoda (12 years) and George Stevenson (17 & over) both brought home the bronze for their respective age groups in the same event.Wilson followed up with a silver medal in the 1,500m freestyle the next day with Callum New bringing home bronze in the 15 years 1,500m event while club captain Harvey Isle (17 & over) won silver.Elizabeth Litvinenko kicked off the medal tally for the females, taking a silver medal for her 12 years 800m freestyle swim. Milly Johnson clinched the gold title for the 15 years age group in the same event while Olivia Bradford (14 years) and Esmie Kidman (17 & over) won bronze medals in their age groups. Bradford, Johnson and Kidman were all back in the pool the next day for the female 1,500m freestyle; Bradford and Kidman took a silver each in their age groups while Johnson swam to another county victory, taking another gold medal for her age group. The majority of swimmers were in action during the next two weekends when most of the events were held.Valeria Soldatihhina led the West Norfolk charge, coming home with nine county titles and two silvers in the female 12 years age category. Harry Clarke and Martha More also brought home an impressive 11 medals each. Clarke secured six county titles in the male 13 years age group, including a clean sweep across the three breaststroke distances, four silvers and a bronze, while More enjoyed success in the 10/11 years female category, bringing home five county titles, including all three freestyle distances, and six silvers.Mabelle Chadderton came home with seven top-three place medals in the same age group as she and More dominated across the two weekends. Chadderton’s haul included five county titles, with a clean sweep in the breaststroke events, a silver and a bronze. After their success at the distance weekend, Jamie Wilson, Milly Johnson and Olivia Bradford were back in the pool, with Bradford coming home with 10 top-three finishes in the female 14 years age group with four county titles, taking all three butterfly events, a silver and five bronzes while Johnson followed up her two distance victories with the 200m freestyle title, two silvers and five bronze medals in the 15 years age group. Wilson added the 200m butterfly title to his tally along with two silvers and three bronzes.Millie Harris secured six top-three finishes in the female 17 & over category, taking the 50m and 100m freestyle races. Joshua Jones and Rejus Mazeika clinched four county titles each with Jones dominating the breaststroke events in the male 16 years category. Rejus added a silver and bronze to his haul in the male 14 years age group while Jones added a bronze to complete his medal wins.Other county titles were secured by Alexander Pattison, Elizabeth Litvinenko and Jack Baxter, who brought home two apiece, and Eloise Collins, Harvey Isle and Kye Harrington with one each. Other top-three medal places across the weekend were brought home by Polly Anderson (6), Den Vojevoda (4), Sarah O’Brien (4), Madison Hicks (3), Nikita Diadko (3), Samuel Liddell (3), Daisy Stimpson (2), Morgan Arthur (2), Nathan Yeaman (2), Samuel Rose (2), Thomas Baxter (2), Belle Ringwood, Daniel Grimmer, Erin Woodrow, Esmie Kidman, George Stevenson, Nellie Chadderton and Oliver Veale.The championships finished with the 400m freestyle events for all categories where West Norfolk continued to add to their medal tally. Mabelle Chadderton was third in the female 10/11 years category with Valeria Soldatihhina adding another county title to her accolades in the 12 years event.Olivia Bradford and Milly Johnson finished with a silver each in the 14 and 15 years age groups, respectively.Jamie Wilson also added a silver to his medal haul in the male 16 years category while Harvey Isle completed the medal tally for the club with a bronze in the 17 & overs age group.