Tonbridge team swims its way to success at the Kent Championships
Tonbridge boys came away from the first school swimming event of the term with an impressive haul of medals.
Students competed in the Kent Secondary Schools’ Individual Championships on Saturday 14 January, a major competition involving nearly 40 schools across the county.
Twelve boys from the Swimming Club took part in a series of races throughout the afternoon, with four boys representing the School for the first time.
Tonbridge boys were awarded three Golds: two in the Senior events for Backstroke and 200m Medley, and one for Intermediate Butterfly. The School also earned a Silver medal for Intermediate Freestyle, and had four runners-up in Senior 200m Medley, Senior Breaststroke, Senior Backstroke and Intermediate Breaststroke races. Medals were awarded to the top six swimmers in each category.
Age groups in the Championships covered Junior (Years 7 and 8), Intermediate (Years 9 and10) and Senior (Years 11, 12 and 13) categories, with the event held at Tunbridge Wells Sports Centre.
The School was placed second overall in the final table, an achievement made all the greater since Tonbridge boys only competed in Intermediate and Senior events, and not, of course, Junior events. The Championships are run by Kent Schools’ Swimming Association (KSSA).
Josie McNeil, Master in Charge of Swimming, said: “We saw a number of excellent performances, including one of our swimmers knocking nearly five seconds off his PB, and to secure second place at such a renowned county-wide event was a huge achievement. We have record numbers in the Swimming Club and all bodes well for the strength of the sport at Tonbridge.
“We have House Swimming coming up soon (Thursday 26 January), which will be another opportunity for club members to test themselves against many other strong competitors across the School.”
Congratulations to Tonbridge’s Kent Championships team: Congratulations to Tonbridge’s Kent Championships team: Aaron Green (OH1), Amir Olalekan (OH1), Alex Tollit (HS3), Denys Mialkovskyi (OH2), Max El-Mokadem (WW2), Herman Chow (JH5, Captain), James Fry (PH4), Justin Leung (JH2), Timothy Dong (PH2), Evan Norris (WW4) and Dalen Kurmanbayev (Sc1).
