SWIMMING: A YOUNG Bromsgrove Swimming Club champ has become one of the UK’s fastest swimmers after winning the gold medal in the West Midlands Regional Championships last weekend in Coventry.
Thirteen-year-old Jacob Elliot will now compete with 23 others at the British Summer Championships in August this year.
Last weekend he competed in three finals, a dual swim-off for a final and won the gold and silver medals in his 50 metres and 100m breaststroke events.
The upcoming British Championships will feature the top 24 ranked swimmers in each age group across the UK and is the GB swimming season’s finale.
Jacob was accompanied at the Regional Championships by Morgan King and Michael Bray, also from Bromsgrove Swimming Club.
Jacob and Michael have also been chosen to represent Worcester County in an upcoming gala, and will be joined by Jasmine Kilmartin on the County Development Programme where the most successful swimmers are given the opportunity to spend two days of mentoring with former GB Olympic team members.
Bromsgrove SC chair Kathryn Gee said: “The victory arrives at an apt time as the club prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary September.
“Jacob has been practising relentlessly with head coach, Matthew Lowe.”
Matthew added: “We have made good progress this year, as individuals and as a team. With one round to go, we are sitting in the top eight teams in division two of the Nuneaton Junior League.
“All this is testament to the hard work put in by all the teachers, coaches, the committee and parents and volunteers and to the spirit of the swimmers.
“I believe if you’re happy, you’ll train well, and if you train well, you’ll succeed.
“We have some exciting plans for the next few years and we definitely know the direction we want the club to go in, which is to send swimmers to the British Champs every year – so the hard work has only just begun.”
