Star swimmers: Kelly Hookway, Sarraounia Samuels, Andy Hardt, Felix Samels, Harry Needs, Alex Mackay, Nuala Muir Cochrane, Samir Ahmed and Metin Ayhan

Top honours for Swiss Cottage star swimmers

15-year-old receives Wilkinson Sword for exceptional performance

STAR swimmer Harry Needs made waves this week after being crowned London Champion and winning one of the most prestigious county accolades within the sport.
The talented 15-year-old, who swims for Camden Swiss Cottage Swimming Club, was presented with the Wilkinson Sword by County President Nuala Muir Cochrane after scoring more points in the Middlesex Age Groups then any other swimmer in the county.
The Islington youngster also won the British Age Groups Aggregate Times (Bagcat) Award after finishing top of the points pile in the boys’ 14-year-old category.
Harry continued his success in the London Regional Youth Championships, where he won gold in both the 200m individual medley and the 50m fly.
Competing in the 15-16-year-old section, he also finished second in the 200m breaststroke and the 100m fly, and third in the 400m individual medley, and the 100m and 200m backstroke.
There was further success for the Camden- and Islington-based swimming club when Felix Samuels won the boys’ 13-year-old Bagcat. Club mate Kelly Hookway came second in the girls’ 10-year-old section after finishing behind close rival Harumi Yagi, from Barnet.
Members from Camden Swiss Cottage also collected a host of Stroke Awards, which are presented to swimmers who have accumulated the highest points total in individual events in their respective age groups.
In the 15-year-old age band, Andy Hardt won the freestyle distance award, while Metin Ayhan came second in the freestyle sprint and third in freestyle and individual medleys.
Alex Mackay was second in distance freestyle, while in the 16-year-old category Samir Ahmed won the butterfly award and was third in the individual medley.
Sarraounia Samuels also received an award after finishing third in the girls’ 17 and over butterfly.
Swimmers from Camden Swiss Cottage also enjoyed more success in the London Regional Championships, which were held in Crystal Palace.
Ed Walsh swam to second in the boys’ 17 and over 50m breaststroke in 31.54. The highly rated youngster also finished third in 100m breaststroke, and the 50m and 100m freestyle.
In the 200m free final, Walsh swam a personal best of 2.01.43 to take fourth place as he faced a high quality field of top swimmers.
There were also impressive performances from Alex Mackay, Metin Ayhan, James Burgess, Naomi Wakeham-Aredes, Joel Sands and Camilla Grossman.