17 Nov 2015
Loughborough swimmers triumph once more
Sticking to their mantra of ‘fast swimming’ Loughborough’s swimmers once again retained their men’s, women’s and overall BUCS Short Course Swimming Championship titles thanks to a number of recording breaking performances.
Kicking off the action at Ponds Forge in Sheffield with five medals in the first two events, Toby Robinson set the tone, setting a new BUCS record of 14.45.74 in the 1500m freestyle to lead a Loughborough one-two-three. Fresher Alice Dearing led teammate Lucy Campbell to a silver and bronze finish in the women’s 800m freestyle, meaning both the men and women were off to a flying start.
Saturday carried on where the short Friday night session had left off, with Sophie Smith winning her 200m freestyle heat, before going on to take gold later in the day. Other winners on day two were Charlotte McKenzie in the 50m backstroke, Beth Aitchison in the 50m breaststroke and Rachel Kelly in the 100m butterfly.
However the standout performance of the day came from Jocelyn Ulyett, who broke the BUCS women’s 200m breaststroke record on route to gold.
James Hollis was also in record setting form, breaking the British (subject to ratification) & BUCS 100m backstroke record with a 1.04.57 swim to secure 698 British Disability Points.
Sophie Smith was extremely busy throughout the weekend but got her just reward, winning both the 100m freestyle & 200m IM on the final day of action, meaning she returned to Loughborough with three golds.
Rachel Kelly took 50m butterfly gold having already won bronze in the 200m event won by teammate Emma Day, whilst Charlotte McKenzie doubled the distance she swam yesterday to also double her gold medal tally, taking 100m backstroke victory.
The consistency of the men’s swimmers was unwavering, as alongside numerous individual medals they took gold in both the 4x50m freestyle and 4x50m medley relays to wrap up overall victory.
With a host of records, lifetime bests and an outstanding team spirit, Loughborough once again showed its dominance as the best student swimming club in the country.