Brave swimmers bag nine medals

More success for Huntingdon Piranhas at East Region Open Water Championships

HEAD coach John Richards hailed a “fantastic result” for his team of eight Huntingdon Piranhas at the East Region Open Water Championships held on Whitlingham Lake, near Norwich over the weekend.

The swimmers braved the cold, brisk winds and frequent heavy showers to take to the open water and came away with nine medals and three county titles.

Richards said: “The very cold water, windy conditions and poor visibility meant this was not an event for the faint-hearted.

“Just to finish the race was a feat in itself, but to come away with nine medals was a fantastic result.”

The event is open to swimmers registered with clubs across the six counties of Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire.

Piranhas Ryan Skeels (17) and Tom Russell (15), both from Chatteris, are now Cambridgeshire county 800m open water champions in their respective age groups.

Alex Murray (17), meanwhile, is now the 1500m title holder while he also took silver for the East Region as a whole.

However the whole squad performed very well at county level, with Chloe Gibson (15) taking a silver medal in the 800m race and William Davies (14) grabbed silver in the 3,000m event.

It was a silver fest for the Leech family from Godmanchester, who all swam in the 1,500m event.

Dad Dick Leech took silver in the masters section, with Zoe (14) and Jake (15) following suit in their respective age groups.