Punching above its weight, Huntingdon Piranhas are having a superb year says coach
Huntingdon Piranhas Swimming Club continued the habit of punching above their weight at the County Championships. - Credit: Archant
Huntingdon Piranhas Swimming Club continued to punch above its weight with a successful Cambridgeshire County Championships meeting in Cambridge at the weekend.
The club had a record number of swimmers qualified for the competition and ended up celebrating 109 personal bests, 13 gold medals, 15 silver and 14 bronze.
Head coach John Richards told The Hunts Post: “2013 was a superb year for our performance swimmers and we aimed to better that achievement this year – which we did if you average out the medals and personal bests won per swimmer.
“Rather than have a few swimmers doing exceptionally well, we want a lot of our swimmers competing at the highest level they can, and that’s what we have achieved.
“We have built a strong, competitive swimming club for those who really want to perform on the highest stage. Our swimmers go on to national and international level success and start by swimming events like the County Champs.”
Medal winners at the meeting were Ava Lessing-Caller, Jess Mansfield, Emma Leslie, Will Steel, Millie Steel, Hannah Daley, Will Davies, Henry Pearce and Olivia Pearce – and the club’s swimmer of the championship was Emma Leslie.Huntingdon’s next development steps, for competitive swimmers, are selected open meetings, the Regional Championships and an overseas training camp in Lignano, Italy in May.
“We are taking 20 of our future stars to train in the sun,” said Lou Steel, the club’s team manager. “It’s a real hot house for them, they work really hard and they have a lot of fun as well. We even run revision sessions for those doing exams.
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“Piranhas isn’t just about the top level of competition, everyone starts at the beginning . We are an inclusive club and enjoy developing tomorrow’s champions which we do through teaching, coaching and novice galas to help them build experience.”
For information on how to organise a trial with the club, go to the website at www.huntingdonpiranhas.org.
