Lois Child stars as Harrogate District Swimming Club impress at Long Course County Championships

Harrogate swimmers, from left, Amelia Wright, Lois Child, Nell Carter and Lily Stansfield won silver medals in two age 13-14 relay races at the Long Course County Championships. Picture: Submitted

Thirteen-year-old Lois Child once again dominated her age category, returning with a superb haul of 11 gold medals, but the overall performance of the team demonstrated the strength-in-depth the club currently boasts.

Overall, Harrogate swimmers managed a total of 59 finals (top-10 finishes). Those finalists included Child, Scarlett Dean, Amelia Wright, Sophie Baker, Nell Carter, Florence Ladbury, Alfie Charlton, Lily Stansfield, Tallulah Elder, Marci Ghetu, Jess Reilly, Connie Milburn, Agatha Scott, Masha Aleksandrov and Sophie Murray.

Child’s gold medals came in the 100m backstroke, 200m individual medley (IM), 100m butterfly, 400m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m butterfly, 200m freestyle, 400m IM, 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle.

Carter, 14, also took gold in the 100m backstroke and 50m backstroke, while 12-year-old Dean did likewise in the 100m backstroke and 50m backstroke and also bagged silver in the 100m freestyle and 50m freestyle.

Stansfield, 13, swam to silver in the 200m butterfly, 50m backstroke and 50m butterfly.

The club also secured five bronze medals, which went to Wright, 13, in the 100m freestyle, Baker, 12, in the 200m backstroke, Murray, 17, in the 50m butterfly, Stansfield in the 50m freestyle and Dean in the 200m IM.

Special mention also goes to Daisy Ingle, who finished eighth with the fastest 50m freestyle time for a 10-year-old in the 10-11 age-group category.

The championships were rounded off with the team relays where the 13-14 years team of Child, Carter, Stansfield and Wright won silver medals in their medley and freestyle races.