The Burnham-On-Sea Academy Swim Team is celebrating success in the Cotswold League series following a set of record-breaking results at the County Championships.
Burnham’s Academy Swim Team have won their third-round gala in the Cotswold League this month, following up their earlier victory at the first gala and second place at the next one.
They travelled to Bath for the third round where they were up against the league leaders Bath Dolphin. In a close run event the Burnham team finally came out on top.
Coach Nic Hazleton says she was impressed by the effort made by all swimmers and the great team spirit shown by all.
The next gala is at home in the Burnham-On-Sea pool. When all points are combined, they have to be in the top 8 to make the final gala at Hutton Moor, which they achieved last year.
Head Coach Sara Dykes said she was “really proud” of the whole squad after the 2023 County Championships saw previous club records broken.
“Having started with the swim team’s highest ever number of qualifiers (38) and most number of relay teams entered (28), they have finished it with their most ever number of medals won and of each colour, most number of PB’s achieved, most number of finals reached, and biggest ever combined time drop.”
“This is a fantastic achievement and testament to the many hours that have gone into training over the last 12 months by all of the Swim Team swimmers and their coaches. That effort and dedication has helped to push each other and the club to new heights.”
Secretary Jan Dykes pointed out that the Burnham’s Academy Swim Team is only a small club with a small pool, and limited space, but an incredible 60% of the competitive swimmers made individual times and 71% took part in the relays.
Overall the team took home 31 medals from this year’s championships, breaking the record of 24 from 2022. The five gold medals are also the most events ever won by Academy Swimmers (surpassing the previous best of 3), 13 Silver’s beat last year’s total of 12, and 13 Bronze medals was better than the previous record of 9.
Other notable achievements are two swimmers who are waiting to be accepted to the Scottish National Age Group Championships and the Welsh National Championships, both taking place in the week after Easter.
