Dubai: UAE swimming club Hamilton Aquatics topped the medals table at the five-day British Age Group Championships in Sheffield, UK, over the weekend with nine gold medals, five silvers and three bronze.
French-Irish swimmer Sean McNicholl, aged 12, from Dubai British School, won three golds in the 100 and 200-metre freestyle and 100-metre butterfly, one silver in the 100-metre backstroke and two bronze in the 200-metre backstroke and 400-metre freestyle.
South Africa’s Cameron Matthews, 13, from Dubai College, won three golds in the 200-metre and 400-metre individual medley and the 100-metre breaststroke, two silvers in the 200-metre freestyle and breaststroke and one bronze in the 400-metre freestyle.
And the Czech Republic’s Jakub Karl, 14, from Jumeirah College, won three golds in the 200-metre and 400-metre freestyle and 100-metre butterfly, plus two silvers in the 100-metre freestyle and 200-metre butterfly.
Three of Cameron’s times were British and South African national age group records — 1 min 7.7 sec in the 100-metre breaststroke, 2:12.2 in the 200-metre individual medley and 2:25.9 in the 200-metre breaststroke.
Hamilton Aquatics’ target heading into the championships was to equal or surpass their third-place finish in the medals table last year, so coach Ash Morris was left delighted by their success.
“We have achieved something very special,” he said. “This is just the beginning for these talented three boys and many more swimmers to come.
“It is fantastic to win the medals table and it shows that swimmers can fulfil their potential in Dubai to any level. Our swimmers are inspired by their teammate Velimir Stjepanovic, who represented Serbia at the 2012 Olympics, and they all have their own goals. The future looks great.”
McNicholl, Matthews and Karl’s success follows on from their teammate Lianna Swan’s performance at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, last week, where the Pakistani swimmer broke two national records in the 50-metre breaststroke (35.72) and 100-metre freestyle (1:03.32) and a personal best in the 50-metre freestyle (29.10).
