A TEAM of Kingsbridge Kingfishers attended the Dawlish Summer Splash on Saturday, July 5, competing against swimmers from Dawlish, Brixham, Torquay, and Dartmouth, writes Caro Stephenson.

Despite it being the first time at an open meet for the majority of the young Kingsbridge swimmers, they came away with a huge haul of medals, and most importantly, had a fantastic time representing the club.

The team of fourteen swimmers, aged between just eight and 12 years old, each had the opportunity to swim 50m (two lengths) in all four strokes, plus a gruelling 100m Individual Medley (one length of each stroke).

They all rose to the occasion and produced some fantastic swims, showcasing the results of all their hard work during training sessions.

This was a level four event gala, which is usually an entry-level meet, yet the standard from all five competing clubs was incredibly high, with numerous swim times being fast enough to qualify swimmers for the Devon County Championships next February.

This overwhelming success makes it even more of an achievement that Kingsbridge Kingfishers came away with 19 medals between them, seven of which were gold, as well as multiple personal bests for those who just missed out. Some of the races were so close that a matter of milliseconds separated the positions.

The team atmosphere was electric with all of the Kingfishers going wild with support during their teammates’ races.

During the interval, there was a dance competition, a regular event at swim meets. This saw Kingfishers take the title of best dancers (for the second time this year), proving their talents both in and out of the pool!

Congratulations to all of these youngsters for their hard work and success.