The end of July saw the British Summer Swimming Championships at the Ponds Forge International Swimming Centre in Sheffield. Participation is by invitation, where the top 24 ranked swimmers in Britain in each swimming event are invited to compete for the medals and British titles in age groups from 14 to 19+ years.
Newton Aycliffe resident and Woodham Academy student Emma Price, 15, formerly of Sedgefield 75 Swimming Club, managed to qualify for five individual events, and was further selected to swim in team events under the banner of Northumberland & Durham Performance Swim Club. The hard work, 19 hours of training per week, paid off as she took the 15 years British Champion titles in 200m and 400m freestyle plus a further silver and bronze.
In 400m freestyle heats, she was second fastest securing a middle lane for the final. She led from start to finish in the final, smashing her personal best with 4:22.38 to win the gold over two seconds ahead of second place.
The 200m freestyle was more competitive but Emma qualified fastest for the final beating her PB. A tough race in the final saw her come from behind to take gold in the last 10 metres with another PB of 2:06.10.
800m freestyle was decided in heats and Emma’s lane draw was unkind with an outside lane in the fastest heat. She put in a well-paced swim that saw her narrowly miss silver and take bronze.
In both 200m and 400m individual medley, she qualified for the finals again, finishing sixth in both, beating her PB in the 200m event.
In amongst the individual swims, she was also part of the Northumberland & Durham teams in 4 x 100m and 4 x 200m freestyle relays along with swimmers from Derwentside and Morpeth swimming clubs. The girls agonisingly missed the medals by 0.18 seconds in the 4 x 100m, but found success in the 4 x 200m where Emma swam the first leg giving the team a sizable lead in another 200 free PB. The team finished second meaning a silver medal for the four swimmers.
A week later and Emma was back in Sheffield for the follow-up ‘Home Nation’ Championship, the Swim England Summer Meet, where the next-fastest English swimmers, after British Summer Champs selection, are invited. Emma had one event this time, 100m freestyle, which she had won a year earlier as a 14-year-old.
Just as in 2022, she swam a PB in the heat in qualifying fastest for the final where she went faster again winning the 15,years gold in 58.97 seconds to add an English title to her two British ones.
Aycliffe Swimmer Double British Champion
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