Bethany and Louis compete against nation’s best at English Champs

02 Oct 2019

Two Deepings Swimming Club members qualified for the Swim England National Championships held at Ponds Forge in Sheffield at the start of August.

Bethany Eagle-Brown competed in the 50m butterfly and Louis Metselaar in the 50m breaststroke against the best swimmers in England.

Sixteen-year-old Bethany achieved qualification for the English nationals at the East Midland Regional Championships in May after an excellent swim saw her set a new personal best of 29.48 to finish fifth.

Swimming on the Sunday in Sheffield, Bethany was in the mix for much of her heat, but faded slightly towards the end to touch outside her best in 30.38. That placed her a respectable 16^th in her age group, an impressive result as she had recently recovered from a chest infection.

Louis’ qualification swim came at the Derventio long course meet in April where he posted 30.72 to set a new Deepings club record. Unfortunately, his run up to nationals was hampered by a three-week lay off due to injury.

In his heat, Louis had a storming start, reacting quickest from the blocks to be up with the leaders after 15 metres. He swam a powerful race but lack of training took its toll in the closing stages and he narrowly missed making the final by three-tenths of a second.

Despite fatigue, Louis still posted his second fastest ever long course 50m breaststroke time of 31.37 to finish an excellent 12^th in the 17 years age group.

Lynn Chapman, Deepings Swimming Club head coach, was proud of both her swimmers’ performances.

“Beth and Louis worked extremely hard to qualify for nationals and, although neither of them had the perfect preparation due to illness and injury, they competed hard to do themselves and the club proud. Now they can enjoy their summer break and come back stronger than ever for the new season.”

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