Romford club return from championships with medal success

Killerwhales swimming club returned from this year’s London Regional Championships with five medals to their name, including one gold.

Amy Statham claimed the top honours in the 17-and-over girls’ 50m breaststroke, finishing first in a time of 33.37 seconds.

There would be more success for Statham later in the gala as she won silver in the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1.15.41.

Katinka Merchan was another 17-and-over Killerwhale who finished second, this time in the 50m backstroke, completing the race in 31.08.

Merchan also made the final of the 50m butterfly competition but could not pick up a medal despite clocking a time of 30.65

Another double medalist at the London Aquatic Centre, home to the swimming events at the 2012 Olympics, was Grace Gilroy.

Like Statham and Merchan, Gilroy took home a silver medal in the 17-and-over 200m breaststroke, finishing in a time of 2.39.16.

Gilroy later added a bronze medal to her collection after completing the 100m breaststroke in a time of 1.15.63.

The Killerwhales youngster was clearly in good form at the gala as she also made it through to the final of the 200m individual medley, but Gilroy could not add to her medal tally, recording 2.31.57.

Other Killerwhales to compete in finals included Daniel Sida in the 14-year-old boys’ 200m freestyle, finishing in a time of 2:15.43

The 15-year-old Tilly Pearson was in the final of the girls’ 200m breaststroke and achieved a respectable time of 2.59.18, while Killerwhales also saw Allister Cummins, Christopher Stephens, Harrison Rider, Jade Braybrooke, Sam Little, Karis McGuirk, Brianna Cummins, Charlie Rouse, Lucie Davis, Daniel Robinson, Jonathan Cox, Lisa Murphy, Toby Andrews and Alex Merchan all compete.

And after proving themselves worthy competitors against the best the capital has to offer, the club’s young swimmers will surely take the confidence into their forthcoming galas throughout the rest of the season.