THE city of Swansea Aquatics has been storming to success at both local and national level in all competitions.
The club swimmers brought home 10 medals including 1 gold, 2 silvers, and 7 bronzes from the British Summer Championships in July.
Closer to home at the ‘Swim Wales Summer Meet’ the team brought home 25 golds, 12 silvers and 17 bronzes. They finished 2nd highest in the medal tally and the gold medal haul against welsh swimmers and swimming clubs from England.
It has been a highly successful summer period for local swimmers in the club. The success has been celebrated by the coaching team led by head coach Hayley Baker.
Sam Jones Assistant Head Coach said: “The club has made significant progress in the last 12 months recording its best-ever medal tally against tough competition .”
Jones went on to say: “Performance Gold swimmers Dylan Lewis and Ruby Lloyd were part of the team success in the summer”
We caught up with them to ask a few questions on how they balance their swimming with life outside the pool:
Age: |
Ruby: 14 Dylan: 15 |
How many years have you been with the club? |
Ruby: I have been with the club for about 6 years Dylan: 9 years |
Why did you decide to join the City of Swansea Aquatics? |
Ruby: I decided to join Swansea Aquatics because I wanted to swim for a team and race competitively Dylan: My older brothers were in the club, they enjoyed it and I wanted to swim like them |
What current squad are you currently in? |
Ruby: I’m currently in Performance Gold Dylan: Performance Gold |
What’s the best bit of being in your squad? |
Ruby: The best bit of being in my squad is that I can improve my skills an technique to help me swim faster and I get to swim with my friends Dylan: My coach and all my friends in there |
What’s your favourite stroke at the moment and why? |
Ruby: My favourite stroke at the moment is a butterfly because I need to practice it a lot in order to achieve the times I want Dylan: Freestyle |
What are you currently working on with your coach to improve your swimming? |
Ruby: I am currently trying to improve my front crawl so I do not over-rotate my body Dylan: My turns |
What is your ambition/goal in swimming? |
Ruby: My goal is to enter British Nationals next year Dylan: To get a British National qualifying time |
What’s the best result (to date) you have achieved? |
Ruby: The best result I have achieved is a gold medal in 200m Butterfly in Summer [Swim Wales] competition which put me 3rd [ranked in age] in Wales Dylan: 2 Golds and 1 Silver in the Welsh Summer Nationals |
Who is your role model? |
Ruby: My Role model is Katie Ledecky because she holds the world record for the 1500m freestyle Dylan: Adam Peaty |
FUN- What’s your favourite food? |
Ruby: My Favourite food is pasta Dylan: Chicken |
FUN – Favourite superhero and Why? |
Ruby: My favourite superhero is Superman because he can fly Dylan: Dr Strange because he can stop time |
FUN – Do you play any other sports? |
Ruby: I play netball for my school Dylan: Committed to swimming and school |
FUN – Talking milkshakes strawberry or chocolate? |
Ruby: I prefer chocolate milkshakes Dylan: Chocolate milkshakes |
To finish off when is your next swimming competition? |
Ruby: My Next competition is club championships 21 and 22nd September Dylan: is Swansea Aquatics club championships this weekend |
Both swimmers are coached by Performance Coach Oliver Tennett who himself swam on the international stages for the City Of Swansea Aquatics.
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