KINGSBRIDGE Kingfishers Swimming Club were represented at the high level South West Regional Championships by two young athletes who did both themselves and their club proud at the weekend.

The club’s Chloe Morris and Lucas Quiggin are both enjoying a rapid rise in the swimming world and their development is exceeding all expectations under Head Coach Karen Dorey, continuing into their recent successes. 

Lucas achieved a late qualification to Regionals in four events. His best performance was in the 50 metre breaststroke, placing 21st out of a field of 36 qualifiers. His highest overall finish was 14th in the 200 metre butterfly, in what was a tremendously difficult race in an Olympic sized long course pool. There is still plenty of development left to come for Lucas, and we are excited to see him finish higher in the standings next year.

Meanwhile, Chloe Morris qualified for an amazing 11 events, choosing to race in nine of them. Racing as one of the younger swimmers in the 13 years of age category, she stormed to a final in her first event – the 200 metre individual medley – and finished that final in an exceptional fourth place. 

Another fourth place finish followed in the 50 metre breaststroke, while she finished the 50 metre freestyle final in fifth place. It took until the second weekend for her to finally break into the top three, with a brilliant 100 metre breaststroke bronze medal achieved in a race where she was only three tenths of a second off taking the gold medal. She also managed to beat every swimmer in Devon in the process and will now set her sights on trying to become a county champion next winter. 

Chloe and Lucas continue to be brilliant role models for the next generation of young Kingfishers swimmers coming through the club. Over 60 Kingsbridge Kingfishers Swimming Club swimmers took part in the latest race night – 50 metre time trials held at Quayside Leisure Centre – and there are 27 junior swimmers set to take part in the Devon Development and Sprint Galas this coming June. 

Many of those junior swimmers have come through the Fusion Swim School and have now made the leap to competitive swimming with Kingfishers, who hope to keep growing in strength as the season nears its end. 

Should anyone be interested in getting involved or sponsoring one of the club’s upcoming competitions, you can get in touch with the club by sending an email to [email protected]. Kingsbridge Kingfishers is affiliated to Swim England, Devon County ASA and Swim England South West, and boasts around 100 swimmers across three squads. They are based at the Quayside Leisure Centre in Kingsbridge.