From European Junior Championship Success To Award Nominations

Posted on July 14, 2016

The European Junior Swimming Championships in Hódmezovásárhely, Hungary, proved to be a huge success for the 26 strong GB team who finished the tournament with a total of 19 medals; 5 gold, 4 silver and 10 bronze, ranking them third overall.

There were PB's from Emily Large, Freya Anderson, Tazmin Pugh, Tom Derbyshire, Joe Litchfield and Holly Hibbott with English and British Age Group records broken by Emily Large, Freya Anderson and Joe Litchfield.

The medal haul and performances show just how much swimming talent Great Britain has to offer and part of the BSCA's ethos is to recognize the work of our coaches, namely at our annual awards dinner. With candidates for awards being bountiful this year we are opening up the nominations process early; splitting the categories to fall in line with the European Junior Championships, Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

You can make your nominations now for the BSCA Youth Coach of the Year, BSCA Alan Hime Memorial Award, BSCA Lifetime Achievement Award, Award of BSCA Fellow, Award of BSCA Life Membership and BSCA Coaching Chain Award HERE. European Junior Championship swimmers and coaches are listed below to help give you something to start thinking about.

Nominations for Coach of the Year Award, Coaching Award of Excellence and Disability Coach of the Year will be open for nominations later in the year.

Details of medal winning performances from Hódmezovásárhely:

Emily Large made an impressive swim to take Gold in the 200m butterfly in a time of 2.08.87, touching 1.29 seconds clear. A personal best for Emily and new British Age Group record.

Freya Anderson took Gold in the women's 100 freestyle in a time of 54.72; a time that broke the British age group record for 15 year olds by over half a second, previously held by Fran Halsall in a time of 55.40.

Tazmin Pugh managed to fend off her rivals to win her first junior international title in the women's 200 backstroke in 2:11.12. Despite Russia's Polina Egorova leading at the 100m stage, Tazmin showed true British grit to pull back and take Gold. The 16-year-old went unbeaten throughout all three stages of the competition.

Tom Derbyshire won Gold in the men's 1500m freestyle in a time of 15:08.31, an impressive 14 seconds faster than his previous lifetime best. Tom also picked up silver in the 800m freestyle in a time of 7.59.78, only the second British 18-year-old to beat the 8 minute mark in this event.
Joe Litchfield finished the 200 IM in 2:01.07, taking Gold and touching Hungary's Barta Marton by 0.06 seconds. The Doncaster Dartes swimmer shaved his PB by more than half a second, making his 18th birthday one he's likely never to forget.

Holly Hibbott gained a silver in the 400m Freestyle event; 3 seconds ahead of bronze place and just 0.3 seconds off first.

Layla Black achieved second place in the 200m Breastroke as did the Women's 4x200m Freestyle Team which was made up of Freya Anderson, Hannah Featherstone, Tazmin Pugh and Holly Hibbott respectively.

Bronze medals came from Abbie Wood in the 400 IM, Emma Cain for her 200 Breastroke, Thomas Fannon for his 22.30 in the 50m Freestyle, Anna Maine in the 100m Backstroke and David Murphy in the 100m Breastroke. Laura Stephens picked up two bronze medals in the 100m Fly and 200m Fly which she swam in 59.94 and 2:10.18.

The Women's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay, Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay and Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay also finished in 3rd place.

The medals table:

Position Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1. Russia 11 5 6 22
2. Italy 9 8 5 22
3. Great Britain 5 4 10 19
4. Hungary 5 4 3 12
5. Spain 2 3 1 6
6. Poland 2 1 4 7
7. Germany 1 2 2 5
8. Sweden 1 2 1 4
9. Ukraine 1 2 0 3
10. Slovenia 1 1 2 4
11. Croatia 1 1 1 3
12. Denmark 1 1 0 2
13. Portugal 1 1 0 2
14. Serbia 1 0 1 2
15. Ireland 0 2 1 3
16. Czech Republic 0 2 0 2
17. Moldova 0 2 0 2
18. Bulgaria 0 1 0 1
19. Greece 0 0 2 2
20. Austria 0 0 1 1
21. Estonia 0 0 1 1
22. Finland 0 0 1 1
23. Israel 0 0 1 1


Swimmer Coach
Abbie Wood – National Centre, Loughborough Kevin Renshaw / Dave Hemmings
Alex Wray - Deepings Lynn Chapman
Amelia Clynes – City of Leeds Richard Denigan
Anna Maine – Woking Vince Ayling
Brodie Williams – Millfield Euan Dale
Ciara Schlosshan – City of Leeds Richard Denigan
Craig McLean – University of Stirling Steven Tigg
David Murphy – City of Oxford Amanda Booth
Edward Baxter – Cockermouth Sean Balmer
Elliot Clogg – City of Sheffield Mike Taylor
Emily Large – Newcastle Swim Team Ryan Livingstone
Emma Cain – Millfield Euan Dale
Freya Anderson – Ellesmere College Titans Alan Bircher
Hannah Featherstone – Sedgefield and District John Moore
Holly Hibbott – Southport / Stockport Metro Sean Kelly
Isobel Griffiths – City of Birmingham Carl Grosvenor
Jamie O'Connor – Thanet Dan Cross
Joe Litchfield – Doncaster DARTES Andrew Wallace
Laura Stephens – Plymouth Leander Jon Rudd / Robin Armayan
Layla Black – City of Leeds Richard Denigan
Lewis Clough – City of Salford John Stout
Nathan Hughes – Hatfield Janko Gojkovic
Ryan Brown – City of Glasgow Ian Wright
Tazmin Pugh – Ellesmere College Titans Alan Bircher
Thomas Fannon – Plymouth Leander Jon Rudd
Tom Derbyshire – Royal Wolverhampton School Marc Spackman


We'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate all swimmers and coaches involved.

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