Bede's School swim team finish in national top 10

Bede’s School’s boys’ swim team took part in the English Schools National Swimming Championship.
Bede's School swim team, Matthew Chan, Oliver Charman, Matthew Metcalfe and Max CooperBede's School swim team, Matthew Chan, Oliver Charman, Matthew Metcalfe and Max Cooper
Bede's School swim team, Matthew Chan, Oliver Charman, Matthew Metcalfe and Max Cooper

Matthew Chan, Oliver Charman, Matthew Metcalfe and Max Cooper made up the intermediate boys team and participated in the medley relay and front crawl relay.

The Secondary Schools Team Relay Championships is the longest running championship series organised by the ESSA. It is open to secondary school aged swimmers from across England.

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The Bede’s boys’ team had already succeeded in the Sussex regionals – ranking 14 out of 20 in the medley relay and 15 out of 20 in the front crawl relay. This meant that they made it through to the finals at the London Aquatic Centre – the home of swimming for the 2012 Olympics.

In the first intermediate boys’ 4x50m medley race, the team upheld their position from the previous round – 14th. In the intermediate front crawl race, the team performed brilliantly and finished the race in the top 10.

This meant they were in the final – where they swam even faster than the previous race and ended ninth.

They completed the race with an incredible time of 1:49:21. These results are outstanding, considering some schools involved were specialist swim schools.

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The boys were taken to the championships by their coaches Phil Osborn and Tabby Reed.

Osborn, Bede’s head of swimming, said: “In the last two years, we have made enormous gains on the swim team. This is hopefully the start of more success to come. Our performance at the English Schools National Swimming Championships was incredible. Tabby and I are very pleased with the results.”