Impressive performances from Royal Tunbridge Wells Monson Swimming Club members moved the club last Saturday (February 3) to the top of the medal and points table at the Kent County Championships, following the completion of Session 2 in the competition.
The local club, which started in 1901, has enjoyed a hugely successful start, winning 17 medals (five gold, eight silver and four bronze) along with Hayden Annan setting a new 17+ Kent County record in the 1,500m Freestyle. This is an impressive feat, considering it is the club’s first 50m-long course competition since July 2023, meaning their members had to overcome the challenge of transitioning from 25m to 50m pools.
This coming weekend, the club will be competing in some of the shorter-distance events (400m/200m/100m/50m) at the London Aquatic Centre.
RTW Monson Head Coach Adam Naylor told the Times that the events are a ‘great experience’ for their younger swimmers.
He said: “Any competition or event is a learning opportunity for the athletes, not only in terms of seeing where they are physically, but tactically and technically working on their race process.
“It really is an integral part of their development having these types of racing opportunities and a reward for all of the hard work that the swimmers and the families put in, in their pursuit and maximising their potential.”
RTW Monson helps over 250 local children learn to swim each year and many feed into the competitive arm of the club. The club allows swimmers to compete at any type of competition from fun local galas and league team events to swimming at county, national or international level.
Many past members of the club have gone on to represent their country at the highest level, the first being Fred Dove who competed at the Berlin Olympics in 1936. Other notable Olympians that previously trained at the club are Suki Brownsdon (Swimming) and Hayley Allen (Diving).
Adam added: “RTW Monson is a community club which puts huge a value on a strong team ethos, where our older swimmers set a great example and look after and nurture our younger swimmers. The swimmers and coaches spend a lot of time together and this really does show, it really is a close-knit team with every member extremely proud to pull on the RTW Monson kit.”
The club recently had five swimmers representing the South East at the Luxembourg Euro Meet, where Jess Gable and Emilia Oliver made the B finals, and Denys Mialkovskyi and Amalie Smith made the A finals, going up against Olympians and current world record holders. The South East England team was led by Adam Naylor, who described the experience of coaching the team as a ‘fantastic honour’.
Following their excellent start, RTW Monson are currently preparing for the remainder of the Kent County Championships, by taking their swimmers to Pathos Cyprus for warm weather 50m pool training from February 12-19.
The club have also qualified for the prestigious National Arena League A Final in Cardiff on Sunday March 3, and has 12 swimmers competing at the British Championships in April – the qualification meet that plays a key role in the selection process for the 2024 Olympics in Paris and European Junior Championships.
