Two-Time National Champions in Primary Swimming

June 18th 2025

Sport Swimming

It has been a brilliant month for 8-13 swimming and St Peter's is proud to recognise the impressive achievements of the pupils who have worked so hard to represent our school with such skill and determination. Mr Maycock, Head of Swim, has written reports of the Swim Competitions which took place over the last two weekends where our pupils took home not just one, but two national titles!

St Peters 8-13 Excel at National IAPs Finals - 7th June

This month, 25 swimmers from across the age group made the trip to the Olympic Pool in London to compete in the IAPs National Finals. First up in the pool was the girls, with the boys in the afternoon. The session got off to a fabulous start with the under 11 girls taking the victory in the medley relay. This set the tone for the rest of the day. PBs were broken or qualification places were improved on in every single event. 19 of the 21 events taken part in resulted in top 10 finishes, including all 9 relay teams.

St Peter's U10 Boys (with 1 under 9) were outstanding in the relays resulting in brilliant 6^th and 9^th place finishes. Individual swims from Raphie and Bertie (Year 4) were amazing, finishing 7^th and 13^th respectively. Special mention to Bertie in the year above. These are the best results we have had for U10 boys! Our U10 Girls Izzy and Sophie represented the school in individual swims, no relays. The girls swam stunning swims with Izzy unlucky not to make the final despite a brilliant time. Sophie claimed a stunning bronze medal in her 50m backstroke.

The U11 Girls won both relays with simply unbelievable swims, winning by a significant margin. This marks the first time St Peters have won a gold in the relays. Olivia A, Morgan B and Olivia M all made finals in their individual swims. All girls swam incredible times. Olivia A came out with a magnificent gold in the butterfly, and despite brilliant swims, such was the standard of competition, Olivia M and Morgan just missed out on a medal. Together with Adriana G, the U11 girls were crowned over all national champions for the first time in St Peters history. A huge well done to these girls.

The U11 Boys relays made a significant stride forward from their qualifying times, placing them in the top 10. Individual swims from Charlie R and Archie W saw both boys swim quite outstanding times. Archie improved his PB but was unlucky not to make the final, and Charlie claimed an incredible silver medal in the 50m butterfly. Again these are the best results we have achieved for U11 Boys.

The relays for the U12 Girls were a revelation. Improving on qualification by 10 places, eventually finishing 6^th and 13th. Iris made the 50m breaststroke final with a superb swim. For U12 Boys, the medley relay was hugely successful placing 7th. All boys swimming at their very best. Charlie H came 5^th in the breaststroke final, swimming superb swims, again the quality of the opposition showed that despite great times from Charlie, medals just evaded him.

For U13's, we only had Georgie and Joseph representing. Both swam brilliant heats to make the final, producing PB sims. It wasn't to be in the finals with 5^th and 10 places but the swims were outstanding. Well done to Joseph who appeared at his 4^th IAPs finals, making the final on the day every year, in a variety of strokes. Quite an achievement.

The weekend was not only a celebration of St Peters swimming success, but a celebration of hard work, determination, work ethic, team work, collaboration and resilience. I have been involved in coaching and teaching swimming for 20 years- this one one of my proudest days to date. Congratulations all, and thank you to Miss Garrett, Mrs Williams and Mr Hardy for their time and efforts on the trip.

More National Success for Primary Aged Swimmers! - 14th June

For the second time in a week, the Under 11 swimmers attended a national final. Last week was the IAPs, this week the English Schools Swimming Association. This event was open to all primary schools in England, with over 400 entering into the qualifying rounds.

After a day a fierce competition, great resilience and learning, the finals results were spectacular. The girls team of Olivia A, Olivia M, Morgan B and Annabel W came out as over all champions over the two events, meaning they are now double national champions after winning the overall title at both IAPs and ESSA. This is an unprecedented achievement and something everyone should be very proud of. Its not very often you become national champions twice!

The boys team of Charlie R, Oliver W, Archie W, Edward B and Raphie M put in a huge performance, claiming an overall 4^th place in England. This is quite an achievement, and an astonishing end to their 'primary swimming'. The boys showed brilliant team work and comradery to put in a seasons best performance, at the right time.

"This last couple of weeks has been one of the proudest moments in my time at St Peters. For some of these swimmers, we started this journey together in Reception on a Saturday morning at 4 years old. To have been on a journey with them throughout those years has been nothing sort of special. Those that have joined over the years have added real value and strength to the school team to help them reach these highs. I can not wait to continue the journey into the future as they progress through into Year 7 and above.".

-Mr Maycock- Head of Swimming.