St Michael’s Academy swimming stars, L-R, Melody Jones, 11, of Billingham, Laura McCluskey, 12, of Norton, Stockton,
Erin Flynn, 12, of Norton, Stockton and Erin Donnelly, 11, of Billingham, with the English Schools Swimming Association
freestyle
relay
winners
cup
St Michael’s Academy Celebration of Achievement
Special
Award
Winners
Young swimmers make a splash
S
YOUNG
swimming stars
have made a
splash after
triumphing
against top class
competition
from across the
region.
T Michael’s Catholic Academy, Billingham,
swimming team claimed first place in the
11-14 girls 200m freestyle relay at the
English Schools Swimming Association
North East qualifying championships.
“This was the girls first competitive
event as a team so to go out and win
against such strong competition was
an incredible achievement.”
PE teacher Rebecca Leighton
Swimmers Melody Jones, 11, Erin Donnelly, 11,
Laura McCluskey, 12 and Erin Flynn, 11, also
fought off opposition from 24 teams, from
Northumberland to Sheffield, to win the individual
medley race putting them in contention to progress
to the national finals of the competition to be held
at the Olympic Water Park in London in
November.
St Michael’s PE teacher Rebecca Leighton said:
“This was the girls first competitive event as a
team so to go out and win against such strong
competition was an incredible achievement.
“They were racing against swimmers much older
than themselves and also against schools which
have their own pool facilities and competitive
swimming programmes.
Melody Jones, Laura McCluskey, Erin Flynn, and Erin
Donnelly with Maura Regan chief executive and
principal of the Carmel Education Trust
Melody Jones with the English Schools Swimming
Association freestyle relay winners cup
St Michael’s Academy 11-14 girls freestyle relay winners with PE teacher Rebecca Leighton
“This is a really proud moment for St Michael’s
Academy and we hope that the team will continue
to go from strength to strength in the future.”
All four girls already swim competitively outside
of school with Erin Flynn representing Billingham
Amateur Swimming Club and Melody, Erin
Donnelly and Laura training with the Borough of
Stockton Swim Scheme (BOSSS).
Erin Flynn, 12, of Norton,
Stockton
Laura McCluskey, 12, of
Norton, Stockton
All four girls are now hoping that
their winning swim of 2.07 seconds
will get them enough points, against
other regional qualifiers, to take
them to the finals in London.
“I’ve been swimming since I was two years old,”
said Erin Flynn, of Norton, Stockton.
“I train five times a week before and after school
and would love to represent my country one day in
a major competition.
“Winning the regional finals was really exciting
and made me feel extremely proud.”
Despite swimming for different clubs the girls
found that they immediately gelled as a team.
“We all knew each other from being at the same
swimming galas so when Miss Leighton put us
together as a team we got on straight away,” said
Erin Donnelly, of Billingham.
“We didn’t expect to win as we knew how good
the other teams were so it was a massive surprise
for us to be presented with the cup.”
Erin Donnelly, 11, of Billingham
With a lead of over a length in their final race the
four girls are now hoping that their winning swim
of 2.07 seconds will get them enough points,
against other regional qualifiers, to take them to
the finals in London.
Laura, of Stockton, who is the current Scottish
National Age Group Champion for the 200
freestyle, added: “It’s great to be able to swim as
part of a team.
“Its hard work and very tiring and you have to be
driven to want to succeed but we all really enjoy it
and it’s good to be able to bring the winning cups
back to school.”