A long and busy year of competition for two Wyre Forest swimmers came to an end last weekend when Claire Cashmore and Fran O’Connor swam in the Welsh Long Course Championships in Swansea. Most of the swimmers who had competed in the World Championships in Rio de Janeiro the previous week were feeling the effects of viral infections they had picked up while they were away and, as a result, recorded times that were below their personal bests.

However, Fran (18), representing Swansea Performance, managed to buck that trend on the first day as she knocked four seconds off her own British record for the S7 400 metre Freestyle as she stopped the clock in 5:45.86 to win the Gold medal. She also won Gold in the 50 and 100 metre Freestyle events.

Claire (21), representing City of Leeds, won Gold in the S9 100 metre Breaststroke and a Bronze in the 200 metre Individual medley before withdrawing from the rest of the competition due to ill-health.

Both can now enjoy a well-earned break from competition and a rest from hard training before resuming their intensive training in the New Year.