An Ashville College pupil has “done the double”2 in the finals of a national swimming competition.
Joe Moore competed in the The Swim England National Summer Meet which was held at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield, and attended by schools and clubs from all over the country.
The National Summer Meet is Swim England’s biggest domestic swimming event of the year. Thousands of athletes compete over the six-day meet in a full range of Olympic swimming events held for five different age groups as well as para-swimmers.
Ashville College’s Joe Moore qualified for these championships in the 100m and 50m breaststroke, and was ranked in the top ten going into the competition.
In the 100m qualifying heat he finished third with a personal best time of 1 min 09.54 seconds. It was a similar picture in the 50m, with Joe again finishing third. He also secured another personal best of 31.49 seconds.
In the 100m final, Joe found himself in second position after 50m but came back strongly to claim the gold medal in a new personal best time of 1 minute and 07.88 seconds.
In the final of the 50m, he found himself trailing in third position after 20m, but in what can only be described as a very powerful last half of the race, he surged ahead to claim his second gold of the event in a time of 31.06 seconds – his third PB of the day!
Joe said:
This was my first swimming nationals. I only completed in two events and I won a gold medal in both. Double gold. It’s unbelievable!
Winning the 100m definitely made me feel more confident going into the 50m event. To get PBs in both races made it even more special. It was the perfect end to a great competition.
I want to thank everyone who supported me, my friends and coaches. I really appreciate all their encouragement.
Duncan Archer, Ashville College’s Head of Swimming, said:
This was a fantastic Swimming Meet and I could not be prouder of Joe’s performance.
Joe splits his training time between Ashville and Harrogate Swimming Club. To have him performing at this national level is a great honour for Ashville. His hard work and attention to detail has certainly been richly rewarded.
We look forward to seeing Joe’s continual development in the future. He should be very proud of his double gold and new personal best times!
