Celebrations for 60 years of Melton Swimming Club

The club was launched when Waterfield Leisure Centre, on Dalby Road, first opened and it has continued to produce generations of talented swimmers.

Some reached the very pinnacle of the sport, such as Jean Jeavons, who swam for the Melton club before going on to represent Great Britain at the 1972 Munich Olympics, narrowly missing out on a final in one of her events.

Club chair, Jenny Beech, told the Melton Times: “The swimming club has been an integral part of the Melton community for the past 60 years.

“Recent years have been exceptionally difficult with the pandemic, followed by the energy price issues and the cost of living crisis.

"If any local businesses are looking for a sponsorship opportunity with a winning club in Olympic year – they can email me at [email protected] to discuss it.”

Melton Borough Council and contractors Everyone Active recently announced a major overhaul would be carried out on the swimming pool building following a series of issues.

The town swimming club has also used pools in other neighbouring towns but they have also had maintenance problems.

Jenny added: “We lost a pool at Oakham which was an important training facility and also suffered two lengthy pool closures – one at Waterfield and one at Uppingham, both due to roof issues.

“Despite this, our swimmers continue to bring home the medals.

“We are constantly worrying about the pool at Waterfield as it is clearly past its sell-by-date and requires a great deal of work to bring it up to standard.

"This is likely to impact on training going forwards with our only option being to purchase expensive pool time at other venues, such as Loughborough University.”

Diamond anniversary celebrations are planned later in the year for club swimmers, past and present.

Melton Swimming Club (MMSC) was named ‘Club of the Year’ at last year’s Let’s Get Moving Melton Awards.

And they started their new season with a bang at the annual Leicestershire and Rutland Championships (LASA), showing why they are one of the finest clubs in the area.

The squad of 40, who were aged between 10 and 22, improved on their 2023 performance by winning 30 gold medals, nine silvers and 14 bronzes, as well as reaching a further 32 finals.

Head coach, Tracy McGhie, said: “The coaches at MMSC are extremely proud of all our swimmers’ achievements at the county championships this year, with the team of 40 swimmers

achieving almost 200 new personal best times over the three weekends, showing great progression with personal bests in both heats and finals in many events.

“The number of medals and county champions is a testament to our swimmers’ hard work and dedication, with a focus on great technique and race skills.

"The whole team were a credit to the club with positive team spirit.

“I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the swimmers, the coaching team, volunteers, officials, and parents for a great 2024 county championships.”

In the older age groups, Miles won the junior trophies in the 100m Backstroke, Butterfly, Individual Medley and 200m Freestyle, and was second in the 100m Freestyle, 200m Backstroke and 200m Individual Medley.

Olivia claimed third in the Senior 100m Breaststroke; Charlotte was third in the Senior 200m Individual Medley and Amy came third in the 200m Individual Medley.

Not to be outdone, Melton’s 12 and under age group swimmers excelled with Milen, Ivy, Meredith and Zak all taking home trophies for their overall results.

Milen and Ivy came first and second, respectively, in their age group after a closely fought battle between the two.

Milen topped the overall medal haul for MMSC with a whopping 14 medals across the three weekends of galas – 11 of which were gold.

She was closely followed by Ivy, with 12 medals, Miles with 10 and Lily-May with eight.

Swimmers are now gearing up for the national qualifiers in April, regional championships in May, followed by the internal club championships in June.

MMSC medal winners in the county championships:

GOLD MEDALS -

11yrs: Lily-May 50m Breaststroke & Freestyle, 100m Breaststroke, Freestyle & Individual Medley.

12yrs: Milen 50m & 100m Breaststroke, 100m Freestyle & Individual Medley, 200m Breaststroke, Freestyle, Butterfly & Individual Medley, 400m Freestyle & Individual Medley & 800m Freestyle;

Ivy 50m Backstroke, Butterfly & Freestyle,100m & 200m Backstroke.

15yrs: Miles 50m Freestyle, Butterfly & Backstroke, 100m Freestyle, Butterfly, Backstroke & Individual Medley, 200m Freestyle & Individual Medley.

SILVER MEDALS -

11yrs: Lily-May 50m Backstroke.

12yrs: Milen 50m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly, 200m Backstroke; Ivy 100m Freestyle, 200m & 400m Individual Medley.

15yrs Evie 50m Breaststroke; Miles 200m Backstroke

16/O: yrs Olivia 50m Breaststroke.

BRONZE MEDALS –

11yrs: Lily-May 50m Butterfly, 200m Individual Medley.

12yrs: Milen 100m Butterfly; Ivy 50m Breaststroke, 200m, 400m & 800m Freestyle.

15yrs: Evie 50m & 100m Backstroke, 200m Individual Medley;

16/O yrs Amy 50m & 100m Butterfly; Olivia 100m Breaststroke; Charlotte 200m Individual Medley.

FINALISTS –

Gregory, Joshua, Clayton, Jude, Jane, Austin, Ben E, Emma.

ADDITIONAL SQUAD MEMBERS –

Meredith, Theo, Toby, Jack, Zak, Noah, Stanley, Sophie, Felicity, Loui, Jacob, Phoebe, Eva, Megan, James, Reuben, Oliver, Brooke and Jade.

Anyone interested in getting involved with Melton Mowbrary Swimming Club, including masters and triathlon swimmers is welcome to make contact with them.

Click HERE for details or check out the club’s Facebook page.