F-Teamers rack up medals at Euro SC Champs

Funky Trunks and Funkita athletes closed out 2023 in style with seven medals at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Otopeni, Romania.

F-Teamers Jacob Peters, Ellen Walshe, Imogen Clark, and Sean Niewold all left the championships with medals around their necks after a tough number of days competing between 5-10 December.

Great Britain’s Peters enjoyed a successful meet, securing a silver medal in the men’s 4x50m medley relay. The 23-year-old also claimed bronze in the men’s 100m butterfly with 49.98, and a British record in the men’s 50m butterfly, finishing in a time of 22.10.

Peters was happy with his performances on the European stage, and says the competition was used as preparation for up-and-coming championships next year.

“[I] tapered for this meet and achieved all my goals, there are good things to come this year.

“I used this as a learning meet for Olympic trials in April.”

Meanwhile, Walshe broke two Irish records, with 2.08.50 in the women’s 200m individual medley and 56.67 in the women’s 100m butterfly, alongside her bronze in the women’s 400m individual medley.

After injury problems had hampered her short course seasons in the past, Walshe was happy to be back racing fast at the championships.

Following her bronze medal, she said: “I had not raced short course in two years due to an illness I had last year, so getting back to racing short course was a lot of fun.

“I would have liked to have been a little faster, to be in and around my best, but to come away with a bronze medal I am delighted.”

Clark was another F-Teamer a part of the British contingent that topped the medal table at the championships, and she more than earned her keep, claiming bronze in both the women’s 50m breastroke (29.41) and the women’s 4x50m medley relay.

The 24-year-old swam the breaststroke leg in British record-breaking relay, and she was more than happy with the result.

“The meet was good,” said Clark. “In the women’s relay I split the third fastest time ever in the world, and we broke the British record, which was a lot of fun.”

Only a week after Europeans, Clark broke her own British record in the 50m breastroke, touching the wall in a razor sharp 29.17 to take gold at the 2023 Swim England National Winter Champs.

Niewold, who came up against his fellow F-Teamer Peters on a number of occasions, was another member of the team to bring home silverware from the competition.

The Dutch athlete earned two bronze medals in the Mixed and the Men’s 4x50m medley relay, swimming the fly leg in the heat of the mixed relay and the final of the men’s.

There were also a number of fourth places for our F-Teamers, including Joe Litchfield, who narrowly missed bronze in the men’s 200m individual medley, in a time of 1:53.57 and swam 52.03 in the final of the 100m individual medley to finish fifth.

Leah Schlosshan was another who impressed in Romania, securing three personal bests on her debut senior international meet for GB.

Schlosshan finished third in the heats of the women’s 200m individual medley in a time of 2:07.83, but due to her two compatriots Katie Shanahan and Abbie Wood finishing in first and second, she could not progress to the semi-finals.

Ireland's Evan Bailey capped off a big year of improvement with a semi-final swim in the 200m freestyle clocking a 1:46.57.

After a rollercoaster year, Britian's Jacob Whittle showed that he's ready for a big 2024 swimming 46.77 in the final of the 100m freestyle. This came off the back of his PB at the Rotterdam Qualification Meet (Long Course) where he swam a blistering 48.03 surpassing his 48.11 from 2 years ago. Whittle has returned to training under his former Derventio eXcel coach Jamie Main at Bath which has given him a new focus in the pool and could be the sign of big things for Whittle in 2024.

With the calendar packed, it is going to be a big swimming year in 2024, and we cannot wait to see our F-Teamers hitting the water.

About the author

Harry Bamforth is a former swimmer based in Birmingham who is now a sports journalist reporting on the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Premier League and EFL football.