Swim England National County Team Championships

Kent Swimming's 2025 Champions

Congratulations to all the team who swam, their Coaches led by Karen Bradbury supported by Sam Minster and Helena Richardson and team managers Marie Atkinson-Brian, Jo Wilson and Charlotte Butler.  As Swim England reported: Kent has once again demonstrated its dominance in county swimming by securing the Division 1 title at the 2025 GoCardless Swim England National County Team Championships.

This marks Kent’s third title in four years and a remarkable back-to-back triumph, reinforcing its reputation as one of the most resilient and talented squads in the country.

Held at Sheffield’s Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, the annual event brought together the top county teams from across England, Wales, and Scotland. Kent delivered a consistently strong performance across all strokes and age groups, amassing an impressive 478 points to top the leaderboard.

Kent’s team manager, Marie Atkinson-Brian, reflected on the significance of the win, especially given the county’s limited access to high-performance facilities. “It’s remarkable what our swimmers and coaches achieve,” she said.

“Kent doesn’t have a 50m pool for training or competition, and even our 25m facilities aren’t top-tier. Yet, our clubs continue to nurture a hotbed of talent. That speaks volumes about the dedication and resourcefulness of everyone involved.”

Atkinson-Brian believes that a key factor in Kent’s continued success is its commitment to swimmer development: “The Swim England County Pathway Programme helps our coaches grow and gives our swimmers the tools they need to develop as athletes.”

While Kent benefits from individual performances, the team’s strength lies in its unity and culture. “We believe it’s the hard work and dedication of our team staff that creates a performance environment where every swimmer can thrive,” she explained.

“There’s a fantastic team atmosphere and ethos, and that’s what drives each member to give their best on the day. Swimmers across the county really want to make this County Team and want to be part of not only what Kent create for them but this fabulous and unique event that Swim England put on for us.

She also praised Swim England for its ongoing efforts: “The event gets better every year. We’re incredibly grateful to all other counties, the staff, suppliers, volunteers, and officials who make it happen.”

Kent’s back-to-back victory is dedicated to Glen Isaacs, their County President and a long-serving coach, volunteer, and Masters swimmer “who wasn’t able to attend to support in person but was there in spirit.”

Open			Girls
12/13			12/13
Romeo Ball	Maidstone		Tyla-Jade Thomas	Medway Maritime
Dane Rawkins	Sevenoaks		Elise Butler	Maidstone
Thomas De Cruz	Beckenham		Martha Rickard	Bromley
Harry Croucher	Gravesend		Anna Collins	Herne Bay
			Eva Kane	Erith
			Jessica Steed	Dover Lifeguard
14/15			14/15
Henry Shepherd	Bromley		Bella Jones	RTW Monson
Hayden Sanders	Bromley		Julia Elvidge	RTW Monson
Haoming Du	Bromley		Josie Lawn	Bromley
Louie Harvey	Erith		Jessica Long	Bromley
			Olivia Cooley	RTW Monson
16/17			16/17
Aran Bissett	RTW Monson		Madeleine Hind	RTW Monson
Harry Cocks	Thanet		Amalie Smith	RTW Monson
Jeremiah Carnegie	White Oak		Imogen Myles	Sevenoaks
William Bowen	Sevenoaks		Scarlett Davie	Sevenoaks
Oscar Colyer	Black Lion

Selection

Selection is based on performance for the year ending 31 August 2025 and on competing/being eligible to compete in the County Championships last January/February. The Clubs listed are therefore the Clubs swimmers swam for prior to 31 August.

About the Competition

The County Team Championships takes place in two short course (25m) pools at the same time – one for Division 1 races, the other for Division 2. There are two heats for each event on the schedule with heats in Division 2 starting about 20 seconds after those of Division 1. The heats for individual races will be seeded according to entry times but the team events will be randomly drawn.

Events

Individual events are contested over:

• 100m Freestyle
• 100m Backstroke
• 100m Butterfly
• 100m Breaststroke 

... and in three age groups:  

• 12/13 years
• 14/15 years
• 16/17 years

There are also 4 x 50m Medley Relays held for each of the age groups and one Mixed 6 x 50m Freestyle Relay ,with teams made up of one boy and one girl from each age group.

Scoring

Point scoring is by place:

• first place worth 20 points
• second place worth 19 points
• third place worth 18 point
• etc right through to one point for 20th.

No points are awarded for disqualification.  At the end of the competition, the bottom four teams from Division 1 are relegated to Division 2 for next year’s event with the top four from Division 2 replacing them.

Kent Team Selection Policy

Full details on Kent team selection and team arrangements are here 

Results Archive

View archived results and other information here

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