Swim England squad win more than 50 medals at Swedish Grand Prix

Swim England’s Youth Performance Squad won more than 50 medals as they took on athletes from across the continent at the 2023 Swedish Grand Prix event.

The squad of 42 athletes came away with 53 medals in all with 21 golds, 14 silvers and 18 bronze medals throughout the three days of competition.

The group flew out to Sweden on Thursday ahead of the competition at the Kungsbacka Badhus Sports Centre from Friday 10 to Sunday 12 March.

They were joined by 20 members of staff, headed up by Swim England’s Interim Head of Swimming Richard Blackshaw, to support the swimmers throughout their time in Sweden.

The experience gained will prepare the swimmers for April’s British Swimming Championships and a packed summer of Junior International events which includes both the European Junior Championships and the Youth Commonwealth Games.

A record breaking event

It was a special competition for 13 year-old Amelie Blocksidge who broke three British age-group records in Sweden.

The City of Salford swimmer set new British best times for her age in each of the 1500m, 800m and 400m Freestyle events.

It earnt her three gold medals in Kungsbacka, which begun on day one where she lowered her own 1500m Freestyle record time.

She knocked four seconds off her best as she set a 16:31.36 to grab gold, as she led an all-England podium.

She finished ahead of Aimee Hood, who was second (16:55.21), with Lucy Fox third (17:04.22).

On day two Blocksidge continued her impressive form in the 800m Freestyle as she smashed the previous record by nine seconds after she set a time of 8:39.14.

England’s Kennedy Denby also took bronze in the event, finishing in 9:01.66.

She rounded out her impressive meet on the final day with the 400m Freestyle title with a third British age group record.

Blocksidge clocked in a time of 4:15.06 as she finished 3.43 ahead of her nearest rival. England’s Aimee Hood took bronze in the event, finishing in 4:21.40.

Fox also took to the top step of the podium on the final day in impressive style.

She sped away from the rest of the pack in the Women’s 200m Butterfly as she set a time of 2:13.79 that was almost five seconds quicker than her nearest challenger.

England also saw success on the men’s side of the distance races.

Reece Grady came away with three gold medals of his own in the 1500m, 800m and 400m Freestyle.

Harry Wynne-Jones finished narrowly behind his teammate in each of the three races to claim silver with Joseph Stout taking bronze in the 1500m race and Reuben Rowbotham-Keating won bronze in the 400m event.

Pheobe Cooper was at the double on day two. She opened up the night of finals with victory in the Women’s 200m Freestyle before returning to the pool later on in the evening to claim the Women’s 200m Individual Medley crown.

Toby Hill also came away with two gold medals in one night on the final day of action. He won both the Men’s 50m and 200m Backstroke where he opened up a big lead early on and held on well to the finish.

And Kidiest Hodgson was on form in the women’s backstroke as she won both the Women’s 50m and 100m Backstroke events.

She raced to the wall in 29.32 in the 50m race and then won her second title on the final day, finishing in 1:02.91 in the 100m final.

The Swim England teams also secured two one-two finishes in both relay races at the event.

You can find all the results from the Swedish Grand Prix event here.