Team Waltham Forest got off to a great start at the National Age Group Championships.

Poppy Hill came 8^th in the girls 1500 in a personal best time, closely followed by Elizabeth Hare in 10^th place, also in a personal best time. Stephanie Malcolm, came a creditable 17^th place in a very tough girls 200m backstroke, while Nathan Leong, in the boys 11 years age group, swam 2 tough events, the 200m butterfly and the 200m individual medley, and made finals in both. He swam very committed races and came 9^th in the butterfly and 10^th in the IM.

Stephanie Malcolm finished with a 16^th place in the 200m Butterfly and 18^th in the 100m butterfly. In the girls 800m freestyle, Poppy Hill came 20^th in a personal best, and Elizabeth Hare came 23^rd just outside of her best.

Amrita Robertson swam a great 200m butterfly, overall finishing in 17^th place

In the girls 800m freestyle relay, strong performances by Stephanie Malcolm, Poppy Hill, Elizabeth Hare and Emma Hasler rewarded them with 19^th place.

Stephanie Malcolm put in a strong performance to reach the final of the girls 100m backstroke finishing in 8^th place.

Nathan Leong with another strong swim in the heats of the 100 butterfly reached the final and improved on his placing in the final, to finish in the cruellest place in swimming, 4^th place just outside the medals.

Overall a great team effort by the swimmers, some of whom had never experienced swimming in such a high level competition, who nevertheless remained undaunted and gave their best efforts, securing 6 top ten places. Special mention should also be made of Head Coach Mike Bush and Assistant Head Coach Tony Hills who have prepared the swimmers to compete with the best in the country, and who have achieved such good results.