Christchurch Seagulls Swimming Club

🎉 DORSET INTER COUNTY TEAM SELECTION 🎉

Massive congratulations to our Seagulls swimmers who have been selected to represent Dorset at the national Inter County Championships in Sheffield 🏊‍♂️🏊‍♀️💙

A fantastic achievement and a brilliant reward for the hard work, commitment and progress shown in training and competition. 👏

💚Team Dorset💚

Sadie Roberts
Neve Truscott
Harri Chessell
Ben Ward
Rowan Stevens
Isaac Thring
Archie Rand

Go and enjoy the experience, race hard and represent Dorset with pride! 🔥

We’re incredibly proud of you all — well deserved! 👏

🏊‍♂️ DORSET DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME 2026–2027 🏊‍♀️

Massive congratulations to all our Seagulls swimmers selected for this year’s Dorset Development Programme! 👏🔥

This selection is a fantastic reward for the hard work, commitment and improvements you’ve shown over the past year — particularly your progression in the 200 IM which the programme is selected on 💪📈

Now it’s time to embrace the experience, learn from the opportunity and take away as much as you can! 🧠

We’re incredibly proud of you all! 💙🤍

Well deserved — now go and enjoy it! 👏

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿SWIM ENGLAND OPEN WATER NATIONALS 2026 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Massive congratulations to Freddy Weighell on making his national debut at the Swim England Open Water Nationals in Sheffield! 💪

Racing against some of the best distance swimmers in the country, Freddy took on the 3km event as swimmer number 30 and produced a fantastic performance to finish 23rd overall in a time of 48:46! 👏🔥

Coming away with a huge smile, a brilliant result and a whole lot of experience to take forward. This was also Freddy’s first ever 3km race, having qualified through the 2km event — making the achievement even more impressive! 💪

Open water racing is about so much more than just pacing. Sighting, positioning, timing into turns, tactics and racing in a pack all play a huge part, making this a fantastic learning experience for Freddy as he continues to develop as a distance swimmer. 🌊🏊‍♂️

A huge shoutout to the family for the amazing support throughout the day — including younger brother Stan, who watched and supported all the way! 💙👏

We couldn’t be prouder of you, Freddy. Not only for qualifying for the Nationals, but for stepping up to the challenge, racing against the best and coming away with an incredible experience and result.

What a way to make your national debut! 🔥💙

NATIONALS UPDATE! 🇮🇪

Big shouts to Orla Whittaker for her performance in the 50m Breaststroke at the Irish Summer Nationals 2026!

⏱️ 34.95 LC PB! - (season progression 36.5 > 34.9 )
🏆 18th Overall (B Final*)

Awesome swimming, Orla! We’re all so proud of you. 👏👏

*Due to 2 outside club rule, Orla was unable to compete in the final.

Amazing way to finish the season on a high. ☘️

🏊‍♂️🔥 IAPS SWIMMING 2026 🔥🏊‍♂️

Massive congratulations to Seagulls swimmer Toby Champkin on an incredible performance at the IAPS Swimming Championships in London! 🇬🇧

After progressing through the qualifiers, Toby stepped up on the big stage, making it through to the finals and producing personal best swims along the way. 👏🔥

This is the perfect cherry on top of an incredible year of hard work, commitment and progression. ⭐️

At the back end of last season, Toby’s 50 Fly PB stood at 55.13 — and now, he has dropped that time all the way down to an incredible 41.68! 🤯👏

What an amazing progression, Toby! Your hard work is paying off, and we couldn’t be prouder! 💙🤍

Well done, Toby! ⭐️🔥

🏊‍♂️💙🤍

🏊‍♂️💙 RUSHMOOR ROYAL END OF SEASON LEVEL 3 (LC) 💙🏊‍♀️

A massive well done to our team of 17 Seagulls swimmers who competed in Aldershot at the final Long Course meet of the season.

It was a fantastic way to round off the LC season, with some excellent racing across the weekend. From swimmers experiencing their first-ever Long Course competition, to others testing themselves at the end of a demanding training cycle and long season, there were plenty of positives to take away.

📊 Overall Team Stats:
🥇 14 Gold Medals
🥈 6 Silver Medals
🥉 12 Bronze Medals
💥 70% PB Rate

A huge congratulations to every swimmer for their effort, commitment, and performances throughout the weekend. Now it’s time to finish the season strong and look ahead to the next challenge.

💙🤍 Well done, Seagulls!

🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 SATELLITE MEMBERS – NATIONAL QUALIFIERS 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧

A huge congratulations to our Seagulls Satellite Members on their outstanding achievements in qualifying for the British and Swim England National Championships.

Although these swimmers now train away from home for much of the year, they all remain valued members of Seagulls, returning to train with the club during home periods. Each has progressed through the Seagulls pathway, and it’s fantastic to see that journey continue onto the national stage.

🏊 Aquatics GB Next Gen Championships
💙 Sadie
• 200 Freestyle (Day 2)
• 100 Backstroke (Day 3)
• 100 Freestyle (Day 6)
• 50 Backstroke (Day 6)
• 50 Freestyle (Day 7)

💙 Sophie
• 50 Breaststroke (Day 2)
• 100 Breaststroke (Day 3)

💙 Edward
• 50 Backstroke (Day 2)

🏊 Swim England National Championships

💙 Lawrence
• 400 Freestyle (Day 1)
• 200 IM (Day 1)
• 200 Freestyle (Day 4)
• 400 IM (Day 6)

💙 Edward
• 100 Freestyle (Day 2)
• 100 Backstroke (Day 4)
• 200 Backstroke (Day 5)

👏 A special mention to Sadie and Edward, who will also be representing their school programmes in the Nex gen Championship relay events throughout the week.

We are incredibly proud of everything you have achieved and can’t wait to follow your performances on the national stage.

Good luck to all our swimmers—we’ll be cheering you on every step of the way!

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 NATIONAL QUALIFIER 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

A huge congratulations to Joshua Hembrow on qualifying for the Swim England Summer Nationals 2026 in the 100m Butterfly! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

This will be Joshua’s national debut, and it’s a fantastic reward for the dedication, hard work, and consistency he’s shown throughout the season.

What’s even more impressive is that Joshua had never raced the 100m Butterfly in Long Course before the South West Regional Championships. To step up on the big stage, deliver a lifetime best, and secure a place at the National Championships is an outstanding achievement.

📈 Joshua’s Progress This Season:

🦋 100m Butterfly – 1:09.57 (SC PB) ➡️ 1:04.74 (LC PB) 🔥
🦋 50m Butterfly – 30.58 (SC PB) ➡️ 28.74 (LC PB) ⚡

Joshua has been part of the Seagulls pathway since 2020, progressing through the squads while continually developing his technical skills, race ex*****on, and confidence in the water. This season has seen that hard work truly come to life.

A well-deserved achievement and one we’re all incredibly proud of.

Congratulations, Josh! 👏💙🤍

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 NATIONAL QUALIFIER 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

From county level… to regional success… and now the national stage. 🌊🔥

A huge congratulations to Freddy Weighell, who has qualified for the Swim England Open Water National Championships after an outstanding 4th-place finish at the South West Regional Open Water Championships.

Freddy will make his national debut in the 3km race in Sheffield on 25th July—a brilliant milestone that reflects the hard work, commitment, and consistency he has shown throughout the season.

📈 Distance improvements this season:

🏊 1500m Freestyle: 21:06.63 ➡️ 19:06.77
🏊 800m Freestyle: 11:04.48 ➡️ 10:15.03

Since joining Seagulls in 2023, Freddy has continued to develop year after year, progressing from county to regional, and now earning his place on the national stage. This achievement is a testament to his dedication and the work he’s put into becoming a stronger distance swimmer.

We’re incredibly proud of you, Freddy, and can’t wait to see you represent Seagulls in Sheffield.

Good luck, Freddy! 👏💙