A group of seven future Welsh stars gained valuable experience in Canada last week as part of the British Swimming team at the Ontario Junior International Meet.
The young swimmers returned with a haul of medals and one Welsh Junior Record thanks to some incredible performances.
Tyler Melbourne-Smith had recently completed a clean sweep of middle and long distance titles at the Swim England Winter Championships, and he took his domestic form onto the world stage as he dominated the distance programme.
The City of Liverpool athlete clinched gold in the 400m (3:46.03), 800m (7:50.04) and 1500m (14:58.50) Freestyle events to cap-off a breakout year for the Swim Wales Young Performance Athlete of the Year nominee.
Mabli Collyer has also accelerated her development in 2022, and she finished the year off in style. She just missed out on a medal in the 100m Breaststroke, but bounced back to earn a bronze medal and new Welsh Junior Record of 2:28.12 in the 200m Breaststroke. Mabli also got atop the podium when she claimed a gold medal in the 50 Breaststroke in a time of 31.83.
Antonio Rodriguez continued his fine form as he won a pair of bronze medals in the 100m and 200m Butterfly. He also finished fifth in the 50m Fly final and made the A Final in both the 50m and 200m Back, finishing fifth in the latter.
The final Welsh medal went to Max Elkin, who stepped up to win bronze in the 50m Freestyle in a rapid time of 22.55. Max also qualified for the A Finals of the 100m Freestyle and 100m Breaststroke.
Cardiff’s Kaden Edwards gained vital international experience as he finished eighth in the 200m Backstroke final and third in the 400m IM B Final.
Sophie Davies of Millfield competed in five events, qualifying for the 100m Freestyle A Final where she finished ninth. She also finished third in the 200m B Final in a time of 2:01.33.
Jessica Dickinson also tasted B Final success, finishing first in the 400m Freestyle and eighth in the 100m Freestyle.
