TWO Knutsford Vikings swimmers are set to compete in this summer’s national championships as a result of their magnificent success at north west level.

Eloise Perritt and Emily Fozard won gold and silver medals respectively in 50m freestyle at the England (SENW) Summer Regional Championships, which were held at Liverpool Aquatic Centre throughout March, April and May.

Their achievements were the cherry on the cake for Vikings, who had 12 further swimmers taking part after reaching the required standard and went on to make their mark with personal bests and finals places to the delight of head coach Phil James.

As a result of their performances, Eloise and Emily are now ranked third and 10th in England.

“We are extremely proud of all of our swimmers and everything they achieve,” said Phil.

“After the difficulties of Covid, it was great to see our younger swimmers starting to make their mark and gain that Championship experience. We have a good group of young swimmers coming through.

“To also now have a regional champion and two national standard swimmers holding such high rankings in the country is just an amazing achievement for all concerned at the Vikings too.

“It's even more pleasing that it's in the most popular and therefore most competitive event too...everyone swims 50m free!

“In real terms we are a relative minnow in competitive swimming terms yet we have such a big heart.

“We continue to mix it with (and beat) swimmers from bigger clubs with greater resources.

“Emily and Eloise are both home-grown swimmers and everyone involved in their development at Knutsford should be very proud of their achievements!

“We can now look forward to the national championships in August.”

Charlie Wallace, Harvey James, Evie Blackburn, Annabel Wallace, Rosie Ellison, James Ellison, Kiley Vorisek, Zack Cocksedge, Will O'Brien, Sam Symes, Lily Coates and Anoushka Mosca were the other swimmers to represent Vikings in Liverpool.

Emily produced personal bests in the heats of the 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke and 50m free to reach all three finals, while she was also ranked sixth for the 50m breaststroke final but produced another PB swim to finish fifth, as she did in the 50m back final.

Eloise competed in 50m back, 50m breast and 50m free, with her PBs in the breast and back placing her ninth in each event and making her first reserve for both finals.

In the 50m free she produced an amazing PB swim to qualify in second place for the final in which she won gold.

Among the other highlights, Sam, Will, Lily, Anoushka, Zack, Kiley and James were first-time regional qualifiers.

And for Sam, Will and Lily it was their first ever opportunity to compete in a 50m pool.

Will qualified for the 100m breaststroke final, finishing eighth.

After PBs in the heats, Charlie finished fifth in the 50m breaststroke final and eighth in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke showdowns.