Heroic Hillingdon Swimming Club grabbed top spot again at this year’s London Regional Championships with an impressive haul of 81 medals.

Swimmers competed in the 12 and under age group right through to the 17 and over at the championships held at Crystal Palace and the London Aquatics Centre.

An incredible 10 Hillingdon stars became individual regional champions in their events as Billy Lee-Knowles, Alfie Collins, Jemima Hall, Kendra Laba, Loulou Vos, Melanie Hall, George Taplin, Sean-Patrick McGowan, Ceara Barber (5) and Ruby Fraser (6) stormed to glory.

And in the six relay events, for ages 14 to 16s, the club picked up four golds and two silvers and all now rank within the top 20 teams nationally.

These regional championships were also a final chance for competitors to qualify for the British & English Summer Nationals to be held in July and August.

An impressive 12 Hillingdon swimmers have now qualified for British and/or English championships on individual events along with six relay teams who have qualified for the British Championships.

Taplin, 16, the squad captain, said: “There’s a real buzz in training here at the moment and it’s not surprising that we are swimming fast. We’re looking forward to the summer now and racing at Nationals against the best in the country”.

The Meet also saw nine Hillingdon swimmers break Hillingdon club records in 15 events.

For the girls, Niamh Barber, (11yrs 50m freestyle,) Emily Heslop, (16yrs 50m freestyle), Melanie Hall, (16yrs 800m freestyle), Megan Maloney,(17yrs 50m backstroke), and Adele Hall, (18yrs 50m backstroke) were all record breakers.

For the boys, speed merchants were: Sean-Patrick McGowan, (12yrs 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 50m butterfly), Dillon Roglic, (13yrs 50m butterfly), Alfie Collins, (14yrs 100 breastroke) and George Taplin, (15yrs 200m backstroke).

Head coach John Adye commented: “These results are a significant marker in our progression and a sign of things to come. We had medallists ranging from the youngest age group through to the oldest in everything from 50m to 1500m events.

“All seven relays also won either Gold or Silver medals. This demonstrates the strength and depth that we have here within the club and there are plenty more swimmers still yet to come through.”