Over the last two weekends, Team Ipswich have been competing at the BAGCAT (British Age Groups) Championships at the University of Norwich 50-metre pool.

The championships provided some awesome performances and the final results saw Team Ipswich finish third in the medal table with 18 golds, five silver and eight bronze medals.

In the overall BAGCAT positions, Amie Philpot and Becky Sherwin were Ipswich’s star performers winning the Top Girl trophies in the 11 and 12 year age groups respectively, while Lucy Oxbrow came third in the 13 years.

The competition, which also yielded plenty of personal bests and National Qualifying Times (NQT) kicked off with the girls’ 200m medley.

Team Ipswich got off to a cracking start with Philpot, who has only just turned 11, winning the first gold medal for the team in a time of 2.42.73, before Sherwin did the same in the 12 year age group with an excellent NQT time of 2.31.10.

In the 14 years age group final, Cara Hetherington took the silver medal in 2.31.48, while Emily Dowding claimed the bronze in 2.31.48.

Next up, in the boys’ 100m backstroke, Alex Walmsley took the bronze medal position in the 12-year-age group in a time of 1.10.74.

The first relays of the championships gave the boys’ 400m freestyle team victory in a dramatic finish. Jack Andrew, Dominic Scifo, Sam Cottee and Jack Pickering just defeated City of Cambridge on the touch to take the gold with a time of 3.59.65. Their win also achieved qualification into the National championships.

In the 100m butterfly, Amie Philpot landed her second gold medal of the championships in the 11-year-age group with a time of 1.14.61.

Alex Walmsley collected his second bronze medal in the boys’ 12 year 200m breaststroke in 2.56.46.

Next to race was the girls’ 400m medley relay team of Becky Sherwin, Lucy Oxbrow, Emily Dowding and Cara Hetherington.

They picked up the bronze medal in a time of 4.37.84, gaining qualification into the National Championships in the process.

Harry Eade took a commendable bronze in the 12 year 100m freestyle, also achieving his first ever NQT in a time of 1.02.22.

The girls’ 400m freestyle saw some strong performances from the Ipswich team. Amie Philpot took silver in the 11-year-age group in 5.08.04, while Becky Sherwin and Lucy Oxbrow both won golds in the 12 and 13 year age groups respectively.

Sherwin, in an outstanding performance, won the whole event with a time of 4.32.23 (NQT). Lucy also gained a NQT in a great time of 4.39.41.

Philpot and Sherwin were dominant once again in the 11 and 12 year 200m freestyle. Both struck gold with times of 2.21.07 and 2.12.37 (NQT) respectively.

Lucy Oxbrow took the silver medal in the 13 year age group with a time of 2.13.05 also a NQT.

In the next session, Sherwin and Philpot once again enjoyed more success in the 100m backstroke, both winning gold in their age groups – Philpo in a time of 1.12.30 which saw her achieve her first ever National qualifying time, while Sherwin finished with a time of 1.06.53 to gain another NQT.

Cara Hetherington came through to take the bronze in the 14 years 100m backstroke with a time of 1.08.06, also claiming a NQT.

The girls’ team were back in action in the 800m freestyle relay, rompinghome to victory in a cracking time of 8.46.82. This saw off their nearest rivals by over 10 seconds, taking the gold medal and scooping another NQT.

Dominic Scifo claimed the bronze medal in the boys’ 13 year 200m freestyle with a time of 2.10.74.

Later in the 100m butterfly, he recorded a time of 1.02.70 to take a superb gold medal gaining him a NQT.

Continuing their run of fine form, Philpot and Sherwin won yet more gold medals in the girls’ 200m backstroke.

Philpot took the win in the 11-year age group in 2.41.36, while Sherwin was over 10 seconds clear in the 12-year age group with a time a 2.22.53, also a NQT.

The girls’ A and B relay teams finished the success for Team Ipswich in the 400m freestyle relay.

The A team of Lucy Oxbrow, Becky Sherwin, Emily Dowding and Cara Hetherington won their third impressive team gold medal in a time of 4.05.06; also a NQT.

Meanwhile, the girls’ B team of Amie Philpot, Georgina Fulcher, Rebecca Miller and Nancy Doubledee came a respectable 10th place in a time of 4.23.38.