Weston Swimming Club member Sara Dykes won a gold medal at the European Aquatic Masters Championships in London.

Sara Dykes donned her purple cap to represent Weston Swimming Club at the European Aquatic Masters Championships in London.

Staged at the iconic London Aquatics Centre (Olympic Pool), Sara distinguished herself in her three events.

Event one was the 200 metre individual medley where a truly gutsy swim saw Sara touch in 2.39.49, just 0.65 seconds off a podium position. Event two was Sara’s favourite event – the 100m butterfly. Turning at 50 metres in a great split time, Sara finished strongly to stop the timing pads in 1.09.04 and land the gold medal, ahead of Finland’s Petra Thodin, and in a time that was just 0.08 seconds off the British masters record.

To combine being a mum and holding down a full-time job, with being a highly respected voluntary swim coach at Weston and finding the hours to train to become the European Masters champion is a phenomenal achievement and one that everyone at Weston Swimming Club delights in.

In her final event, the splash and dash 50m butterfly, Sara was just edged out of another podium position, landing fourth place in 30.95 with the first three swimmers within half a second.

European glory does not end there. Weston’s Evan King has recently been selected to be part of the 25-strong South West team to compete at the Golden Bear International Meet in Zagreb, Croatia, in mid-June.

Fresh from achieving a lifetime best in Glasgow at Olympic trials, Evan will compete in the butterfly events. Meanwhile, Amber Spillane and Sarah Carr have been selected to represent Great Britain in the youth category at the European Triathlon Championships that will take place in Setubal, Portugal, in mid-July.

The competition takes the form of a continuous shoot, open water swim and run, which will pose quite a challenge in the summer heat.

If you are interested in joining Weston Swimming Club, please contact Charlotte Bradley (learn to swim co-ordinator) ltswsmsc@hotmail.co.uk or Rachel Aldington (head coach) headcoach@weston-super-mare-swimming-club.co.uk