Essex County Championships 2026 - Weekend 2
Harwich Swimming Club continued their brilliant County Championships campaign with another superb weekend of racing, packed with long course personal bests, finalists, top-10 finishes, and some huge milestone swims across the squad.
The weekend began strongly in the Boys 100m Freestyle, with a string of long course PBs. Sean Bibby and Beau Johnston both produced excellent swims to clock new long course bests, while Taylor King and Barney Weston also lowered their long course times. Harry Baucutt delivered one of the standout improvements of the meet in this event, taking a huge chunk off his time for a six-second long course PB and securing a regional qualifying time. Hugo Arthey rounded off a brilliant race for Harwich, producing a superb swim to post a personal best, a regional qualifying time, and qualify through to the county final.
In the Boys 100m Backstroke, Charlie Roxby-Clarke produced a fantastic swim to take a nine-second personal best, showing just how much progress is being made.
Harwich then had a huge highlight in the Girls 50m Breaststroke, where Rosie Hazelton kicked things off with a strong long course PB. Ruby Barratt and Savannah Barratt followed with two outstanding swims in the heats, both taking three-second long course PBs to secure regional qualifying times and progress through to the county final.
In the final, both girls delivered again — Ruby produced another big swim to finish 5th in Essex, setting a new club record, while Savannah finished 8th in Essex with another personal best.
The longer events also brought strong results, with Menna Beegan producing an excellent swim in the Girls 200m Butterfly to secure a top-10 finish, while Evelyn Gadsby, Tabitha Pickersgill and Nancy Garner all delivered strong performances and long course PBs in the same event. Rosie Hazelton added another long course PB in the Girls 200m Freestyle, while Tyler Dean produced a solid long course PB in the Boys 200m Freestyle.
Backstroke continued to be a strong stroke for Harwich, with both Jasmine Hall-Barnett and Menna Beegan qualifying through to the Girls 100m Backstroke final, each producing long course PB improvements on the way.
The Boys 50m Breaststroke saw more progress, with both Shaidon Higgon-Williams and Finn Muldoon producing long course PBs, showing real improvement in speed and skills under pressure. Harry Baucutt and Beau Johnston also raced well in the Boys 50m Freestyle, both recording long course PBs.
In the Girls 50m Butterfly, Nancy Garner produced another long course PB, while both Emily Turner and Katie Holmes qualified through to their county finals. Emily posted a strong swim in the final to finish 8th in Essex, with Katie also delivering a solid final swim to finish 10th in Essex.
Sunday afternoon saw more excellent performances, including a long course PB for Laurence Wynne-Jones in the Boys 200m Breaststroke.
One of the best examples of progress across the squad came in the Boys 200m Butterfly, where Herbie Pickersgill took on the challenge long course for the first time, gaining valuable experience on the county stage. Oliver Scrivener produced a strong swim for a long course PB, while Shaidon Higgon-Williams delivered a massive breakthrough, taking a huge chunk off his time for a 24-second long course PB.
The Girls 200m Backstroke brought a major highlight of the weekend as Jasmine Hall-Barnett produced an outstanding swim to claim the silver medal.
Harwich continued to produce long course PBs in the sprint events, with Savannah Barratt and Isabelle Race both recording strong swims and improvements in the Girls 50m Butterfly, and Finn Muldoon adding another long course PB in the Boys 50m Backstroke.
The standout boys’ event of the weekend, however, was the Boys 50m Backstroke — one of Harwich’s most successful races of the meet. Alex Glover produced a superb swim to secure a four-second long course PB, a regional qualifying time, and qualify through to the county final. Harry Baucutt followed with another brilliant swim to achieve a long course PB, a regional qualifying time, and then went on to produce a huge performance in the final to win bronze in Essex. Hugo Arthey also added to the success in this event with a strong swim to place 9th in Essex in the final.
Relays once again showcased the team spirit within the club. The Girls 13/14 Medley Relay team of Lucia Cockle, Evelyn Gadsby, Nancy Garner and Savannah Barratt raced superbly, as did the Girls 13/14 Freestyle Relay team of Savannah Barratt, Ruby Barratt, Willow Feeley-Headley and Evelyn Gadsby. The Boys 13/14 Medley and Freestyle Relay teams of Alex Glover, Tyler Dean, Harry Baucutt and Shaidon Higgon-Williams also delivered two strong relay swims against the top clubs in Essex.
Across the weekend, Harwich swimmers consistently stepped up when it mattered — producing finals, top-10 finishes, regional qualifying times, and a brilliant collection of long course PBs.
Harwich Head Coach Katie Holmes said:
“I’m incredibly proud of every swimmer this weekend. The number of long course PBs and finalists was outstanding, and we also saw some brilliant milestone swims and regional standards achieved along the way. The boys’ 50m backstroke in particular was a huge highlight, and the relays again showed fantastic team spirit. The swimmers were a credit to the club — they backed up the fantastic first weekend with another excellent set of performances.”