Hatfield Kick Off 2026 with a Strong Showing at the First Weekend of Counties

The New Year is upon us and it didn’t take long for competitions to begin. The first of four weekends of Hertfordshire County Championships started on the weekend of January 10, 2026, when the Pink Army descended on Westminster Lodge with an early show of strength. The competition began with an evening of relays for our 10-13 year olds and Junior swimmers. This was followed by the 800m free which was the first of the distance events to be contended.

The first of our relay teams to compete was our boys 10-13 year old 4x50m free. Julien Vannier, George Sims, Tommy Camilotti-Titon and Leo Sims combined to take a well earned third place behind Bishop Stortford and Harpenden. Our girls were up next swimming the 4x50m medley relay and in a close race finished just outside the medals in forth place. The last relays of the evening were the mixed 4x50m teams in the Junior (10-15 years) age group. Our team of Tommy Fenwick, Aria Waters, Neive Ives and Perrin Ma finished in second place behind a record breaking Bishop Stortford team.

We had plenty of swimmers to cheer for in the 800m freestyle and also a number of best times and medals to celebrate. In the 12 year old age group, Julien Vannier took home the bronze medal while in the girls event, Catherine Hatherly captured Hatfield’s first gold medal of the championships!

In the 13 year old age group, Hatfield managed to secure three more medals. Jorgi Bhasvi won silver while in the boys event, brothers George and Leo Sims won silver and bronze respectively.

Neive Ives was our next medallist taking home a bronze medal in the 14 year old girls category. Tommy Fenwick earned not only a gold medal in his 15 year old age group but also managed to win the Junior Championship to collect a second gold medal.

In the most senior category, Hatfield swimmers managed to attain another six medals between three swimmers! In the 16+ age group, Ever Ives achieved a gold medal and also won the Senior Championship collecting another gold for that. In the men’s, Oliver Fenwick took bronze in both the age group and Senior Championship. Daniel Belsey swimming in the lane next to him, came home first, capturing gold medals in both categories.

The evening was a good start to this year’s Counties and we hope the Pink Army continues on this medal winning path over the next few weekends! Let’s go swimmers!