Leatherhead Swimming Club set a cracking pace over the first of four weekends of the Surrey Swimming Championships at Guildford Spectrum last weekend, winning 14 medals: six gold, three silver and five bronze.

Fourteen-year-old Chloe Bean began her campaign by winning all three of her events – the 100m IM (1:07.75), the 400m freestyle (4:21.61) and 200m breaststroke (2:34.65), setting a new championship record for the 200m breaststroke and winning the junior (U16s) cup for the 200m breaststroke and 400m freestyle events.

Chris Green, 12, showed his talent by winning the 100m IM (1:11.61) and achieving silver medals in the 200m breaststroke (2:48.56) and 400m IM (5:38.34).

He also gained seventh place in the 200m backstroke and eighth in the 400m freestyle. Simon Churchman, 22, took gold for the 400m freestyle (4:05.70), as did 17- year-old Hannah Shore in the 200m butterfly (2:17.00).

Josh McDonough (14y) took two seconds off his personal time in the 100m IM to achieve a silver medal in a time of 1:07.78; as well as coming fourth in the 200m butterfly and ninth in the 400m freestyle, also in PBs.

In a highly competitive 12-year-old class, Suzanne Norman scooped two bronze medals for the 200m backstroke (2:26.82) and 200m butterfly (2:44.53), came fourth in the 100 IM, fifth in the 400 IM and 200m breaststroke, and 10th in the 400m freestyle.

Chloe’s younger sister, Lucy (12y), also proved her strength in the 200m breaststroke, winning a bronze medal in a personal best time of 2:58.60.

Backstroke specialist, David Brazil (14y) put in a powerful performance in the 200m backstroke to take bronze in a personal best time of 2:16.41.

Team-mate David Andrews (16y) also made an impressive improvement in the 200m breaststroke (2:31.81) as well as a 6th place finish in the 100m IM.

Nicky Cooke (14) achieved a well-deserved bronze in the 400m freestyle (4:39.87) and 4th place in the 200m backstroke where she knocked more than five seconds off her PB.

There were many brilliant performances that landed just outside the medals, often in large and highly competitive heats.

These include 11-year-old Emma Brown, who came fourth in the 100m IM, knocking nearly eight seconds off her PB, and ninth in the 200m breaststroke; Jamie Wilks (10y) and Sarah Matthews (10y) who both came eighth in the 400m freestyle; Iona Doig (15y) who achieved sixth place in the 400m freestyle and eighth in the 100m IM; Eloise Crowther (12y) who came seventh in the 200m breaststroke and ninth in the 400m freestyle; Ben Staig (10y) who came seventh in the 200m backstroke, Rebecca Cooke (16y) who came sixth in the 400m freestyle; and Louis Foster (11y) who came 10th in the 200m backstroke.

During the championships, which will be held over three further weekends, nearly 1100 swimmers from 26 clubs across the county will be taking part in more than 4300 individual swims.

Head coach David Vine said: "This was a great start to leatherheads county campaign. The swimmers all performed well and were focused on their goals.

“I would like to thank the rest of the coaching staff in their hard work preparing the swimmers for this years championships.”