Four of the best young swimmers in Pembrokeshire were part of a West Wales team that competed in last month’s National County Team Championships.

Tomos Webb (16), Charlotte Whalley (12), Sean Barrett (14) and Arabella Haley (15) traveled to Sheffield Ponds Forge international pool to swim against the best in Britain.

The four are members of the Pembrokeshire County Swimming (PCS) squad and were selected to represent the West Wales region, which includes Swansea and as far east as Bridgend.

The West Wales team was led by Craig Nelson, head coach of PCS, and Sam Jones, assistant development coach of PCS.

PCS is a partnership between Pembrokeshire County Council and the county’s six competitive swimming clubs - Haverfordwest Seals; Fishguard Flyers; Pembroke & District; Tenby Dolphins; Milford Tigers; and Preseli Panthers. It provides talented young swimmers with a recognised coaching pathway through to national and international level competitions.

Jones said: “It was a hard day of racing in Sheffield, but we have a talented set of swimmers who gave everything. It is also good to see PCS so well represented and flying the Pembrokeshire flag for the region.”

Barrett, from Haverfordwest Seals, stepped up an age group to finish 19th in the 100m breaststroke in the 14/15 year old class in a time of 1:12.36. 

The young Seal also swam in the boys 13/14 years 200m medley relay on the breastroke leg, clocking a time of 33.02. The relay team finished 16th with a time of 1:54.66. 

Webb, also from the Seals, finished 19th in the 16/17 year old 100m butterfly with a respectable time of 1:01.78.

The Haverfordwest teenager was also part of the 16/17 year old 200m medley relay team. He swam the 50m butterfly leg of the relay in a time of 27.81, helping the West Wales team to a 17th place finish in a respectable time of 1:52.18.

Whalley, another member of the Seals, grabbed 13th place in the 100m backstroke in the 12/13 year group in a time of 1:09.06. She also got the girls 12/13 years 200m medley relay team off to a flying start, with a 50m backstroke time of 31.03 that saw the team secure 13th place.

Haley, from Tenby Dolphins, chalked up a 16th place finish in the 100m backstroke in the 14/15 year age group in a time of 1:07.25.

The Tenby swimmer also swam the backstroke leg for West Wales in the medley relay, with a 31.70 time to help the team finish in 2:04.03.

Swim Wales West finished the inter-counties gala in 20th spot with 187 points, aided by the four PCS members. The championships was won by a strong Yorkshire team, with 544 points.  

Nelson added: “The West Wales team put their heart and soul into their swims to get points of the board for the team. I would like to thank the swimmers, coaching team and team managers for all their hard work.”