Broadway's success story rolls on and on

Teenager Harriet Shepherd scooped five medals for Walsall-based club and was one of the star performers during the City of Stoke Open.

The 14-year-old secured top-three finishes in the 200m individual medley, 50m front crawl, 50m backstroke, 100m front crawl and 100m backstroke.

Adin Kamangira, Megan Butler, Ewan Dalzell and Callum Bird also came away from the meet with medals.

Head coach Alan Bagnall, 67, said: "Harriet is swimming very well and has got a lot of determination.

"I think she will go far and has a chance of going all the way.

"Harriet trains five days a week, probably for one-and-a-half hours after school."

Butler, 14, also secured a third-place finish in the 200m breaststroke and narrowly missed out adding more to her overall tally.

Bagnall said: "She is another good swimmer who could go very far.

"She managed third place in the 200m breaststroke, which is technically a very hard event.

"She just missed out on third place four times, losing by hundredths of a second, so she was very unfortunate not to pick up more medals.

"Megan is another swimmer with a lot of potential."

Kamangira, 13, came first in the 50m breaststroke with nine-year-old Callum Bird clinching third in the 50m individual medley.

"Adin is a very big, strong lad for his age while Callum is one of our youngest competitive swimmers," said Bagnall.

"Our swimmers can start competing from nine and Callum has already raced at two previous meetings.

"All our swimmers come up through the system. We start with non-swimmers and they just keep coming through.

"Elodie Rollins is another promising nine-year-old and there's 10-year-old George Pattinson as well."

The club was founded in 1983 and Bagnall joined its ranks six years later when his daughter, Emma, picked up interest in the sport.

He has gone to coach for 25 years at the club, spending up to three hours a day, six days a week, helping swimmers from as young as four to hone and develop their skills.

Bagnall said to secure 42 personal best times at Stoke was testament to the hard work put in by the club's members.

"To get so many PBs was very good and shows the effort that is put in by these swimmers," he said.

"Harriet, for example, took part in 10 individual races in Stoke and Megan competed in eight, which is a lot for one weekend.

"We try and get our swimmers to compete in as many different races as possible.

"Megan competed in the 200m front crawl, 50m breaststroke, 50m butterfly, so they do them all.

"They have got to get good enough qualifying times first and cannot just enter them. After that they can go on to bigger events.

"This was a lower standard at level three but they increase to level two and level one.

"That's when the harder competition starts and again the qualifying times rise.

"National competition usually takes place in August, which is what everyone aims for."

The club currently boasts about 200 members, from non-swimmers right up to the top performers.

Broadway is based at Walsall campus of the University of Wolverhampton but also holds training sessions in Barr Beacon Leisure Centre.

Many of its members have gone on to achieve Staffordshire county, Midland and district and even elite national qualifying times.

Broadway's final meeting, organised by Wyre Forest Swimming Club, will take place at Wolverhampton Swimming Pool on December 9.