Rugby Artistic Swimming Club make good start to 2026 season
Rugby Artistic Swimming Club made a sensational start to the 2026 competitive season at the Regional Age Groups competition held on Saturday 28th February at Walsall Gala Baths, with over 60 swimmers representing the club across 13 of the 18 category events and securing an incredible 15 medals overall.
Bringing home 11 Gold, 3 Silver and 1 Bronze medals, the club delivered a commanding performance from start to finish, with swimmers showcasing months of hard work, development and determination against teams from Walsall, Rykneld, Birmingham, Bramcote and Nottingham.
The day began with an early start for the 12U and Youth athletes who were participating in the technical Figure competitions, always a true test of precision and control.
Alice Danielson secured a well-earned bronze medal in the 12U category, while in the highly competitive Youth event, Frankie Klym and Victoria Sharashkina delivered composed and technically strong performances to claim gold and silver respectively.
Kicking off the combination events, the 12U Division 1 team swam to Jive Bunny. The team of Eliza Danila, Mila Colledge, Florie Hughes, Erin Bloomfield, Olivia Reid, Darcie Gallagher, Alice Payne, Ella Martin, Elizabeth Silk and Ema Kiac delivered a confident performance – twice - after a technical issue with the music required them to repeat their routine. With the audience firmly behind them, they rose to the challenge and secured a deserved gold medal.
It was then the turn of the 12U Division 2 team, who held their own in a tough category to take silver, finishing just behind Birmingham. Their upbeat routine showcased strong performances from Emily Secher, Lily Bartholomew, Payton Gaskin, Jessie Slater, Esme Ravenhall, Elsa Gaskin, Katerina Myronova and Maisie Austin-Roberts.
Moving up to the 13-15 Age Group and Rugby’s 13–15 Division 2 ‘Beetlejuice’ team saw swimmers; Charlotte Wilkins, Catherine Yu, Mellinda Bogdanova, Aaron Lee, Sophie Croft, Ruby Shepherd, Isobelle Watkins, Amelie Jeary, Darcey Townsend and Caitlin-Rose Smith (reserve) take the gold medal with a bold and characterful performance.
The ‘Gladiators’ - swimmers; Mabel Chapman, Kara Duckett, Saranne Black, Sophie Henry, Daisy Clark, Ruth Ho, Beatrice Banks, Alice Pavlova, Jemima Parkinson and Isabella Franks - dominated the 15+ Division 2 category, channelling the fighting spirit of the 90s cult TV show with power and precision to secure another gold medal for Rugby.
Wrapping up Rugby’s combination team events, the 13–18 Division 1 squad - known as ‘Team Six’ - swam to music from the iconic Six the Musical with swimmers Anika Reddy, Katie Green, Daniel Rodrigues, Esther Tovey-Keane, Holly Biddulph, Amelia Storr, Elise Kelly, Izzy Rycroft, Sophia Myronova and Seren Humphry, delivering a dynamic and confident routine to take the final gold of the combination event.
The latter half of the day moved onto the solos and duets before the big finale of the free team event.
In the Youth Solo category, Sharashkina and Keva Ennis delivered superbly confident routines to secure gold and silver respectively and a fabulous swim in the 12U Solo event saw Izzy Maglione place just outside the medals, but a hugely promising performance to open the season.
Further success came in the Duet events. Sisters Alice and Florence Danielson took gold in the 12U category, with further gold medals for Lee and Christina Kapiris in the Youth Mixed Duet and for Lola Huett and Klym, who stormed to victory in the Youth Duet.
Gold medals were also secured in both the 12U and Youth Free Team categories. Swimming to JUMP! the 12U squad of Secher, Danielson A, Danielson F, Myronova, Gaskin E, Maglione, Slater, Austin-Roberts and Bartholomew (reserve) delivered a confident and expressive performance, while the Youth team of Klym, Ennis, Sharashkina, Jeary, Lee, Huett and Kapiris showcased their powerful new routine to seal the club’s 11th Gold of the day.
Across all events entered, the club demonstrated depth, resilience and impressive early-season form. With over 60 athletes competing, it was a day full of learning, growth and confidence-building performances, not just medal wins, but measurable progress across every squad.
With Regional Age Groups setting the tone, there is now just a short turnaround before the next major test - National Age Groups in just a few days’ time.
If this weekend was anything to go by, Rugby Artistic Swimming Club are heading into Nationals with confidence, momentum and belief.
Anyone of any age interested in trying artistic swimming should contact Rugby’s head coach Hannah Secher at: [email protected] or visit: www.rugbysynchro.co.uk