Great Britain’s junior athletes have made an impression on the continental stage during the first half of the 2023 European Junior Swimming Championships – taking six medals across the first three days in Belgrade.
With the Milan Gale Muškatirović playing host to the action, which began on 4th July, the 34-strong British team arrived in the Serbian capital with a number of days of preparation under their belts.
The first day of action saw several British swimmers successfully make it through the prelims stages of their events, with a handful of swimmers also booking their place in the finals of their events after the evening’s semi-finals.
Opening the medal count for the team were the Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay quintet, who claimed opening-day bronze. Eva Okaro, Erin Little, Skye Carter and Phoebe Cooper all took part in that final, with Laurie Devine also earning a medal thanks to the part she played in swimming the heats.
It was the second day where the medal pickup increased, with Matthew Ward taking a comfortable bronze medal in the Men’s 50m Backstroke final, right before Blythe Kinsman claimed a silver of her own in the women’s version of the same event – coming off the better of a five-person dash to the wall to touch less than three tenths of a second ahead of the next four athletes.
Kinsman spoke to LEN’s Nick Hope following her achievement, with the 2007-born athlete noticeably delighted with her performance amongst a field of older competitors.
“When I saw the time come up on the board, I was like ‘oh my gosh, is that real?’, I was taken aback. To step up on a big stage like this is really important. It gives me a lot of confidence going into bigger competitions in the future," she said.
The final British medallist on the second day came in arguably the most memorable fashion, and it was Amelie Blocksidge, one of British Swimming’s youngest ever junior international representatives, who took the silver medal in the final of the Women’s 1500m Freestyle, following an intense battle with Turkey’s Merve Tuncel.
The 14-year-old, who is the reigning British champion in the event, was always within a couple of seconds of the Turkish competitor - four years Amelie's senior - throughout the length of the race, as the front three dropped the rest of the field as it progressed.
Despite putting up a strong fight, Blocksidge eventually settled for the silver medal in what was still a momentous achievement for the athlete in her first outing at a major junior international competition. She also gave her thoughts to Hope following her race – keeping a reflective view of her performance in the circumstances.
“I’m so happy, it was quite unexpected to me. I wasn’t expecting to be on the podium in my first European Juniors (and first race) so I’m really pleased and really excited to be here, it was a big dream to come here.”
The third day also brought a couple more medals to Great Britain’s tally for the competition, with Ward returning to the podium in the Men’s 200m Individual Medley.
“It’s an amazing feeling to finally have achieved some stuff in that event. I wasn’t sure if I was going to race it and I’m happy that I made the decision to do it. There’s still a few things to work on, but it just feels like now I can take it up another level. Next year’s an Olympic year, so with that in mind it’s very exciting," he said.
Meanwhile, sprinter Carter added to her relay medal from the first day with an individual bronze in the Women’s 50m Freestyle – a race where six swimmers were separated by just 0.15 seconds.
Despite this, Carter’s ability to get her hand to the wall in the top three puts her above many of the older athletes who competed in that final, which is an achievement that will surely give her confidence as she goes into the rest of the week.
For the results and start lists from the event, click here.