Triple gold for RTW swimmers at European Juniors Championships in the run up to the Commonwealth Games

Three local swimmers from RTW Monson represented Great Britain at last week's European Junior Swimming Championships in Munich, returning home with a remarkable medal haul. 

Sixteen-year-old Amalie Smith got Team GB off to a flying start at the iconic venue built for the 1972 Munich Olympics by successfully defending her European Junior title in the 400m individual medley. She qualified fastest for the final before breaking her own championship record with a time of 4:35.32 after a thrilling battle with 17-year-old Hungarian swimmer Vivien Jackl. 

Amalie said: "I'm really happy to regain my title. Coming into this, I was really unsure because Vivien has been really strong. To win it makes me really happy." 

She followed up with a second gold medal after producing a blistering final leg in the 4x100m freestyle relay. Alongside teammates Emma Wood, Theodora Taylor and Hannah Capron, Amalie helped secure victory with a relay split of 53.17 seconds.

Eighteen-year-old Aran Bisset also claimed a medal, helping the Great Britain men's 4x100m freestyle relay team to bronze. 

The following day, Aran and Amalie added a silver medal to their growing collection as members of the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay team. Amalie then rounded off another successful day by claiming bronze in the 4x200m freestyle relay. 

On day four, Aran clocked an outstanding 22.63 seconds in the 50m freestyle final, while 16-year-old Imogen Myles produced a superb swim to win gold in the 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:26.02. She said, “I still didn’t think I had won when I touched home. Last year I didn’t make the final so this year I just wanted to get into the final and try and get a medal.” 

The final day in Munich provided more excitement as Aran finished sixth in the 100m freestyle final in 49.15 seconds. Imogen then placed fifth in the 100m breaststroke final with a time of 1:09.30, before Aran helped Great Britain secure another bronze medal with a strong freestyle leg in the thrilling 4x100m medley relay final. 

It was an outstanding championship for all three RTW Monson swimmers. Aran is now focusing on taking up a scholarship at a US University following his A-Levels and Imogen will now turn her attention to the British Next Gen Championships in Sheffield. 

Whilst Amalie is looking to build on the success of this meet by heading to Glasgow to compete at the 2026 Commonwealth Games alongside a talented England squad, which includes Tom Dean, Freya Colbert and Olympic medallist Adam Ramsay-Peaty. 

She will be joined by RTW Monson head coach, Karen Bradbury, who has also been selected as part of the coaching team for Team England at the Commonwealth Games. 

Amalie, who has been training with Monson since 2022, and was named as Talent Athlete of the Year at the Swim England National Awards, says, “It’s been really good to be around so many other swimmers who want to achieve at a high level. Karen has helped me achieve so much in the couple of years.” 

Amalie currently holds the British Age Record for the 400m Individual Medley at 4.35.46, which cements her as the fourth fastest British woman of all time in this event. Following the Commonwealth Games, she will then round off a superb summer by competing at the European Swimming Championships in Paris later this month.