Posted on 20 March 2012
At the recent British Championships, Claire qualified for her third Paralympic Games while Sophie Taylor will represent Team GB at this summer’s European Junior Championships.
Some stellar performances from Paralympic veteran Claire Cashmore at the recent British Championships have qualified her to swim the 200m IM and 100m breaststroke at this summer’s Paralympic Games. This will be Claire’s third Paralympics and she hopes to add to the silver and bronze medals she won at the Athens and Beijing games. Claire has also been selected for the freestyle relay teams at the games.
At the same competition, held at the new Olympic Aquatic Centre in London, Sophie took over 1.5 seconds off her previous best time to finish 4th in the 100m breaststroke. She followed this success by qualifying for the 200m breaststroke semi-final a few days later. Though Sophie did not make the final in the 200m, the times she recorded throughout the meet were good enough to earn qualification for both the 100m and 200m breaststroke at the 2012 European Junior Championships.
We wish them both every success this summer and we’ll keep you updated on how they get on.
Posted on 15 July 2011
City of Leeds swimming star Claire Cashmore is on the crest of a wave after claiming five medals and helping break two records at the recent IPC European Championships in Berlin.
The 23-year-old Great Britain international enjoyed a stunning week of success in Germany, winning two gold medals, a silver and two bronze, as well as setting an individual British record and breaking world and European records in the medley team relay events.
The Kidderminster swimmer’s personal achievements were further boosted, when during the event, she discovered she had secured a 2:1 in her Linguistics and Phonetics degree at the University of Leeds.
While completing her degree Claire has lived in Leeds for the last three years, training as part of the City of Leeds squad at the Aquatics Centre at the John Charles Centre for Sport.
Her first medal in Berlin came from being part of the freestyle relay team which set a new European record in winning gold. A silver medal and British record followed in the individual 100m breaststroke events, before claiming bronze in both the 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley.
Her week of success concluded in style with a gold medal and new world record in the relay medley event, before things got even better when Claire discovered her degree result.
City of Leeds swimmer Claire Cashmore said:
I’m really happy with my swims at the European Championships and it shows I am in great shape a year before London 2012. Finding out about my degree result too means it has been a very good few weeks for me.
This year has been really tough trying to juggle third year of university and swimming so to have the medals in my pocket is a great feeling. The Europeans were a stepping stone for the Paralympics so it is very exciting and a bit scary to think the next major event will be at London 2012!
Next year being the Paralympic Games I want to do everything possible to ensure I that I am in the best shape of my life.
The City of Leeds Swimming Club is supported by Leeds City Council’s Swimming Training Scheme, and Senior Age Group Coach Richard Denigan said:
Major congratulations to Claire for her tremendous success in Berlin. Together with her degree result it was a great week so all credit to her for being so focused and dedicated in doing her best in both aspects of her life.
Together with the support of all the coaching staff, her commitment to continually improving is fantastic and with the London 2012 Paralympics now only a year away it is really exciting for her and the team.
