THIRTY four Mount Kelly swimmers took part in the 48th International Open Meet in Geneva last weekend and were on winning form. They joined 53 clubs from all over Europe and the USA to compete in the three day event.

With an array of talent in the pool, including European and Olympic swimmers it was always going to be a difficult task for Mount Kelly to take on the might of some of the big hitters... but hit back and hard they did!

Mount Kelly's Julian Chan Quee Lin mixed it with Brian Toomy from the USA — a former Olympic 100m freestyler. Julian managed to clip his wings in the 50m freestyle skins event, beating him in one of the opening rounds. 

Time after time the Mount Kelly swimmers stepped up to take on an experienced and highly competitive field. Swimming with confidence beyond their years the team worked their way into contention on the overall top team award, winning five gold, five silver and seven bronze medals and backing up with even more vital points with 14 further finalists ranging from 12 years to 17 years-old.

With two national teams in attendance, the Swiss and Austrians, the event was a huge boost for the Mount Kelly team so early on in this important pre Olympic year season.

Mount Kelly director of swimming Robin Brew said: 'Our swimmers proved they have the ability to compete at an international level. This is testament to the incredible work and commitment the swimmers put in and also the amazing support and assistance the school provides to help us achieve the sometimes seemingly impossible. This was a great result for us and my thanks goes to everyone involved in making this happen.'

Mount Kelly medallists: Gold: Julian Chan Quee Lin, 200m and 400m freestyle; Lauren Hession, 200m and 400m freestyle; Donovan McAntagart, 100m breaststroke.

Silver: Megan Bowen, 50m freestyle; Julian Chan Quee Lin, 100m freestyle; Finn Linton, 200m backstroke; Leah Picillo, 200m individual medley and Rebecca Carpenter, 400m individual medley.

Bronze: Lauren Hession, 100m freestyle; Megan Bowen, 100m freestyle; Benjamin Staig, 100m backstroke; Danielle Baker, 50m backstroke; Cara Layden, 100m backstroke; Finn Linton, 400m, individual medley and Rebecca Carpenter, 200m individual medley.