Aquatics GB Next Gen Championships 2025 - Report

The end of season highlight for many of our Derby Excel swimmers was the Aquatics GB Next Gen Swimming Championships, held at Ponds Forge from 19^th to 25^th July 2025. 

To qualify for the Next Gen Championships, swimmers had to swim a time that ranked them in the top 24 in the event for the following age groups: 13/14 years, 15 years, 16 years, 17/18 years and 19/over. The time had to be set during the qualifying window which ran from early March until mid-May. This is a really challenging target, and we were very proud of the individual swimmers who qualified for this prestigious event. 

Ever reliable Imogen Clark did what she does best, with a GOLD in the 50m breaststroke, in a time of 31.20s, to take the win for the third consecutive year in this event. 

Eden Saint (15) qualified in 4 events, the standout result being the 50m breaststroke where he was 3^rd in the heat with 30.86s, then 5^th in the final with 30.99s. Eden also competed in the 100m breaststroke, coming 16^thwith 1:09.34. He was 20^th in the 200m breaststroke with 2:37.56s,  and 21^st in 200m freestyle with 2:03.13s. 

Miley Aram (16) had an excellent meet. She qualified in 2 events, finishing 5^th in the 50m butterfly heats, with a time of 29.01s, then improving her heat swim by nearly half a second to finish 4^th in the final, in 28.54s. Miley also raced the 100m butterfly, finishing 12^th in 1:05.78. Well done Miley on these excellent results. 

Jacob Pemberton (16) raced in 3 events, making 2 finals. He posted 2:11.66s in the 200m backstroke to finish 8^th in the heat, then was 9^th in the final in 2:11.62. Both swims improved on his personal best time of 2:12.7s. Jacob also made the final in the most gruelling event on the programme, the 400m individual medley. He was 10^th in the heat in 4:46.17s, then swam to an impressive 8^th place in the final, in a time of 4:45.46s. Again he improved on his previous personal best of 4:47.1s. He also raced the 200m breaststroke, finishing 17^th in a huge lifetime best of 2:32.82 (previous PB 2:39.8). A great set of swims from Jacob. 

Logan Wiggins (14) also made the final of the 400m individual medley, finishing 6^th in the heat with a 6 second PB of 5:00.22, and was 4^th in the final with another chunk off his PB with a time of 4:56.45s. Logan also raced the 200m breaststroke, finishing 13^th in 2:38.84s.

Georgina Pryor was 4^th in both the 50m butterfly heat and final, posting 27.47s in the final. She was 11^th in 100m freestyle with 58.01s.

Connie Bunhejee (14) qualified for the 100m butterfly. She came 5^th in the heat, with 1:06.06, just off her personal best time of 1:05.80s, then stormed the final to finish in 6^th with a new lifetime best of 1:04.97s. 

George Whittle (19) raced two events. He swam the 50m backstroke, qualifying for the final in 9^th place in the heat with 26.30s,  then was 10^th in the final. George also raced the 100m backstroke, finishing in 14^th with 57.83s.

Marija Romanovskaja (19) competed in the 200m freestyle, finishing 10^th in 2:10.40s

Jaden Leo (16) was 12^th in 100m breaststroke in a time of 1:08.26, and also raced the 50m breaststroke, coming 14^th in 31.32s. 

Anna Tyers (17) qualified for 5 events. She placed 18^th in 100m backstroke with 1:05.65s, and 33^rd in 200m freestyle in 2:10.88

Laurel Roberts-Burrell (18) raced 3 events. He was 26^th in 50m backstroke with 27.63s, 32^nd in 50m freestyle in 24.36s, and 37^th in 100m backstroke in 1:01.09s

In addition, we had some relay teams qualify. These relays provide swimmers with a great opportunity to race at this event, and to showcase their talent on a National stage. 

Mens 14-16y 4 x 100m medley relay – Jacob Pemberton, Eden Saint, Jaden Leo and Zac Drayson – 6^th in 4:02.90s.

Women’s  17/o 400m freestyle relay - 6^th – Marija Romanovskaja, Georgie Pryor, Anna Tyers, Imogen Clark

Mens 14-16 year  4 x 100m freestyle relay – Zac Drayson, Eden Saint, Evan Johnson and Jaden Leo – 14^th in 3:40.90s.

Mens 14-16y 4 x 200m freestyle relay - Zac Drayson, Eden Saint, Finlay Bird and Isaac Ebanks – 18^th in 8:14.27s

Well done to everyone who competed, it was tough just to qualify, and was a great learning experience for our younger representatives. Thank you to all the coaches, volunteers and helpers who supported the swimmers at this event.