Today has been a good day for me

I've just got back from Sheffield. My daughter Madeleine won the National youth open water swimming championships gold medal (14-15 age group) at the Rother Valley water park.  She's a member of Barnet Copthall Swimming club. This was her first open water event, she swam 1,750 meters in a time of 20:23:11. It was a fantastic achievement.  The sport has been on the up since Great Britain won a Silver and Bronze in Beijing. She is staying up for the National Youth Championships.  The club has had a great week with Barnet Swimmer Freddie Cornwell winning five golds so far and two silvers at the age group National Championships. I know first hand how much time, commitment and effort goes into such an achievement. Barnet is fortunate to have such a successfull elite sports club.  Two years ago, then  Barnet Mayor John Marshall presented Maddie with an award recognising her achievements winning five golds and two silvers at age group. I sincerely hope they do the same for Freddie this year.

The Barnet Copthall Swimming blog (nothing to do with me) - keeps us all up to date with the acheivements of the swimmers - http://www.barnetcopthall.blogspot.com/ - Maddies success is detailed on the British Swimming website -

http://www.swimming.org/asa/news/clubs/payne-takes-youth-open-water-title/5697/ -

I must say a personal word of the thanks to Rhys Gormley, Maddie and Freddies coach. We hear plenty of stories in the press about the bad things young people do. Through my childrens sports clubs and my own associations with  YMCA and the Sound Skool project, I think it is also important to remind ourselves that we have some really brilliant young people in Barnet, who I for one am proud to bits for.