KINGSBRIDGE Kingfishers took a huge team to the prestigious County Championships and their dedication paid dividends.

The first weekend of action at the Devon County Championships concluded with a handful of medals as KKSC athletes took on the very best from Devon.

Kingfishers proudly entered 37 swimmers to this event in 2026, up 13 from the year before. Just three years ago, only eight swimmers made the grade to qualify.

Just to qualify for such a high-level event - raced at the long course version of the pool at Plymouth Life Centre - is a great achievement.

In recognition of this, The Cove Bar & Restaurant have sponsored our county qualifiers for 2026. Each qualifier was given a new racing hat for the competition (pictured).

The racing began with KKSC entering the Interclub team competition. The club battled hard against clubs from bigger towns and cities to finish a creditable eighth.

Following this were the Devon Relay Championships, pitting teams of four swimmers against each other in straight finals.

The support on poolside from young and old was a point of pride for new Head Coach Conor Morgan, who has taken over from the excellent Karen Dorey.

The first medal came from the U11 girls team, consisting of Luna Browne, Emi Charley, Emily Baxter and Clara Simons, who won silver in the 4 x 50m medley relay. They were just beaten by Exeter City.

However, an hour later they turned the tables on their big city opposition and claimed Kingfishers first gold of the Devon County Championships in the 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay, with the girls celebrating together after touching first!

A gold medal at this level is an incredible achievement, with only one KKSC swimmer achieving the feat this decade.

There were more relay medals to come thanks to Daniel Carrick, Fabiano Noto, George Tucker and Lucas Quiggin in the 15&U 4 x 50 Freestyle relay.

Sunday saw the beginning of the Devon County Championships in the full pool format.

Six swimmers made county finals, meaning they are ranked in the top eight in the county in their event.

Emi Charley, Lola Carpenter and Layla Quiggin made finals in the 100m Breaststroke, before George Stone, Freddie Stathers and Callum Weeks reached their age group 50m Butterfly final.

Callum and Lola placed seventh in their first ever finals. Freddie finished fifth, just before George who narrowly missed out on the medals in fourth. Layla also came fourth after a brilliant, personal best time.

Emi followed up success in the relays the previous day with a stunning individual bronze in the 100m Breaststroke. Only three KKSC swimmers claimed medals in 2025, a sign of how hard it is to achieve.

Also winning individual honours for the first time was new club captain Lucas Quiggin. He did so after years of near misses and bad fortune, in swimming’s longest event in the pool, the 1500m Freestyle.

The racing continues for all at Kingsbridge Kingfishers until February 1, with the club’s coaches, team managers, officials and team sponsors - The Cove - keeping their fingers crossed for more tremendous success.