Shrewsbury swimmers meet their Olympic heroes for 125th anniversary year
Members of a Shrewsbury-based swimming club, which has just celebrated its 125th anniversary, enjoyed a trip to London to mark the milestone and met with their Olympic heroes.
Shrewsbury Amateur Swimming Club (SASC) is a friendly and vibrant swimming club whose able-bodied and para swimmers compete at county, regional and national level.
On Saturday three buses travelled to the capital to visit the Olympic Pool at the 2012 London Aquatics Centre, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Sixty swimmers aged 8 to 18, plus 56 parents and committee members, and head coach Sam Holland were on board to soak up the sunshine.
On arrival the swimmers had a special treat in store. Former Olympic swimmers Nick Gillingham (200m Breast Silver in Seoul 1988 and Bronze in Barcelona 1992) and Jazz Carlin (Freestyle Silver in 400m and 800m in Rio de Janeiro 2016) were there to greet the children.
They chatted about their Olympic experiences as professional swimmers, showing the children their original Olympic medals.
The day continued with a memorable two hour coaching session in the former 2012 50m Olympic Pool led by Nick and Jazz.
All the children wore specially commissioned 125 years of SASC celebratory white swim caps to mark the occasion.