South Lincs Competitive Swimming Club star Emma Croker came away from the European Junior Championships in Bucharest with a brlliant bronze medal.
The teenage talent was part of the 4x200m freestyle relay team that finished third, alongside Hollie Widdows (Mount Kelly), Ashleigh Baillie (City of Sheffield) and Erin Little (Mount Kelly).
Croker was also in solo action, claiming 17th overall in the 200m freestyle in a time that was a new under-17 girls’ Lincolnshire County record of 2.05.91mins.
The South Lincs ace said: “I have really enjoyed my experience being away with the British team in Romania.
“Being able to race new people from all over Europe is something that not many people get to experience, so I feel lucky to have been there. While being away I feel my independence has grown and I hope to have an opportunity with a high level team like this again.”
It was back in April that Croker qualified for the Euros, having starred at the British Swimming Championships.
The event is considered one of the premier global annual swimming events and gives rising stars in the sport an opportunity to experience international competition with the very best from across Europe.
Girls must be aged 14 to 17 years and boys aged from 15 to 18 years in order to participate.
This is the first occasion that Romania has hosted a European Championships and they took place at the newly-built and opened Otopeni Olympic Swimming Complex on the outskirts of Bucharest.
Croker was in hard training since the conclusion of the East Midlands Regional Championships in early May, preparing for her two events.
Having felt ‘unfit’ by the end of Regionals, she faced some gruelling sets in the pool, attending nine sessions and spending 16-and-a-half hours per week in the water with gym sessions to add to her schedule.
With the training cycle completed, Croker headed out to Romania with the British team on July 2.
This gave her one day of travel and then two final days of preparation with the team out in Bucharest before the competition got underway.
She had the honour of being the first British athlete to step onto the blocks at the Championships, as the girls 200m freestyle was the first event on day one.
Swimming in the first heat, Croker produced a very balanced race. Opening in a controlled 61-seconds for the first 100m, she was able to bring the race home well to touch the wall in fifth place in her heat.
After the heats were completed, she had finished in 17th place and missed out on progressing to the semi-finals by just one place.
Croker also placed third out of the British girls who contested this event, securing her spot as part of the relay team.
With no racing for her on day two of the championships, Croker just faced a little light training session in the morning and then joined the British athletes for the finals session in the evening to support her team-mates.
She was back in action on day three of the championships as part of the girls’ 4x200m freestyle relay team. With ten countries submitting teams, the relay was swum as a straight final in the evening session of competition.
Widdows led the team off with a strong opening 200m and touched the wall in third place behind Hungary and Italy, handing over to the South Lincs speedster.
Croker swam a very fast first 100m keeping the British team in touch of Italy and just ahead of Spain.
By the end of her stint she had clocked 2.04.45mins – achieving a major objective, which was to swim faster for the team than she went in her individual race.
She also touched the wall in third place and handed over to Baillie, who fought to stay ahead of Spain and maintain the medal position Great Britain had established.
Little then brought the race home in fine style, holding off Spain to take the bronze medal for the quartet in a time of 8.13.42mins.
Croker’s South Lincs team-mates were watching a live stream of the race ahead of their training session and there was much celebration as Great Britain touched home for the bronze.
South Lincs’ Head Coach Keith Haynes said: “We are all extremely proud of Emma’s achievements at the European Junior Championships.
“Everyone at South Lincs is delighted for her.
“I very much hope that Emma’s results will inspire many of the swimmers at the club to replicate her accomplishment.
“It has been an amazing experience for Emma to get to compete on the international stage and learn to manage herself away from her family and team mates.
“I very much hope this is a stepping stone for Emma to go on to even bigger and better things.”
