British Swimming Record Smashed

Carnforth Otters Swimmer, 13 year-old Elliot Woodburn, has broken the British Age Group Record for 50m Breaststroke with an incredible time of 31.02 seconds. 

Elliot now joins the likes of Adam Peaty on the British Swimming role of honours and is already inspiring numerous youngsters within Carnforth Otters and beyond, who are competing in swimming galas and swim teams across the region.

This achievement has been on the cards for several months. Even at 10 years old, Elliot was demonstrating considerable potential, swimming 50m breaststroke in 42 seconds for Kendal Swimming Club. By 2017, Elliot’s times were dipping below 35 seconds and it became clear that he needed to increase his training time to reach the next level. The performance squad within the Salt Ayre based swimming club, Carnforth Otters, was ideal given its year-on-year history of bringing talented youngsters to the top level in competitive swimming. Elliot fitted in perfectly and benefited from the extensive experience of the coaches and the abilities within the squad, whilst maintaining his sessions with Kendal. By mid-2018, Elliot had increased his core sessions with Carnforth’s performance squad with his times dropping below 33 seconds. By the end of 2018, it became clear that something special was in sight with an interim target of several podiums at the North West Summer Championships, but the scale of his achievements at this event certainly exceeded all expectations. 

Head Coach Mark Smith said “It has been a pleasure to support Elliot over the past 24 months and build on the excellent job that Kendal Swimming Club have done to provide Elliot with a fantastic skills platform to build-on. I am delighted to have supported and witnessed Elliot breaking this long-standing British Record at the North West Championships. Elliot has worked hard for this record and has the potential to build on his achievement over the coming months and years with more world class results”.

Elliot is now preparing for the British Championships in August together with several members of the squad. Close cooperation with the local network of clubs is continuing to provide a fantastic pathway for young athletes who are focussed on competitive swimming, triathlon and pentathlon that is on course to establish Lancaster and the surrounding area as an important centre of excellence for these aquatic disciplines.