Introducing the Dartes National Squad for 2025
After an exhausting qualifying window with 6 meets in just two months, followed by the Open Water Regional Championships in June, we can all breathe a sigh of relief. With such a young squad it's been a massive learning curve for so many, and a lot of what we normally take for granted, has had to be relearned along the way. But a squad of five is an excellent result, especially considering that last year only two made it.
It's no surprise that our veteran campaigners is back again: Phoebe Weatherill. Although we think of Phoebe in that way these days, it's worth noting that even she only has one summer spectacular under her belt so far - a very successful 2024, making the British Championships at the first of asking in the 100m Fly and finishing 8th in the final if you recall. It's fantastic to see her return and improving upon her previous season, making four events at British and 3 at English. As a bonus, dipping beneath 29sec for the first time in May and claiming the 15 year old Girls Dartes record in both the 50m and 100m Fly.
Behind Phoebe are another couple with a story to tell in Jessica Hubery and Kiera Binns. 2024 saw a disappointing season with both missing out on the English Nationals. Jess made the Open Water English Nationals but the disappointment was obvious to see. This season however has seen a major upturn, with both returning to the big stage in spectacular fashion, taking 3 events each, another improvement on their last showing at the English stage in 2023 with competing in one event each.
We're piling no expectations on these two for the summer, just getting them both there was the goal. For Jess, she heads to English for the 3 big freestyle distances 400m, 800m and the 1500m Freestyle, she also tackles the big 5km Open Water at Rother Valley on the 26th July. Our IM Queen Kiera will also contest the 200m & 400m IM along with the 200m Breaststroke which sums up an excellent return to form for both.
The qualifying window makes the process of selection for Nationals a painful and stressful experience. The Top X on rankings after the final weekend go to British, the Next Y go to English. We had another in the running right up until the final weekend. No one knows for sure until all the results are in the system and the final list is published. For those who fail to make it in the pool, it's always a quick dust up, get your thoughts together and make another late charge to the National Stage and that's exactly what our final pair of National Athletes did.
Freya Cooper and Jessica Eggitt made the decision to go after the Open Water National Stage, enduring a couple of months of extra training at Manvers Lake, Rotherham under the watchful eye of Tina Wilson, a former Dartes Athlete and a true titan on the Triathlon stage to this day. Thanks to this and the work done in the pool, both girls went to the Regional Championships fully prepared with the top four in each age group making the Nationals. Freya claimed the final 4th spot with Jessica Eggitt taking second and a Silver Medal. Now both have to join Jessica Hubery in those bigger Freestyle distances with Jessica Hubery and Freya Cooper competing in the 5km while Jessica Eggitt gets to enjoy the 7.5km.
And for those just missing out this year, let's get a head start for 2026.
