Sporting students from Coleg Gwent made a splash when they took victory over competitors from colleges across the UK at the British Colleges Sport National Championships.
The students scooped two gold, one silver and one bronze medal in the table tennis and swimming competitions.
Sixteen students from the College’s Crosskeys and Usk Campuses were among 2,500 competitors and staff at the weekend-long event at Bath University between April 8 and April 10. The Coleg Gwent contingents represented Wales in women’s’ five-a-side football, trampoline, swimming and table tennis.
Usk Campus student Rory Pardoe was delighted to take home the gold medal in the men’s 100 metre breast stroke.
The 19-year-old, who is hoping to qualify for the Olympic trials next year, said: “I’m over the moon to be the best 100 metre breast stroke swimming student in the UK – I’m really happy to have won.
“It was a close competition, there was only about half a second in it between me and second place but it seems my intense training paid off.”
Rory’s twice-a-day training schedule doesn’t get in the way of his studies though, he’ll soon be completing his full time course in fitness instructing and is hoping to land a job in a gym in the next few months.
Crosskeys Campus students Laura Price and Taylor Williams proved they are a winning partnership, scooping gold in the women’s doubles table tennis.
Sixteen-year-old Matthew Gummer from Abertillery had double the challenge when he competed in the 50m and 100m butterfly competitions in the swimming where he took silver and bronze respectively.