This year’s Swim England North West Regional Awards Ceremony took place at Leigh Sports Village on Saturday 3rd October 2026, bringing together clubs, volunteers, athletes and supporters from across the region for another truly memorable evening. The event continues to grow in stature each year, and it’s clear that our Regional Awards are becoming a standout date in the North West aquatics calendar.
It was a pleasure to welcome Olympic athletes and multiple Olympic medallists Anna Hopkin and Luke Greenbank back to their North West roots to present awards to our 2026 winners.
Anna began her swimming journey at Chorley Marlins at the age of eight, progressing through the Gallica Elite Squad before moving to Blackburn Centurions. From those early club beginnings, she rose to the very top of world swimming, becoming a two‑time Olympian at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, an Olympic Champion in the 4x100m Mixed Medley Relay, a British Record Holder in the 100m freestyle, and a medallist at Commonwealth, European and World level.
Luke’s journey also began here in the North West, at Cockermouth Swimming Club, where his talent and determination quickly shone through. From his Cumbrian roots, he progressed through the national pathway to become a world‑class athlete and two‑time Olympian, representing Great Britain at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. At the Tokyo Games, he produced two outstanding performances — winning Olympic bronze in the 200m Backstroke and Olympic silver in the 4x100m Medley Relay. He is the British Record Holder in the 200m Backstroke and has collected medals across the Commonwealth, European and World Championships, securing his place among Britain’s finest swimmers of his generation.
Joining Anna and Luke in presenting awards was this year’s Swim England North West Regional President, Mr Bob Bolton, whose involvement in swimming spans more than 60 years. Bob first joined Stretford Swimming Club in 1965 and has contributed to the sport ever since, as a swimmer, water polo player, coach, official and volunteer. Since joining Trafford Metro in 2005, he has served an impressive 13 years as Club Chair, stepping down from the role only recently.
With an exceptional number of nominations received for this year’s awards, the judging panel, made up of four individuals, faced an extremely challenging task in selecting the shortlisted nominees and category winners. Across 13 award categories, attendees enjoyed hearing the inspiring stories and achievements of our 2026 winners. Ten of these category winners will now progress to the ‘long list’ for the relevant categories at the 2027 Swim England National Awards. Once reviewed by the national judging panel, shortlisted nominees will be invited to attend the National Awards ceremony, due to take place at the Vox in Birmingham in March 2027.
Categories forming part of the Swim England National Awards and forming part of the long list of nominees:
Other awards presented as ‘Regional only awards’ for which there is no ‘national category’ and will therefore not progress to the long lists for the Swim England National Awards 2027:
The winners for each category were as follows:
Our final award for 2026 was the ‘Swim England North West Lifetime Achievement Award’ – this award recognises an individual who has demonstrated exceptional, long‑term service to aquatics within the North West Region. The recipient will have made a significant and sustained contribution that has strengthened the sport, supported its people, and positively influenced the regional aquatics community over many years.
This year’s winner has devoted more than seven decades to swimming, beginning in the 1950s as a swimmer, water polo player and instructor before spending nearly fifty years coaching and later serving as a club chair and life member. Their impact stretches across county, regional and national levels, where they helped build major structures within the sport, founded a key regional league, and contributed to numerous councils, boards and committees. They have shaped coach development, open water growth, welfare standards and long‑term strategy, while also influencing wider community sport across the North West for more than 25 years. Few individuals have given so much, for so long, and their legacy continues to benefit thousands across the aquatics community.
This year’s winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award is Mr Brian Boyle. Unfortunately Brian was unable to attend the Awards Evening on Saturday, but Janice Whittle visited Brian on Monday and presented him with his award. He was extremely grateful to have been presented the award and passed on his sincere thanks to the North West Regional Board of Directors who selected him as this year’s worthy winner.
This year’s Regional Awards truly brought our North West community together, with attendees travelling from across the region, including as far away as Workington and the Isle of Man, to share in this special celebration. The atmosphere was lifted once again by the exceptional performances of Barron & Fielding, supported brilliantly by DJ Barry, whose music, sound and lighting added so much to the evening.
A huge thank you to our fantastic compere, Chris Gerrard, for guiding the night with his trademark energy, and to the dedicated staff at Leigh Sports Village for their outstanding support.
Congratulations to all our 2026 nominees, those who were shortlisted, and of course to our winners. For those progressing to the Swim England Awards long lists, we wish you every success. Our thanks also go to Regional Vice Chair Mark Ralph for officially opening and closing the awards ceremony this year, our 2026 Regional President Bob Bolton, and of course our special guests Anna Hopkin and Luke Greenbank for presenting the awards and inspiring everyone in the room.
We hope all who attended enjoyed the occasion, and we encourage you to keep an eye out for details of our 2027 Regional Awards, which we are already working hard to make an even bigger and more memorable celebration than ever before.
Here are some photographs of the evening:
