Bridgwater & Taunton College (BTC) student Bertie Kelly has won two gold medals at the Association of Colleges’ (AoC) National Championships, as well as captaining the South West team which won overall and received the prestigious Wilkinson Sword Trophy for the first time in four years.

More than 1500 students from across England and Wales competed in 12 different sports at the championships, which took place over a weekend at the University of Nottingham. Each athlete had qualified for the contest at regional finals held earlier in the year.

A Level student Bertie competed in the table tennis tournament, both as an individual and part of a team. Bertie won every one of his games without dropping a set, leading to two gold medals.

Bertie was also captain of the South West team, which dominated the competition, earning 140 points over the weekend and taking the lead ahead of Yorkshire & Humberside and the South East regions. This triumph led to the team bringing home the Wilkinson Sword Trophy, which was presented to Bertie on behalf of the region.

The former Haygrove School pupil said

It was a great experience meeting and competing against students from all over the country and having the chance to watch all the different sports that were played there. I was selected as the South West captain, which meant I was a flag bearer for the opening ceremony representing the whole region. During the closing ceremony, I had the honour of lifting the Wilkinson Sword trophy as the South West regained it for the first time in four years.

Team BTC manager Jamie Laird said

Bertie competed exceptionally well, winning every game and never dropping a set throughout the competition. He was a credit to the College, the South West, and to the BTC Sports Scholarship programme, which enables us to provide additional financial support to particularly talented and dedicated athletes. Later this month, Bertie is off to France to represent Great Britain in the International School World Championships. We wish him all the best.

For more information about Sport Scholarships at BTC, visit the Scholarships and Bursaries page. To find out about Sport courses, search using the Find a course page.