Halletts to forsake one Scottish adventure for another

But Guernsey’s top swim siblings will be missing Orkney 2025 in order to fulfil other big ambitions in the pool, with younger brother Ronny even hoping to challenge for medals at Glasgow 2026.

The UK-based Guernsey Swimming Club stars’ preparatory push includes the Aquatics GB Next Gen – formerly Summer – Championships, starting on 19 July, the day after Orkney’s closing ceremony.

‘We take a huge amounts of pride in representing Guernsey,’ Ronny said.

‘But for us now in our swimming careers, we have to look at the bigger picture and for us this is the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

‘From April to July, we have a packed long-course racing schedule with the aim of hitting Commonwealth qualifying times in all three breaststrokes and other sprint events.

‘The Island Games comes at a very awkward stage, being seven days before British Summer Nationals, which is a huge target meet for us in our preparation for Commonwealths.’

Older brother Charlie-Joe reiterated this and called it a ‘huge shame’ being unable to compete.

‘Representing Guernsey is the greatest honour I have achieved in this sport and it’s just a shame that the timing of the Games doesn’t fit into the training and competition schedule for this year.

‘Both Ronny and I are hoping to swim a local meet in May or June time, as we really enjoy competing on home soil for our local club.’

They have both already put down fast times this calendar year.

Ronny recently swam a 50m breaststroke personal best of 28.69sec. en route to retaining his Devon County Championships title.

There, Charlie-Joe led a dominant one-two over 100m as they finished roughly 5sec. ahead of the rest of the field.

Although Charlie-Joe has so far only raced the ‘counties’, he has gone faster than ever for this point of the year.

‘I’m heading up to the Edinburgh International Meet in early March followed by British Championships in London at Easter and hoping to swim some fast times, as my eyes are firmly set on qualifying for Commonwealth Games next year,’ Charlie-Joe said.

Ronny added: ‘My main aim for this long-course season would definitely be to get the Commonwealth qualifying times under my belt as soon as possible to take that pressure off.

‘Other than that I’m looking to make A finals at April champs and get on the podium at British Summers.’

This is where Ronny admits his future ambitions are ‘very high’.

‘The main aim is to challenge for medals at the Commonwealth Games 2026.

‘I’m also currently exploring other options and I’m in talks with a few US universities regarding scholarship offers, which would be a huge opportunity for me to demonstrate my ability in the NCAA college swimming system.’

Ronny’s training is both intense and high-volume. He is putting in 19 to 20 hours in the pool, plus four to five in the gym, per week, together with core and mobility work.

‘I would say I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in.

‘I’m doing really well dealing with the heavy loads of intense sessions.

‘In terms of illness and injuries over the past two years I’ve struggled at times, having to miss big chunks of training and major meets and it’s definitely been frustrating, but this season I’ve been heavily focused on my recovery and getting as much rest as possible in between sessions and it’s definitely helped me stay healthy.’

Charlie-Joe is also putting in the big hours, alongside hitting fast times and feeling good in the water.

He has upgraded his training this cycle from seven to eight swim sessions, and from three gym workouts to five.

‘Although it’s a lot harder, it is what’s required to swim faster and meet my targets.

‘Despite having Covid the weekend of “counties”, I’ve been fit and healthy throughout this year and fortunately have not had to deal with any injuries.’

Both are hugely grateful for the support they receive towards their ambitions, not least from their parents and the GSC.

‘I have a massive amount of support from home, mainly from my parents, who fund me and my brother, but also the support I get from my home club of GSC.

‘It’s comforting to know that me and Ronny are always welcome there after having our most enjoyable years of swimming with the club.

‘When I’m home in the off-season, I like to help out with the younger swimmers at GSC trying to teach them a few key points that they can apply into their training and racing – it’s the most rewarding part of the sport for me.’

Ronny added: ‘Having such amazing people support is what keeps us afloat, we wouldn’t be in this position without the support of our parents who help keep our goals and aspirations alive.

‘The support from GSC is always amazing as well – we wouldn’t be the swimmers we are today without the help of everyone at GSC and it’s a pleasure being able to come home and train in such a great club atmosphere.

‘During the holidays we like to do some coaching at club, bringing some of the knowledge and technical skills we have learnt over the years in the UK into sessions that we plan to hopefully inspire and help the younger swimmers develop.’

The brothers also push each other on in the pool.

Both have their names in the Guernsey record-books, with Ronny having shown that he is able to challenge and beat the marks set by his sibling.

‘The rivalry between me and Charlie is always there, as we are both very competitive people,’ Ronny said.

‘When we race head-to-head it’s always a blockbuster, coming down to the touch.

‘On race day we are opponents, but as soon as the race is over we are brothers and we’re always supportive of each other, no matter who wins.’

Charlie-Joe is more reluctant to describe it as a rivalry.

‘It’s always fun racing against my brother.

‘We always know it’s going to be close whether it’s the 50 or the 100, but I don’t see it as a rivalry.

‘At the end of the day we’re just two lads from Guernsey who are half-decent swimmers doing it at the highest level of domestic swimming in Great Britain.

‘Every time we go head-to-head we know it’s going to be a great race because we both hate losing.’