An Olympic swimmer awarded St Albans primary school pupils for a spate of racing achievements.

Daniel Fogg, who has won bronze at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games in the 1500m freestyle, gold in the 5km open water event at the 2014 Berlin European Championships, and came 5th in the 10km open water event with Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics, came to How Wood School to recognise pupils who won a variety of swimming races in two different tournaments.

They went to the Primary Schools Swimming Gala (PSSG) at Hatfield Sports Village on March 18 and the English Schools’ Swimming Association (ESSA) Primary Schools Relay Teams Swimming Gala at Woodside Leisure Centre in Watford on March 11.

The How Wood team at PSSG, made up of four boys and four girls in Years 5 and 6, competed against seven other schools, winning many races including both the boys and girls 25m individual breaststroke.

Both of their relay teams at PSSG were named Freestyle Relay Champions, and school was given overall winner.

At ESSA’s competition four How Wood children swum against 10 other schools, winning the freestyle relay - making the primary the Small Schools Champion of Hertfordshire.

The youngsters will go to Sheffield in June for ESSA’s national finals.

Team member Robyn said: “I felt nervous before the race but when I finished I knew I had done well and I felt really happy.”

Another young swimmer, Daniel, said: “I felt really nervous waiting for my race to start but I had to conquer my fear and swim the best I could. “When we took part in the relay we all cheered each other on as we swam our lengths, we cheered for everyone.”

Headteacher Cynthia Rowe introduced Daniel to the school before he took over.

The headteacher’s PA, Jo de Fransz, said: “It was really good, he spoke about his achievements and how hard he has had to work and it was inspiring for the children.

“Even if you have to work hard, you can succeed, and hard work wins over talent, which was really nice to hear.”