SWINDON Dolphin’s Beth Crouch topped off a gruelling afternoon of swimming with a first place finish at the South West Regional open water championships in the slightly choppy waters off Weymouth beach and qualification to the British Gas ASA Youth Open Water Championships in August.

Barely a week after competing in the Wiltshire county open water championships in the still waters of Lake 32 Keynes Country Park, Crouch and two other swimmers from Swindon Dolphin Bethany Durston and Fraser Durston, headed south to continue their open water development.

Only 17-year-old Crouch had to repeat the 3km distance she swam at Lake 32 in the sea swim with 16-year-old Fraser competing over 2km and 13-year-old Bethany swimming a relatively short 1.5km.

Although it is difficult to compare times between open water swims given the differing conditions, a drop of seven minutes from Crouch’s 3km lake swim to the equivalent sea swim signified a big improvement and a deserved first place in the 15 to 18 years age group as well as national qualification in the 17/18 years category.

As Crouch is likely to discover however, the step up from regional to national competition is significant and whilst officially open water swimming is a non-contact sport, the impact is likely to be felt in more than just the speed of the other competitors.

Bethany was delighted to have completed the 1.5km course in just under the 25 minute mark and older brother Fraser was pleased with his performance having picked up a silver medal for his efforts. In a tough race, and having led for the majority of the 2km, the last 15m saw Jordan Young of East Dorset make a break and touch out Durston on the finish by less than two seconds.