A SQUAD of more than 30 Swindon Dolphin swimmers were in Gloucester last weekend at the City of Gloucester Swimming Club’s level 3 open meet.

With a six week block of training under their belts, this was an opportunity for swimmers to lay down benchmarks for the forthcoming season.

The results did not disappoint as some swimmers including Hannah Bailey and Tyler Hillier recorded personal best swims in all events entered.

In all, Dolphin amassed an impressive 140 personal best swims across the three days of competition.

Medals also came thick and fast, and amongst those to pick up gold were Cathy Naus, Charlotte Purvis, Henry Pearce, Jake Lewis, Lucy Adamson, Miles Farrington and Samuel Elliott.

Ten-year-old Pearce and 15-year-old Lewis also picked up awards for overall top swimmer in their respective age groups.

Meanwhile, last Sunday teams from 39 counties converged on Ponds Forge Sheffield for the British Gas ASA National County Team Championships.

Competing in division 2, Wiltshire’s team included 10 from Swindon clubs. Dolphin’s Olivia Flack, Millie Jeans, Annie Ward, Rebecca Flack, Lauren Matthews, William Davies, James Watson and Sean Purvis were joined by Tigersharks Georgina Hall and Conor Keye plus 16 others to compete in the 31 event competition.

The championship gave the swimmers the rare opportunity of competing at Ponds Forge in the short course mode.

The full 50m length is divided into two 25m pools courtesy of a movable boom enabling both Division 1 and Division 2 contests to take place simultaneously.

Although many of the Wiltshire competitors put in some fine individual and relay performances, they found the going tough overall, finishing the division 2 contest in 15th place.