SWINDON Dolphin head coach Louise Clayton was gushing with pride after her club were voted Swindon Advertiser Team of the Year.

Clayton’s swimmers saw off competition from Swindon Cricket Club, Wootton Bassett Town Football Club and North Wilts Hockey Club to be named the top club in region.

“It’s testament to the hard work of the coaches, team managers and everyone else. There’s a lot of early mornings,” said Clayton.

“It feels fantastic. It’s a big shock, we weren’t expecting it at all but we’re really proud of the whole team.

“We’re here representing 400-odd members, parents and coaches and it’s testament to all their hard work.

“We’re always looking for new members, we have a great pathway and we’ve grown a lot over the past year and we’ve had great success over the past year.

“To win this is fantastic.”

Dolphin’s membership has increased by 15 per cent over the course of the past year, while a number of club records have been broken and swimmers of all ages have achieved national qualifying times.

Teenage members Mathew Sambrook – the team captain – and Lauren Matthews were present on Thursday night along with Clayton to pick up their prize and both were chuffed that the Swindon public had picked their club above the rest.

Sambrook said: “We’re very proud when we get recognition for stuff like this. We’re really happy.”

Matthews said: “It’s quite exciting.

“We’ve never won an award like this so it’s really good.”