ALTON & District Swimming Club entered a strong side for the annual Swim England South-East Championships, held over three weekends in May.

The squad included club captains Ben Williams and Rebecca Alder, plus Katherine George, Mia Spencer, Joanna Clifford and Hannah Williams (15/Over) and Lottie Jackson, Katie Pengilley, George Dominy and Tom Duddridge (14/Under).

Competitors needed to have achieved a qualifying time that put them in the top 20 in the region – an area spanning Kent to Oxfordshire.

First off was the 15/Over group and six Alton swimmers battled bank holiday traffic in hot, sticky weather to reach Wycombe Leisure Centre.

In the oldest (17/Over) category, Rebecca Alder, had qualified for the 200m backstroke and recorded a time just outside her personal best to finish a creditable 12th in a strong field.

Alton had three swimmers in the 16yrs group and Joanna Clifford and Ben Williams both qualified for the 50m butterfly races. Joanna achieved a PB and Ben was just half a second off his fastest ever time. In the 50m backstroke, Katherine George swam over half a second faster than her previous swim at the event.

Mia Spencer and Hannah Williams both swam two 15yrs races. Mia had struggled with a shoulder injury all season, but improved her times in the 50m backstroke and 100m backstroke. Hannah recorded her second fastest time this year in the 50m butterfly and her 50m freestyle time was only fractionally slower than her last outing.

The first of two weekends for the U14s was at Crawley’s K2. Lottie Jackson, after recording a superb PB in the 200 IM, went on to take the silver medal in the 200 butterfly final.

Tom Duddridge won bronze in the 100 freestyle final.

The following day, Katie Pengilley achieved an excellent personal best in the 200 backstroke .

On the final weekend, Tom Duddridge made the 200 medley final and Lottie Jackson clocked another PB in the 50 backstroke. Tom also reached the 50 freestyle with another PB before competing in his specialist 200 butterfly and taking the silver medal.

On the last day of racing, George Dominy swam close to his PB in the 50 breaststroke and only just missed the final. Lottie Jackson recorded a PB in the 50 butterfly.

Tom Duddridge was in the 100 butterfly and after a strong heat, he produced one final burst of energy to take the gold medal – a great moment for the Alton club.

Head coach Shaun Dominy said: “Turning to look at the board and seeing number one next to his name was amazing and a fantastic end to a very successful campaign for our new regional champion.

“We definitely stepped up this year and will enjoy the summer, knowing that all the training put in has worked and produced some great results.”

Alton medal-winners: Lottie Jackson, 200m butterfly silver (2-37.62). Tom Duddridge, 100m butterfly gold (1-10.16); 200m butterfly silver (2-35.45); 100m freestyle bronze (1-03.92).