The British Swimming Championships at the London Aquatics Centre, which also doubled as qualifiers for the European Youth Olympics and European Games, proved to be a successful meet for a plethora of local talent.

In the Youth Section, day one got off to a great start for Freya Anderson of Wirral Metro, who took second place in the 100m Freestyle, while City of Liverpool swimmer Athena Clayson finished in second place.

The week got even better for the talented duo as Athena claimed first place in the 50m freestyle and fourth place in the 100m backstroke, while Freya finished third in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke finals and sixth in the 200m IM.

Another Wirral swimmer, Jack Shillinglaw went under 60 seconds for the first time when finishing seventh in the final of the 100m backstroke, before setting a PB in the preliminaries of the 200m backstroke. Daniel came sixth overall.

Lewis Burras of Southport celebrated a PB in the heats of the 100m freestyle by winning the final.

In the Games qualifying section, Wirral’s Cassie Wild took third place in the 100m backstroke and in the Open section City of Liverpool swimmer Georgina Evans came fifth and sixth respectively in the 100m and 200m breaststroke.

Josh's perfect ten

Halton's Joshua Howard Hughes was the top male swimmer with 10 golds and a silver medal
Halton's Joshua Howard Hughes was the top male swimmer with 10 golds and a silver medal

Large crowds at the Knowsley Meet in Huyton enjoyed a weekend of great entertainment.

Halton swimmer Joshua Howard-Hughes finished as the top male with 10 golds and a silver medal, while Caitlin Bradford from Bebington was secured top female, despite being pushed all the way by club colleague Grace Kedzior Macdonough.

Co-hosts Everton came second in the team event, in part due to some fine swimming from Holly White (four golds and a bronze) and Patrick Donnelly (a gold, silver and bronze).

Fellow co-hosts Prescot had stand-out performances from Jessica Deeley, Ryan Tarbuck and Daniel Clark.