SIXTEEN members of Colchester Swimming Club competed against the region’s best swimmers at Swim England’s East Region Short Course Championships at Inspire Luton Sports Village.

Colchester finished eighth in the Top Club medals table with one gold medal, three silvers and one bronze.

Michelle Young, head coach at Colchester Swimming Club, said: “I am exceptionally proud of all of our swimmers who competed at this year’s Region Short Course Championships.

"They represented the club superbly, putting in some very creditable performances.

"Inevitably the competition gets harder as swimmers progress but this group are making great strides forward in their development.”

There were a number of outstanding performances throughout the weekend.

In the 50 metre backstroke, Martha Duley and Asma Parker both qualified for the final, with Asma recording a new PB of 29.99 in her heat.

In an exciting final Martha put in a silver medal-winning performance (29.33) and Asma came seventh (30.38).

In the 50m butterfly final Elinor Duley (28.10) raced home to be crowned regional champion and win the gold (and a lovely big cup).

Sam Whearty was also in medal-winning form and won bronze in both the 100m backstroke (with a new PB) and 100m breaststroke.

He also set a new PB in the 400m freestyle which he swam with real confidence.

Olivia Norman qualified for the 200m backstroke final with a great PB (2.17.62) and finished a very creditable sixth in the final (2:20.04).

Thomas Grieve qualified for the 100m IM final with a new PB (1:00.40) and swam a very focused and determined race to take eighth place in the final (1:01.22).

Underlining their backstroke credentials, Martha Duley and Asma Parker both qualified for the 100m backstroke final, with Asma recording a new PB of 1:05.41 in her heat.

In a superbly-contested final, where the top three positions were separated by a mere 0.08 seconds, Martha won the bronze medal (1:03.19).

In the 50m freestyle Martha Duley and Elinor Duley made the final, with Elinor holding-off the competition to win the silver medal (26.25) and Martha finishing in tied sixth place (26.85).

A number of other PBs were also recorded over the weekend with several swimmers recording life-time bests: Rebecca Girolami (100m breaststroke, 1:16.45), Ciara Wookey (200m IM, 2:31.30 and 50 breaststroke, 35.98), Asma Parker (100m freestyle, 1.00.04; 50m butterfly, 29.41 and 200m backstroke, 2:24.71), Molly Redgrave (200m backstroke, 2.27.24) and Jamie Coles (50m breaststroke, 31.94 and 50m backstroke, 29.70).

The following swimmers represented Colchester Swimming Club: Nicole Chandler (50m backstroke, 50m and 100m breaststroke, 50m freestyle, 100m and 200m Individual Medley), Jamie Coles (50m backstroke, 50m and 100m breaststroke, 50m freestyle), Elinor Duley (50m backstroke, 50m and 100m butterfly, 50m and 100m freestyle), Martha Duley (50m, 100m and 200m backstroke, 50m and 100m freestyle, 50m breaststroke, 50m butterfly, 100m Individual Medley), Alfie Francis (100m breaststroke), Rebecca Girolami (50m, 100m and 200m freestyle, 50m and 100m breaststroke, 50m butterfly, 100m and 200m Individual Medley), Thomas Grieve (50m breaststroke, 100m Individual Medley), Charlotte Norman (200m backstroke and 400m Individual Medley), Olivia Norman (200m backstroke), Asma Parker (50m, 100m and 200m backstroke, 50m and 100m butterfly, 50m and 100m freestyle, 200m Individual Medley), Molly Redgrave (200m backstroke, 200m Individual Medley), Alexander Tinnion (50m and 100m backstroke), Louis Walker (50m breaststroke, 50m freestyle), Samuel Whearty (100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 50m and 400m freestyle), Ciara Wookey (50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke, 50m and 100m butterfly, 100m, 200m and 400m Individual Medley) and Molly Young (100m butterfly, 200m freestyle, 200m Individual Medley).