Bognor swimmers prove handy at the Handley

It was open to clubs from as far afield as the Isle of Wight, Greenwich and Eastbourne, with 23 teams competing.

The two-day event saw Bognor come home with a number of personal-best times, qualification for further regional competitions and six podium finishes.

Abbie Turner (12) had a fantastic meet. She came first in no fewer than four races - the 11-12 100m freestyle, 100m and 200m backstroke and the 200m individual medley, which comprises 50m each of breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and freestyle.

Despite a nine-and-a-half second improvement in her personal-best time, she was pushed into second place in the 200m butterfly.

Her outstanding effort also ensured that she has qualified for the forthcoming regional finals in March 2013.

There was also a podium finish for Archie Strowger (nine) in the boys’ 200m backstroke, where he shaved just under half a second from his personal best.

He is now becoming a seasoned performer in competitive racing, despite once again being one of the youngest competitors at the event.

While Emily Guiry, swimming in the 11-12 age group, was unfortunate not to come away with a podium finish, she managed to take a commendable five seconds off her 200m backstroke personal best and a staggering six-and-a-half seconds from her 200m freestyle personal best.

Georgia Spink, swimming in the 9-10-year-old 50m breaststroke, came a credible fifth and managed to improve her personal best by 1.37 seconds.

Sam Webb, 19, swimming in the 15-and-over category, finished second in the 100m breaststroke and fourth in the 100m backstroke, both excellent results considering his recent injury, which has prevented him from competing recently.

There were also an admirable swim from Jasmine Day, 17, who achieved fifth place in the 15-and-over 100m backstroke, while Eli Fox (16) managed to warm up from the recent Bognor Lions’ new-year dip in order to compete in the 200m freestyle and individual medley events and Anna Turner (15) completed the line-up.

The efforts of all the swimmers ensured a tenth-place finish overall, a fine result considering Bognor were unable to be represented in every event.

The successful swimmers will now return to training six times a week in preparation for the March finals or to continue to work on taking those valuable seconds off their personal bests.