THE Ledbury and District Swim-ming Club's second championship gala resulted in 15 new records.

Event one saw 20 of the youngest swimmers tackle their most difficult stroke, 25m butterfly, and the winners in the 7/U category were Katherine Berry and William Brown, and in the eight years age group Joe Bloxsome and Caitlin Clark, who with a time of 20.74 seconds set the first new record of the gala. Silver medals were won by Freddie Van Vuren, Sally Fitz-patrick, George Parsons and Lucy Stokes with David Middleton and Patty Holloway in bronze spots.

Swimmers aged 11 and over had a tougher challenge as their race covered 100m. Eleven-year-old Hannah Bloxsome has been performing brilliantly at all distances on this her best stroke so it was no surprise when she won the 11/12 category and broke the five-year-old record. New member, 12-year- old Rhys Davey showed his worth in the boy's event with a very determined swim winning the race and also breaking the record.

The 13/14 girls was the closest fought, with Lucy Bennion, Sarah Bethell and Chloe Watson all neck to neck over the entire race. At the touch, all three finished with new pb's and with half a second separating them it was Lucy the winner with Sarah second and Chloe third. Joe Platt was the boy's winner in this age group.

Both Hywel Pothercary and Laura West swam personal best times in the 15/O group with a new record set by Laura.

The 200m event was backstroke with 60 competitors, 48 of which either had a new time or achieved a personal best.

Competition was fierce across all the age groups and seven new club records were set. Youngest winners (9/u) were George Bennion and Patty Holloway (new record), Odge Davey (new record) and Jessica Hunt in the 10 years, Luke Rycroft and Annabelle Wilce both with new records in the 11/12 years, Thomas James and Sarah Bethell(new record) in the 13/14 and Hywel Pothercary and Laura West, both with new records in the 15/0, both these swimmers won the Open Championship and Arron Almond and Annabelle Wilce won the Junior Championship.

The most popular event was the 50m freestyle race attracting 70 entries. Victorious were George Bennion (new record) and Annabel Dereham (9/u), Bradley Smith and Hannah Kirby (10), Luke Rycroft (new record) and Susan Pudge (11/12) Thomas James and Chloe Watson (new record) and Hywel Pothercary and Laura West (new record). The novice races were won by Iain Campbell and Hannah Kirby and the trophies awarded for improvement and effort during training were presented to Claire Powell Tuck and Joe Cusworth.

The gala was sponsored by Fleet Search and Selection.