Bridport Barracuda swimmers enjoyed a fantastic Dorset County Championships at Littledown in Bournemouth.

Sixteen Bridport Barracuda swimmers qualified and attended these annual championships to compete against the best swimmers in Dorset over two weekends in January.

This is double the number of swimmers that qualified the previous year and demonstrates the hard work and training that the swimmers and coaches have put in over the last year.

Five swimmers made it through to the final in some of their events to swim against the best eight swimmers in their age group. 

Sam Westcott finished in the top eight for three of his events, Tom Caplen competed in five finals, Rohan Vercoe in two, Daniel Hussey in one and Holly Symes finished in the top eight for three of her races.

All swimmers had a fantastic competition with a high percentage of personal best times and club records broken by Daniel Hussey and William Caplen showing the high standard of swimming.

Head coach Sophie Dawe was delighted with the performance of the squad that attended the championships, commenting: "The number of swimmers that attended the championships and the performances and results that we saw is testament to the hard work that they have all put into training. 

"Some swimmers have never competed at this level before and it was fantastic to have such a large squad with a great team atmosphere over both weekends. I'm really proud of them all."

These championships mark the start of an exciting year ahead for the Barracudas, with many open meets and galas penned into the calendar and SW Regional Championships to look forward to.

Barracudas train at Bridport Leisure Centre and are a competitive swimming club offering swimmers the chance to compete in galas locally, through to national opportunities.

For more information email [email protected] or visit the website www.swimbarracudas.co.uk