LEDBURY Swimming Club can boast a Midlands district age group champion following a fantastic performance by 10-year-old George Parsons, who won the 100m breaststroke championship at Coventry on Sunday.

Seeded fastest in the heats, the pressure was on to get away fast and maintain his speed throughout the two lengths of the 50m pool. Shrugging off strong competition from older boys from two of the biggest and most successful clubs in the region, City of Birmingham and City of Coventry, George was totally focused on his own race.

With a three and a half second personal best improvement, he knew the title was his.

Adding to the excitement, team-mate David Middleton swam a two and a half second personal best time, winning his heat from an outside lane and then had to suffer a nail-biting further two heats before ascertaining that he was the silver medallist.

It was not just a tremendous effort for the boys themselves but an amazing feat for such a tiny club to take major honours.

Next weekend, both boys will compete at the longer 200m distance with their sights set on achieving their national qualifying times.

Twelve-year-old Thomas Stokes had a tough weekend, swimming in five events, including the gruelling 1500m freestyle. His major task was to gain his national qualifying time for the 200m individual medley.

To do so he would have to reduce his time by over three seconds. Going out strongly on his fly he was up with the leaders and recorded a fast split, a good backstroke followed but it was the third length, the breaststroke, where he really made his mark and was within his goal providing he could put in a solid freestyle finish.

Unfortunately, it slipped away leaving him happy to have an improved best time but frustratingly a second outside the qualifying mark. Luck was on his side and having beaten a couple of boys seeded in faster heats, he qualified for the final.

With his 100m freestyle race in between, it was down to determination and fitness to summon the drive to go through it all again, and hopefully faster. With slightly faster butterfly and freestyle lengths, he was delighted and relieved to see he had just managed the time by a tenth of a second and finished in fourth place. Buoyed up by such a great performance, he went on to excel himself in the afternoon session with a new best time in the 200m breaststroke event and a silver medal for Ledbury.

James Middleton, Charlie Green, Sam Parsons, Lucy Stokes, Patty Holloway and Caitlin Clark were the other squad members competing over the weekend, with all of them swimming faster than their previous long course times.

Coach Viv Jones said: "It has been a very tough weekend consisting of long sessions and I am extremely pleased with how the squad coped. They recently swam here at a meet, then went to Bath University for a long course preparation training session and consequently were comfortable enough with the 50m pool to swim confidently.

"It is wonderful to have 12 swimmers who have qualified this year. Midland District is the largest swimming district in the country, providing first-rate competition from clubs situated in Derbyshire, Oxfordshire, Leicestershire, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, in fact next year it will be sub-divided into smaller districts.

"To have three medal winners from a such a small club as ours, with very limited water time, really is beyond all expectations. Needless to say, I am exceptionally proud of them all."