EARLIER this month the best age group swimmers from the East and West Midlands came together for the ASA Midlands Championships held at Coventry's 50-metre pool.

Joe Evans took his place alongside his Stratford Sharks teammates having qualified in the 13-year 100, 200 and 400 metres freestyle.

Qualification in itself was a fantastic achievement for the Bretforton youngster as the swimming calendar for the major age group championships favours those born from August onwards.

And, having celebrated his birthday just before the competition he was the second youngest of the 51 qualifiers in the freestyle events.

The teenager rose to the occasion improving on his seeded positions in all three events.

Starting in the 400m, a superb time of 4.45.15 saw him clip six seconds off his personal best to give him an excellent 16th place.

Next up in the 100m, the size and power of some of his rivals saw Evans at a distinct disadvantage but another pb of 1.03.30 saw him claim 23rd spot only 1 seconds from a top ten finish.

Evans then showed his strength in the middle distance events with his best result coming in the 200m

A 3 second pb of 2.15.66 gave him 12th place and once again, as in the 400m, he left a number of previously unbeaten rivals, literally, in his wake.

The results are testament to the youngster's rapid progress up the ASA rankings over the last 12 months which is down to substantially increasing his training time including regular trips to Loughborough University to train in the 50-m facility used by the UK's top internationals.