PERSHORE nine-year-olds Alison Seward and Tazmin Pugh were in action at the Boldmere Water Carnival in Birmingham.
Pugh, in particular, had a terrific two days and finished third overall out of all girls’ age groups on the number of points claimed.
She recorded her best time to date in the 200-metre freestyle, clocking two minutes 50.30 seconds to leave her ranked second in the region.
Pugh claimed her second win in the 50m butterfly with another best of 40.07 to put her eighth in the UK, while club-mate Seward was second in 40.90.
In the 200m individual medley, Pugh bagged another gold, fifth spot in the UK and a personal record in 3.04.42.
Seward, also coached by Pershore’s Tom Naughton, was disqualified.
Pugh pulled off a stunning fourth first place of the day in the 50m butterfly with a time of 39.95.
She is ranked 10th in the UK in this event.
Seward clocked a personal best in her heat of 46.08 and then tackled her best event, the 200m backstroke.
She just did enough to win a nail-biting finale in 3.12.58 for her first victory in an open gala.
It left both girls in the top 50 in the UK out of 10,000 nine-year-old female swimmers — Pugh 14th and Seward 41st.
On the second day, Seward again set personal bests in her events.
Pugh was second in the 50m freestyle in 35.19, fourth in the 50m breaststroke and second in the 200m breaststroke, clocking 3.36.94.
She ended on a high note, winning the individual medley in 1.30.18.
