Carnforth Otters end year on high

Carnforth Otters - Alex Livingstone, Josh Thompson, Aimee Banks, Ben Winterburn.

First to swim was Ben Winterburn (15), competing in the National Open Water Championships at Rother Valley, Sheffield.

Ben finished in a very credible 17th position in his first national swimming event and was first to finish from the North West swimmers.

Next up was Josh Thompson (18), competing in six events at the British Championships at Ponds Forge, Sheffield, as well as in one event at the English Championships.

Producing a series of season and personal best times Josh progressed from the heats into the finals in six out of his seven events.

Swimming his first PB in two years in the 100m breaststroke (1.04.44) was a great start to the competition, achieving an excellent fifth place finish.

Withdrawing from the 200m breaststroke final in a busy week’s schedule to focus on the 200 individual medley event proved the right decision.

Josh went on to claim another two fifth-place finishes in the 50m breaststroke (29.42) and 200m IM (2.05.05) as well as 10th in the 100m freestyle (52.12) and 20th in the 50m freestyle (24.35).

His last event was in the open age 200m freestyle at the English Championships, where a PB in the heats secured him a place in the final where he recorded a PB of 1.53.61 and a bronze medal to round off a great week.

Then, in her second year at the English Nationals, Aimee Banks qualified for three events. Swimming solid times close to her PBs in the 100m and 200m backstroke, she finished in 15th (1.09.83) and 12th (2.30.63) position espectively. Aimee saved her best efforts with a strong swim in the 100m freestyle heats to qualify for her first national final.

Another excellent performance in the final and a time of 1.01.20 gave her a 10th place finish.

Finally, 15-year-old Alex Livingstone qualified for the 200m backstroke in her first national competition this year. Alex clocked a time of 2.28.63 and bagged herself a place in the final.

With a job well done, Alex was able to relax a little more for the final, and delivered another excellent performance to finish in ninth place with a time of 2.27.84.