KENDAL’S swimming squad travelled down to Blackpool to take part in their annual open meet in the Palatine Pool.

This event gave them a chance to test their skills outside the County.

They did however find medals hard to come by, so it was pleasing to see the performances of 9-year-old Ava Dixon bring her just reward in two of her events.

She opened her account with an impressive effort in the 100m Backstroke.

Off to a solid start she settled into her stroke pattern and got better and better. Preston’s Bethany Makwembere took the lead and forged ahead but Dixon held her nerve and worked hard, putting in some immaculate turns and transitions, whilst moving up a gear to maintain her position.

Through the final length she made a final burst of pace and hit the pads to take the silver medal.

She then went on to challenge for further honours in the 100m Breaststroke where again she found herself chasing Preston’s Violet Cairns and neck and neck with Wigan’s Alivia Cutter. As the race progressed Dixon and Cutter turned together, but Dixon didn’t panic but held her nerve and produced a further injection of pace which saw her burst through the pressure zone to hit the pads and add another Silver to her clutch of medals.

Another outstanding performance brought her a 4th place for her 50m Breaststroke sprint and 5th place for her all-round display in the 100m Individual Medley.

Breaststroke specialist Max Whitehead had a mixture of fortune in his events, starting off with the 200m. Off to a solid start he quickly settled into his stroke pattern and had to use all his skill and talent to challenge for honours in what was proving to be a battle between two leaders from Kirklees and Preston.

He was still able to continue with his task and with a lot of pressure on him he battled his way through to take the bronze medal.

The 50m Breaststroke was a classic, with six swimmers all finishing in 40 seconds and under. Off the blocks they set a devastating pace and took it on shoulder to shoulder over the first length they came out of the turn and having saved all their exertions for the last length they each turned on the screws.

Hitting the pads in a storming finish Whitehead was just touched out into 4th place. He had a similar result in the 100m race where again he had to settle for another 4th place following another exciting event.

Stalwart Adam Stansfield and Elliot Dart, both had pleasing results where their finest efforts brought Stansfield a dazzling 4th place at 50 Freestyle and Dart a superb 4th place at 50 Breaststroke.

Other squad swimmers who gave a number of outstanding performances that they could be proud of were Sasha Whitehead, Lianne Rairata, Eleanor King, Isabelle Wall-Budden, Chloe Westmorland, and Evan Dart, making it another successful outing for the Club.