Three Ulverston Otters excelled themselves at the Derventia Excel long course meet held at the Ponds Forge pool in Sheffield.

Tom Robinson, Nicola Capstick and Indya Sharp were looking for times to enhance their regional rankings and were once more in the mix with swimmers from the big time clubs – and all three came away pleased with their performances.

Robinson, in particular, had some dazzling results, starting with a 200 butterfly swim which saw him come through to snatch a silver medal in a blanket finish.

He followed this up with another brilliant performance in the 50 backstroke, where again he got a great start to put himself up there among the leadersand worked hard to hold his style and stroke together to take bronze in a race where only one second separated the top eight swimmers.

Turning to the gruelling 400 individual medley, he brought all his tactical skill and strength into play to produce a terrific display despite being outside the medals.

Capstick, although only entered in three events while working her way back to top form for the approaching regional championships, came up with a determined effort to put in a time of 1:12.32 and a creditable 10th place in the 100m backstroke.

Then she attacked the 200 backstroke and in a class field swam well up to the pace for a commendable eighth position, while her 200 individual medley saw her produce a top quality swim to bring her a time of 2:41.70.

After many years coming up through the ranks, Sharp is now competing amongst the big guns from around the north and her best effort came in the 50m breaststroke, where she gained a ninth place when hitting the finishing pads in 37.09.

Her 50 butterfly saw her produce a time of 32.55 to finish in 28th place – but it was a brilliant swim for the youngster as it was only two seconds off the medal place.

n Following on from her performances this year, Nicola Capstick has been appointed as Ladies Captain of the Cumbria ASA team which will compete in the national inter-county team championships at Ponds Forge.

Caption..Nicola Capstick alongside men’s captain Owen Millican