KENDAL swimmers came away from Copeland’s popular graded gala with a great clutch of medals and personal best performances – with Sophie Roberts leading the was with four gold medals to her name.

A specialist at freestylem she was immaculate in both the 100 and 20-metre races, where her power and skill were just too much for her opponents. Great starts and transitions put her on the front and she totally dominated both races.

Her 100 Butterfly produced another comfortable victory and her all round display in the 100 Individual Medley resulted in a fourth gold as she outpaced all her rivals once again.

Another set of superb results came from 11-year-old Lennon Bell, who competed in five races and claimed five medals and five personal bests.

At Freestyle he excelled and in the 50m sprint, surging ahead off the blocks and holding the pace to hit the pads for a winning time of 33.80.

In the 100 he battled shoulder to shoulder with the leaders and when they began to wind it up he drove hard for the pads but had to settle for silver.

Another Silver came from a fantastic display in the IM, where he combined the four strokes with immaculate turns and transitions but once again was just touched out.

Returning to 200 Freestyle he swam a great tactical race which brought him a bronze medal in a close finish, and he completed his shift with a fine effort at 100 breaststroke which brought him his second bronze medal.

Thirteen-year-old Sophie Gibson also had one of her best meets – in the 100 backstroke she got a great start and dictated the pace to take gold in 1:16.64 and followed up with stunning performances to take silver in both the 100 breaststroke and 200 IM.

Leon Priestley Nying also had a fine meet with four medals to his name following solid swims. At 100 Bbackstroke he got a window of advantage and pulled well clear to win gold in 1:18.34, while his 200 IM saw him in the mix for the lead. However, he had to settle for silver and then went on to add bronze medals to his name in the 100 breaststroke and 100 IM.

The club’s final gold medallist was nine-year-old Annie Bottomley, whose natural ability at butterfly brought her a magnificent win in the 100m event and then snatched the bronze medal with a supreme swim in the 100 breaststroke.

Anna Roberts, also aged nine, had some marvellous swims and was unlucky not to win a gold but landed three silvers for her performances in the 50 freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 100 IM.

Further silver and bronze went to Jessie Keech and Adam Stansfield. Keech contested the 100 butterfly and 100 IM with pleasing swims while Stansfield was successful in the 100 breaststroke and 200 IM.

Ten-year-old Jake Gibson displayed his skill at sprinting and he too took silver medal at 50 freestyle, and further bronze medals went to Grace Airey, Eve Murray, Jacob Saunders, Alice Eastwood, Reece Kinley, Ellie Bottomley and Emily Westmorland to complete a highly successful meet for the club.