A WONDERFUL swim by Kirsty Keech which saw the 14-year-old strike gold was one of the highlights as the Kendal contingent performed well against strong opposition in a regional event at Blackpool.

After years of hard training and steady improvement, she finally grabbed a thoroughly deserved first place in the 200 breaststroke.

Off the block, she was among the leaders and turned slightly ahead at the first 50 and kept composed through the 100 and 150 mark.

Then into the last 50 she dug deep and launched a devastating attack to pull off a magnificent victory in a time of 3:08.70.

And she completed a great day by showing outstanding technique to land the bronze at 200 backstroke.

Joel Saunders also emerged as the leading light, collecting gold and silver medals for his efforts.

Opening with the 50 breaststroke, the 12-year-old got a great start but found himself being matched by Manchester’s Samuel Little.

But Saunders responded and in a dramatic finish, took gold in 40.31, a split second ahead of Little.

The 100 breaststroke saw Saunders put in another brilliant performance, hitting the pads in 1:28.07 only to find this was above the upper limit time and he was awarded a speeding ticket.

He then went on to launch an attack on the 200 breaststroke and this time his opponents were no match for his superb technique and stroke pattern and he won a clear victory in 3:10.30 only to find he had overstepped the mark once again to pick up another speeding ticket.

However, he completed his contribution with a silver medal for a fine piece of sprinting to take second place in the 50 Freestyle.

Adam Stansfield was also in dazzling form, his greatest success coming in the 200 backstroke, where he built on an early lead and surged on to take gold in 2:33.51.

Stansfield then went on to take silvers at 50 and 100 backstroke after being edged out in close finishes in both events.

The 100 individual medley was dominated by a breaststroker and Stansfield was outstanding holding off the rest of the field to take second place, and he rounded his efforts off with another creditable silver at 100 butterfly.

Reece Kinley found himself in a real contest in the 200 breaststroke against Blackburn’s Ethan Colman which the latter just won after an epic battle which saw Kinley register a time of 3:05.79.

Mathew Gibson was also on form with a trio of bronze medals in the 50 backstroke, 100 breaststroke and finally the 100 Individual Medley where he had to produce a superb performance.

Rebecca Fisher took bronze after an exciting finish in the 50 breaststroke where the 10-year-old touched out three others with a similar time, and these results were supported by excellent swims from the rest of the squad on a creditable day for the club.