A SMALL squad of Kendal swimmers made the trip to Wigan, pitting their skills against top class competition, in the 'Future Stars' Open Meet.

They found the going tough but rose to the challenge to set some of their personal best times as well as improving qualifying times for future events.

In particular 11-year-old James Escolme had a fine meet and got off to a great start in the 100 Individual Medley, one of his favourite events.

Off the block into Butterfly, he quickly found his rhythm and set a pace for his rivals to try and match.

Turning to Backstroke he held them at bay and then in Breaststroke he produced another injection of pace and turned on the screws. Now the clear leader he finished the race with a comfortable front crawl leg to take a well earned gold medal.

Turning to the sprints he then took on the 50 Breaststroke where his smooth and powerful stroke pattern saw him snatch the Bronze medal in a storming finish.

Entered in a further two events, Escolme continued to demonstrate his skills with top ten places in both the 50 Backstroke and the 100 Breaststroke.

The club’s top speed merchant, Ollie Sargeant, on top of his form and looking for best times then got into the mix.

Starting with the 50 Freestyle he produced another of his powerhouse swims to finish in a brilliant time of 26.27.

A change of stroke for the 50 Breaststroke had him taking on the opposition and with his brilliant technique coupled with superb talent to came up with another highly satisfactory time of 35.08.

Caitlin Deegan was superb both at Backstroke, Butterfly and Freestyle where she set herself great times with outstanding performances.

Her Backstroke efforts took her through the 50 in 35.35, the 100 in 1:18.46 and the 200 in 2:49.40. Her 50 and 200 Freestyle also proved satisfactory, followed by a storming 34.67 for her 50 Butterfly sprint.

Josie Johnson was another with an impressive programme and entered mostly in the sprint events. Going through the 50 Breaststroke, 50 Butterfly and 50 Freestyle she saved her best efforts for the 50 and 100 Backstroke finishing in commendable 12th and 17th places.

She went on to finish her meet with a solid all round display in the 200 Individual Medley.

Lucy Sargeant, 13, took on three events and came up with a pleasing set of results. Her 50 Butterfly showed great technique coupled with a delightful stroke pattern which she kept together to take her into an admirable 12th place. She followed up with outstanding swims at 50 Breaststroke and 200 Individual Medley which called upon all her skills and talent. Alice Eastwood also had the satisfaction of putting in a magnificent piece of sprinting in the 50 Breaststroke making it overall another worthwhile outing for the club.