Three Stevenage swimmers were called up for Herts county duty in the annual inter-county competition at Hatfield earlier this month. Six county teams are invited to compete in the gala which is the toughest team competition in the region with many nationa

Three Stevenage swimmers were called up for Herts county duty in the annual inter-county competition at Hatfield earlier this month.

Six county teams are invited to compete in the gala which is the toughest team competition in the region with many national and international swimmers taking part.

The Herts team just lost out to the strong Suffolk team finishing in a creditable second place on the night.

All three swimmers did particularly well as they are all at the bottom of their age groups, in many cases over a year younger than their fellow competitors.

In the under-15 boys' event, 13-year-old Jake Robinson swam in a particularly tough 100m breaststroke to finish in a close sixth place in a fast time of 1:18.66.

Jake also swam well in the under-15 boys' medley and freestyle relays.

Sisters Carina and Christie Bays both competed in the 100m breaststroke events.

Thirteen-year-old Carina, in her second year of county swimming, did well against elder competitors to finish fifth in the under-15 girls race in 1:21.40, and helped the girls' medley relay team to a strong second place with a season's best split time of 1:20.9.

In her first year of competing for her county, 11-year-old Christie finished third in the under-13 year girls' event and also swam in both the freestyle and medley relays. Her time of 1:20.96 in the breaststroke was the second fastest recorded time for an 11-year-old in the UK this year.

Christie is swimming in the UK Swimming Championships in Sheffield this weekend where she is one of the fastest qualifiers in both the 11-year-old 100m and 200m breaststroke events.

* The Mid Beds Swim Squad claimed the top team trophy in the East Region Open Water Championships on Sunday.

Caleb Hughes, Harriet Brettle, Alice Marchant, Alex Raine and Aydin Berki collected golds at the annual long-distance meeting staged in a lake at Whitlingham, Norfolk.

Ellie Mason claimed a silver and Tamara Richards and Robert Baldrance collected bronzes as the squad rounded off the season in style.

Rachel Hollington missed out on 1500m freestyle after swimming 50m beyond a buoy marking the turn.