THE best swimmers from across the Southeast region come came together over three weekends to compete in the prestigious annual Regional Swimming Championships.

The region is made up of six counties, ranging from Hampshire in the South, right up to Oxford and North Buckinghamshire.

It is historically a very strong area in competitive swimming terms, and to just qualify for the championships is quite an achievement, so it was great to see that 14 swimmers from Basingstoke Bluefin’s did just that.

Six of the club’s representatives made the finals, with two swimmers coming home from the championships with a coveted medal.

Charlyne LeBosse and Mairead Barker both secured well-deserved bronze medals, Charlyne LeBosse in the 100 metres butterfly and Mairead Barker in her signature event, the 200 metres breaststroke.

Graeme Richardson swam a lifetime best in the 200 individual medley, reducing his previous time by over two seconds.

Julia LeBosse lowered her previous best by 3.5 seconds with a well-paced swim in the 200 metres breaststroke.

Millie Rugman competed in the in the 50 metres breaststroke final and was just shy of her all-time best by a mere .2 of a second,.

Mitchell Coombes, a previous competitor at the National Championships, competed in the 200 metres breaststroke final.

Two of the girls teams figured in finals, with the 200m medley team, made up of Julia and Charlyne LeBosse, Millie Rugman and Millie Trist, narrowly missing out on a bronze medal by the narrowest of margins.

The girl’s 4 x 100 metres freestyle team, comprising of Isla Haynes, Laura Helyar, and Charlyne LeBosse and Julia LeBosse also did a fantastic job to qualify for the final, with all the girls either bettering or equalling their lifetime best times.

It was also great to see some of the club’s up-and-coming talent showcasing their skills at the championships. Kieran Parker competed in three events, the 50 and 100 metres backstroke and the 100 metres freestyle, and posted new best times in all three events, dropping his previous time by a staggering 15 seconds in one event.

Both John Holt and James Marston swam well in all the events they took part in and will no doubt be able to use the experience of their first ever Regional Championships, to push them on to even greater achievements over the coming months and years of their competitive careers.

Three of the club’s younger girls, Hayley Chui, Isla Haynes and Alice Mardell, all competed in one of the programmes most gruelling events, the 200 metres butterfly, and all came away with new best times.

Haynes also went on to compete in no fewer than six other events, coming away from the competition a very happy girl, with five of the six being faster than she had ever swum previously.

With this season approaching its end, the swimmers are now focusing on the last events on the calendar.

For most this will be the Open Meet this month in Portsmouth at the Long Course Olympic size pool, and for some, Barker, Goffin, Charlyne LeBosse, Trist and Coombes, the prestigious ASA National Championships, which will be held right at the end of the season in Sheffield.