DANIEL BENNETT brought the house down at the recent Gloucestershire County Swimming Championships at Bath University when breaking the British 1500 metre freestyle record.

In a gala full of landmarks, it was the first time the county distance events had been held in a long course pool (50m), the inaugural championships in which disabled swimmers like Daniel competed alongside their able bodied counterparts, and the Tetbury lad beat the previous best time for the distance on his first competitive 1500 swim.

Bennett, 17, is a Cirencester College student and a former winner of the Wilts & Glos Standard Sports Grant.

He was one of 41 competitors representing the Gloucester City Swimming Club.

Daniel’s time for the 30-length event was an excellent 24min 18.08sec and he finished to rapturous applause from swimmers, coaches and supporters from all clubs as he claimed a new S8 British 1500m record.

He will continue on what he hopes will be the Road to Rio 2016 when he competes in the forthcoming Junior Nationals in Sheffield and moves on to Glasgow in April for the Internationals.

Disabled swimmers are graded from S1 (the most severe impairment) to S10. Danny has an upper right arm disability and cortisol deficiency and qualifies in the S8 category.