FOUR of the Cirencester Swimming Club's senior elite swimmers Greg Carter, Tom Cohoon, Charlotte Pearce and Nigel Masters, attended Plymouth’s Life Centre over the May Bank Holiday weekend to compete in the South West England Regional Championships against some of the best swimmers in the country.

The three-day event covers all events and qualifying times are set at a level above county championships. The competition is held in a long-course 50m pool.

In the 50m backstroke Greg Carter produced a lifetime best swim of 29.80 in a long-course pool.

Cirencester chief coach Nigel Masters added season-best times in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke as he warms up for the European Masters Swimming Championships at the Olympic Pool in London later this month.

Tom Cohoon, after smashing his 50m freestyle personal best time last month, attended Plymouth with the view to challenging for qualification to the National Swimming Championships in August.

Up against current British record holder, world championship finalist and Rio medal hopeful Ben Proud of Plymouth Leander, Tom managed to shave a further fraction off his best time, achieving 24.58, to improve his chances of national qualification, albeit just missing out on the championship final by 0.1 seconds.

Finally, girls' club captain Charlotte Pearce competed in both the 50m and 100m butterfly. A solid performance in the 50m event saw her achieve a lifetime best swim of 32.04.

In the 100m event the following day, having qualified with a ‘wild card entry’, Charlotte smashed her personal best to deservedly qualify seventh for the final in a time of 1.09.82. Charlotte delivered even more in the final, finishing sixth in another best time of 1.09.28.