Three swimmers from Newmarket and District SC made the journey to Sheffield as part of the Suffolk squad competing in the National County Team Championships.

Lauren Watt, Henry Newell and Ignacio Larghero, all born between 1999 and 2003, were picked to represent their county in the 20-team Division One meet on October 23.

Watt secured the highest place of the trio in an individual swim, taking fourth place in the 14/15-year-olds’ 100metre breaststroke.

Both boys swam in 100m freestyle races, Larghero taking fifth place in the 16/17-year-olds’ age group and Newell finishing seventh in the 12/13-year-olds’ race.

Newell was the only one to swim a second individual race, coming 15th in the 12/13-year-olds’ 100m backstroke.

The three also swam in relay events, Larghero anchoring the boys’ 16/17-year-olds’ 4x50m medley relay to 15th place and Newell leading out the same race in the 12/13-year-olds’ age group.

Watt’s breaststroke leg of the girls’ 14/15-year-olds’ medley relay helped Suffolk finish fifth.

Rounding off the gala was a mixed 6x50m freestyle race in which Newell, swimming second, and Larghero, again on the anchor leg, contributed to Suffolk’s sixth-placed finish in the race.

Newmarket coach Annette Skeet said she was delighted with her swimmers’ efforts and the fantastic results they achieved for the county.

Scoring for the competition is as most swimming leagues; first place in each round earns points equal to the number of teams competing (in this case 20 points for first), falling by one point for each subsequent place down to one point for last.

There is only one round in the championships, with the bottom four teams relegated to Division Two and the top four from that league getting promoted.

While Yorkshire took a convincing victory with 544 points Suffolk built upon their 16th-placed finish last year to finish 12th with 290 points, above neighbours Essex in 14th.

It was only Suffolk’s second season in the top division and they can lay claim to being the top East Anglian team, with Norfolk finishing 12th in the division below.

Newmarket and District SC is looking to recruit a permanent, part-time assistant coach to help its continued growth. They will be responsible for the development squad but could have a greater role in the future. Applicants will ideally be Level 2 qualified. Contact Lee Pooley on chairndsc@gmail.com