A SUPERB display from 15-year-old Tom Thornley set records tumbling at the ASA South East Winter Regional Championships in Portsmouth with a hat-trick of victories.

Competing against some of the top talent in the region, the Bicester Blue Fins swimmer blew away the competition to take first place in the junior 50m backstroke event.

His time of 27.08secs smashed both the long-standing Oxon & North Bucks record and the regional record, also earning him third place in the open category.

Thornley picked up another gold medal in the junior 100m backstroke with a time of 57.65, taking him up to second in the country in his age group in that category.

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And he completed the set with victory in the junior 200m backstroke with a time of 2mins 4secs.

The time not only earned him second place in the open age category, but also set a new national record for his age group, making Thornley the fastest in the country.

Rounding off an exceptional display, Thornley set club age group records in the 50m and 100m freestyle.

There was also a new club record for 15-year-old Ellie Falkner, who finished eighth in the 800m freestyle with a time of 9.14.0.

Her seventh place in the 400m freestyle in 4.30.0 also broke the previous club best by three seconds.

Falkner also set new club times in the 200m freestyle and 400m individual medley.

Blue Fins head coach Struan McNeil said: “Tom and Ellie were simply brilliant at Portsmouth.

“Their preparation, focus and determination were top-notch and I’m pleased with what they achieved against some hot competition from the big city clubs in the region.”

Meanwhile, 15-year-old Kieran Bird is one of just two UK junior swimmers to be invited to the World Swimming Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Bird is also one of six Blue Fins swimmers, alongside Thornley, Freddie Ashley-Sparks, Lottie Wynne-Jones, Maddy Powell and Christopher Littleton, to have been chosen by the ASA for specialist talent development coaching.

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