Young swimmers from Gainsborough's Parish Church School make a big splash

Pride of place goes to the year five/six squad who were crowned champions at the Gainsborough and District gala, where boys’ and girls’ teams raced individually over 50m and as a team in relay races over 75m.

Taking on comparable-sized schools, Parish claimed joint second place in the boys’ section but took the overall title, and the Major Bell trophy, after an outstanding performance by the girls, who finished first with a high total of points.

The school’s year three/four swimmers have also excelled themselves, qualifying for the Lincolnshire county finals and wining a bronze medal at the Lincolnshire Sports Winter Games.

County qualification was earned by victory for the second year running at an event against 14 other schools from the Gainsborough and north of Lincoln area. With fantastic results in individual and team races in breaststroke, backstroke and freestyle, they were soon shooting up the points table.

In the Winter Games at Grantham, Parish were defending their title as county champions and after getting the chance to meet the event’s VIP guest, experienced professional badminton player, Elizabeth Cann, who has represented England across the world for more than 15 years, they competed against hundreds of other children.

With help from Gainsborough Dolphins’ head coach Mark Smith, they swam superbly to achieve third place.