CITY of St Albans Swimming club put down a marker for the future with a convincing win at the Annual Herts Junior Christmas Peanuts Gala. In the face of stiff competition the Blue squad took first place ahead of Watford to win the gala by 45 points. The

CITY of St Albans Swimming club put down a marker for the future with a convincing win at the Annual Herts Junior Christmas Peanuts Gala.

In the face of stiff competition the Blue squad took first place ahead of Watford to win the gala by 45 points.

The strength in depth was demonstrated when the second string Gold squad finished eighth, only two points behind local rivals Welwyn.

The night started well for CoStA when Beatrice Barder (10) set her first of four personal best times on the night with a second place finish in the girls U11s freestyle, followed by a first place finish in the backstroke.

Lauren Winfield produced three PB times and also took gold in the U13s backstroke.

For the boys Alex Ong (10) picked up two first place finishes in the boys breaststroke and freestyle, with Luke Foster, Piers Watford and Zac Horne also winning their heats.

In the Gold squad there were some fantastic individual performances - Thomas Lee (10) and Robert Williams (12) both set four personal bests, whilst there were three PBs each for Oliver Astley, Andrew Knight, Elliot Wylie, Lorna Sinclair, Kazimir Uzwyshyn, Katie Yates, Eleanor Hall and Rebecca Yates.

On a successful night all round for CoStA coach Sarah Stevens was brimming with pride.

She said: "Its always good to win the Christmas gala, especially as it is against so many local rivals.

"I was delighted by the overall team performance, and by so many great personal performances across the two squads.