The youngster slashed almost 10 seconds from his entry time to finish two seconds under the record and went on to claim gold in the 100m backstroke and second place in the 50m event.

The Swimming New England North West titles attracted 1067 entries from 17 clubs with a number of other records falling during the weekend - along with bountiful rain.

The host club fielded a squad of 21 swimmers who bagged 15 gold, 10 silver and 14 bronze medals in a weekend of fierce competition.

Fifteen-year-old Andre Steele is the unofficial area champion for his age group, after winning five events and finishing second in four other races. The official announcement will be made at a presentation night in May.

Jacob Smith dominated the nine years division, claiming gold in the 50m fly and backstroke and 100m fly and freestyle. He also came second in the 100m backstroke and third in the 50m freestyle.

Alexis Whitton continued her good form in the eight years events, winning the 50m freestyle and backstroke and holding her own for gold over 100m in freestyle. The tiny 'pocket rocket' was just edged out of a medal in the nine and under 100m breaststroke.

Eleven-year-old Angus Hobson put everything into the 200m medley to nail the gold with second place in the 50m and 100m breaststroke. He stripped seven seconds from his best as he lined up against much older swimmers in the open 100m breaststroke, where he finished a respectable fifth.

Nine Gunnedah swimmers competed in the very competitive 10 years age group, with Audrey Hannaford finishing third in the 50m fly and freestyle and a close fourth in the medley, breaststroke and backstroke, while Danika Jones swam strongly into third place in the 100m butterfly.

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Although unplaced, Zach Akinyemi, Georgia Lyons, Tahnee Steele, Tahni Bush, Cooper Whitton, Dana Campbell and Katie Spinks returned pleasing results in this division.

Thirteen-year-old Brodie Coombs has enjoyed a stellar season so far, with a silver and two bronze added to his trophy cabinet at the championships, while older sister Maddie came third in the 16 and over 50m and 100m freestyle and the 200m individual medley.

Amelia Lush swam into third place in the 13 years 100m fly and just missed medals in the 50m backstroke and fly, while Savannah Lyons powered into third place in the 12 years 50m backstroke.

Scout Newbery finished a frustrating fourth in the 12 years 100m butterfly but picked up a bronze in the 50m backstroke. Tahlia Smith and Xanthe Hewitt represented the club in the 11 years division, with Hewitt finishing third in the 100m breaststroke while her older sister Lara, 17, claimed silver in the 16 and over breaststroke.

Coach John Hickey was pleased with the overall results and is now preparing his squad for up coming school and district carnivals as well as the Speedo Sprints final in Sydney.

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