QUEEN Elizabeth Sixth Form College entered a boys' and a girls' team into the English Schools' swimming competition.

In the North-East heats, held at the Neptune Centre, Middlesbrough, both teams did well and the girls have won through to the national finals which will be held, in February, at Harrogate.

The girls' team of Hannah Young, Kirsty Stephenson, Janine Phillips and Kirsty Livingstone established themselves as North-East Champions, winning the freestyle relay in a time of 2.01 seconds and the medley relay in 2.12 seconds. They beat teams from all over the region and their time for the medley relay was the fifth fastest from all the regional heats, giving them one of the 12 places in the national final.

Mark Scott, PE teacher at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, said: "At the national finals we have a good chance of winning a medal.

"All four girls are talented swimmers who show great commitment to combine their training with college study.

"They show great team spirit, support each other and have what it takes to beat some specialist swimming schools, like Millfield, that they will meet in the final."

The boys' team of David Carter, Andrew Dewar, Adam Gascoigne and Dan Ferens came second in both the freestyle and medley relay races at the regional heats and their times did not qualify them for the national finals.

For further information please contact Anita Blackburn at College on 01325 461315.