Bedale Sharks finished their season in great style by finishing second at the final Moors League gala and having two of their swimmers do well at the Yorkshire ASA Grade Grand Prix galas.

The Sharks went into the final league gala at Eston knowing they could not catch the leaders, Stokesley.

At the beginning of the gala they were in joint second place with Eston, closely followed by Guisborough.

The club swimmers swam out of their skins to produce personal bests or club records throughout the gala.

The majority of the team times were also records, which is an indication of the dedication and energy put into the league this year.

For the Sharks, Charlotte Hanson of Aysgarth broke the 50m open backstroke record with a time which was 21 hundredths of a second from a national ladies' qualifying time.

She also produced two further club records in the butterfly and freestyle heats.

Joseph Potts of Carthorpe broke his own 50m butterfly record by a substantial amount.

Bedale were placed second overall behind Stokesley, with Eston third and Guisborough fourth, Saltburn fifth and Northallerton a gallant sixth.

The Sharks received the engraved trophy from the league president to a deafening cheer from their very vocal supporters, who had produced banners in profusion in a successful attempt to encourage the squad.

The Sharks were further encouraged when two of their swimmers gained honours in the Yorkshire ASA Grade Grand Prix Series.

This was a series of three galas, culminating at the international pool at Leeds, in which individual swimmers gained points over a range of distances and strokes.

For Bedale, Charlotte Hanson and Joseph Potts gained a huge number of points to be placed in the first two in their age groups.

Joseph Potts, who attends Burneston junior school, had been lying in eighth place after two galas, with one whole category to swim.

He needed big points in the 200m backstroke at Leeds and fully committed himself to the challenge, swimming a personal best to win that classification by eight points.

Charlotte Hanson had been lying in first place after two galas and could not increase her points total. She had been competing on her fourth choice stroke because she was too fast for the classification on her three favourite strokes.

In the very last race of the series a swimmer from Selby overtook her total of 2,610 by just six points, leaving Charlotte in a well-deserved second place.

Last year Charlotte came fourth, but this time she did receive a reward, which was presented by Yorkshire ASA president, Mr Sid Johnson.