THE girls' swimming team at Darlington's Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College have won a place in a the finals of a national tournament.

Hannah Young, Kirsty Stephenson, Janine Philips and Kirsty Livingstone became North-East champions when they won the freestyle relay in the English Schools' regional heats at the Neptune Centre, Middlesbrough.

Their time of 2:01 sees them qualify for February's national finals, in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. The girls also finished the medley relay in 12:12.

The boys team - David Carter, Andrew Dewar, Adam Gascoigne and Dan Ferens -came second in the freestyle and the medley relay races.

Mark Scott, PE teacher at Queen Elizabeth Sixth form College, said the girls' team have a good chance of winning a medal in the national finals.

He said: "All four girls are talented swimmers who show great commitment. They show great team spirit, support each other and have what it takes to beat specialist swimming schools."