Team Utmost Isle of Man Swimming enjoyed a record-breaking weekend in the National Arena Swimming League North West finals in Blackpool’s Palatine Leisure Centre recently.

This is the first year that the team has qualified for the finals and they were joined by Isle of Man Commonwealth Games swimmers Laura Kinley, Steph Brew and Charlotte Atkinson. Amy Kinley, currently studying and swimming at Sheffield Hallam University, also joined up with the squad

The team has been kindly supported by KPMG and the company’s managing director, Russell Kelly, travelled over to watch and cheer them on.

Atkinson and Jack Burgess represented the team in the opening ceremony, collecting the island’s swimming pennant. During the two hours of competition, all of the local swimmers performed to the best of their abilities and recorded numerous personal bests.

When the relays started the atmosphere was incredible, with every swimmer taking part giving everything that they have and the entire team cheering them on poolside.

Stockport Metro were the winners, followed by Southport who both had experienced swimmers joining their teams for the event.

The quality and level of swimming was the best that the north west of England can offer so it was a pleasure to be able to see the top level of swimming that the region offers.

Three island relay records were broken in the 4x50m medley relay which was swam in a time of 1min 54.63sec by Emma Hodgson, Laura Kinley, Atkinson and Olivia Marshall.

A new record was set in the 6x50m freestyle relay in a time of 2m 43.27s by Marshall, Brew, Amy Kinley, Hodgson, Laura Kinley and Atkinson.

The boys team of Harvey Lowe, Carrick Thompson, Thomas Curphey, Louis Peake, Peter Allen and Euan Macmurchie also achieved a new island record in the 6x50m freestyle relay in a time of 2m 32.61s.

If the relay records weren’t enough, Atkinson broke her own island record in the 100m freestyle event in a time of 56.06s.

The coaching staff and team managers on the trip were delighted with the way every swimmer fought hard in a tough final.

The sense of team spirit is always apparent, with the older swimmers being role models for the younger ones. Racing at this level can sometimes be quite daunting for the younger swimmers but they all rose to the challenge and the coaches could not be prouder of them.

The team were also supported by parents, friends and family members who came to Blackpool to fly the Manx flag and cheer the whole team on.