THREE young swimmers have earned a hat-trick of first places for Dorset at the South West Amateur Swimming Association (SWASA) open water event.

Josh Rowe, Alice Thursby (both from Tornadoes of South Dorset) and Louis King (from Bridport Barracudas and Tornadoes) were buoyed by the warm weather in Weymouth and calm conditions although at 17 degrees the water off the beach at Greenhill could have been a bit warmer.

Competition distances ranged from 750m to 3km and were open to swimmers from the age of 12 upwards.

Rowe competed in the 1.5km swim and finished in a time of 23mins and 55secs, which sec-ured a third place in his age group in the region and first place in Dorset, but just missed out on qualification for the national event later in the year.

This is a fantastic achievement as it was only his second open water competition after he entered the 750m taster event last year.

Thursby swam in the 750m taster event and finished in a time of 15mins and 49secs to give her fourth place in the region and again a first place in Dorset.

King also swam in the 750m taster event, completing it in a time of 12mins and 9secs to come home in second place in the region and first in Dorset, thus completing a treble for the trio..

The three Tornadoes who haven’t completed any open water training received their awards from club coach, Chris Beal, who was present in his role of Dorset Amateur Swimming Association president.

Commenting on their achievements Tornadoes’ club spokes-man Nigel Holmes, said: “They all swam extremely well, attacking the event with the determination they apply to their pool competitions and training. Not even the jellyfish could put them off.”

Anyone wishing to join Torn-adoes of South Dorset to eith- er learn to swim, swim competitively, or wishing to access extra training can contact the club secretary to arrange an assessment at tornadoessecre tary@btinternet.com