THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD Tornadoes of South Dorset swimmer Josh Frampton competed in his first regional age group championships at Millfield’s 50-metre pool.

The competition was only for the very best swimmers from Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire and Gloucester, so to achieve an entry was a great feat in its own right.

Frampton had qualified for the 100m freestyle at a meeting in Bristol last month where he swam just 0.02 seconds inside the required time.

Appearing at the championships was a tense occasion for the swimmer and his coach, but once into his warm up Frampton managed to control his nerves well.

He went on to produce a great swim to finish second in his heat, setting a new long course personal best of 1:04.53mins, 0.35secs quicker than his qualifying swim three weeks previously.

Frampton also climbed six places in the rankings to finish 30th in the region and he was the sixth fastest Dorset swimmer.

Coach Chris Beal was very happy with his wimmers’ performance.

He said: “Josh has worked so hard at his skills this season and he has been rewarded for his efforts.

“He was given a target that he managed to achieve and now has a new, harder target for next season which he is already working towards.”

Anyone wishing to join Tornadoes of South Dorset to either learn to swim, swim competitively or access extra training should contact the club secretary via tornadoessecretary@btinternet.com to arrange an assessment.