MORE than 140 swimmers made sporting history in Poole when they took part in what is thought to be the world's biggest synchronised swimming routine.

The 138 girls and three boys twice performed a three-minute "mass routine" at the Dolphin pool, breaking a record set by 122 swimmers at the same venue 15 years ago.

The spectacular event, held to mark the 21st anniversary of Flamingoes Wessex Synchro Club, who train at Ferndown and Christchurch, attracted swimmers from as far afield as St Austell in Cornwall, and Ealing, Middlesex.

The nine clubs taking part included three from Dorset - Flamingoes, Poole Penguins and West Dorset - and three of the top clubs in Britain, Rushmoor, Reading Royals and Portsmouth Victoria.

Seven clubs also performed their own routines to a capacity audience of 250 people. Saturday's event raised more than £1,000 for Children in Need and the local Victoria School for the disabled.

Organiser Celia Bell, the Flamingoes club president, said: "We held a similar event in 1989 and it was very successful but also very Dorset-orientated. This time we were honoured to have some of the best synchro swimmers in the country taking part. One of the aims was to raise the profile of synchronised swimming and to give our local swimmers the chance to see the sport performed at a very high standard."

The demanding mass routine included bent knee verticals using alternate legs and eggbeater kicking while clapping the hands above the head. The Guinness Book of Records have declined to include the routine on the grounds that the Olympic sport of synchro is a minority activity.

First published: April 27