Three City of Leicester swimmers gained valuable experience at the prestigious Mare Nostrum long-course event in Barcelona.
There were A and B finals for most disciplines and Harriet Cooper, Harriet West and Candice Hall, all aged 15, made the B finals against competitors from around the world.
Cooper was 13th overall in the 100m backstroke heats with a time of 1min 3.44sec, and won bronze in the B final in 1.3.18. She was 12th overall in the 50m backstroke with 30.07.
Hall was 16th overall in the 400m individual medley with 5.1.49 in the heats, and went on finish eighth in the B final with a personal best of 4.56.84.
She also qualified for the 200m backstroke B final, where she finished fifth with a time of 2.19.21, just outside her personal best.
West's best display came in the B final of the 200m butterfly, where she claimed seventh place in 2.23.79.
It was a great learning curve for the trio against top-class competition, with their next challenge being the National Youth Championships in Sheffield at the end of next month.
Hosts Coalville won the annual Birley Diddy Trophy gala at the Hermitage Leisure Centre, finishing two points ahead of Market Harborough.
Double wins were recorded by Coalville's Holly Lynch, Sophie Hughes and Sam Gregory, and Market Harborough's Charlie Poole and Jay Newman.
RESULT: 1 Coalville 238; 2 Market Harborough 236; 3 Hinckley 197; Leicester Neptune 177.
Winners: Coalville girls 9yr – butterfly R Hadley 23.26; 10u – freestyle H Lynch 39.15 & butterfly 18.82; 11u – backstroke S Hughes 39.04 & freestyle 34.51, butterfly L Grice 38.64, freestyle & medley relays; 12u – freestyle relay. Boys 9yr – freestyle M Keller 19.45, butterfly S Gregory 21.11 & backstroke 22.98, freestyle relay; 10u – breaststroke N Wright 53.09; 11u – freestyle J Watson 35.08; 12u – freestyle L Eaton 33.32.
Market Harborough girls 9yr – backstroke L Bell 24.29; 10u – breaststroke E Goddard 52.00, backstroke L Moakes 50.08, freestyle & medley relays; 11u – breaststroke G Weller 47.31; 12u – medley relay. Boys 11u – backstroke B Bekavac 39.89, butterfly J Newman 38.76, freestyle & medley relays; 12u – backstroke C Poole 35.10 & butterfly 33.97, breaststroke J Newman 43.91, freestyle & medley relays, mixed 8x1 freestyle canon.
Hinckley girls 9yr – medley relay; 12u – backstroke I Fearn 39.30, butterfly C Stretton 35.96. Boys 9yr – medley relay; 10u – freestyle J Le Grice 36.10, backstroke K Bott 44.31, butterfly W Beasley 19.49, freestyle & medley relays; 11u – breaststroke C Gardner 46.82.
Leicester Neptune girls 9yr – breaststroke E Langton 25.31, freestyle D Jones 19.63, freestyle relay; 12u – breaststroke I Carroll 43.05, freestyle M Gray 33.96. Boys 9yr – breaststroke A Johns 24.96.
