Bath University’s most famous full-time swimmer is the recently crowned world 50m free short-course champion Mark Foster, but some of Reading Swimming Club’s younger members have been tackling much longer events in the sprint great’s home pool at the university’s distance graded meets.

Reading’s six-strong squad had all swum the 400 individual medley at their own club championships a couple of days before, and were back in Bath for the 200 back and butterfly and 400 freestyle in stage two of the three-meet series, which concludes in late November.

Frankie Wilkins, 11, continued her excellent season to date by placing third out of 21 in her year’s 200 back – and took a silver as the fastest swimmer overall was excluded for exceeding "speeding ticket" limits. Wilkins’s 3:06.15 beat her previous best by over seven seconds. Ashley James recorded a four-second PB of 2:51.97 in placing ninth out of 16 in the 12/13 group, but with only one 12-year-old faster.

Wilkins was outside the medals in sixth in the 400 free, but via a great heat win where she moved through the field to take it in the last few strokes in a 10-second PB of 5:55.92.

James was 11^th out of 18 in her group inside "ticketing" limits, but made it two solid PBs in two swims and with only five quicker within her half of the two-year age band. In Wilkins’s year, Rachael Mills was slightly outside her entry time but a respectable mid-table eighth.

All Reading’s boys brought home medals - Adam Barrett (12) in each of his three starts in an outstanding afternoon, as Callum Willcox had in the meet’s first round in September.

Barrett opened with a 2:43.72 200m backstroke silver, won his year’s 200 fly in 2:47.69 and closed with a 400 free silver in 5:11.70 which took almost 32 seconds off his entry time.

James Tichband (5:59.42) and Willcox (6:00.28) took first and second in the 11 and under group over 400 metres and also swam PBs in placing sixth and seventh in the top half of their 200m back line-up.

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