Sixteen-year-old Holly Tanner missed Reading's Easter Open to swim at the Welsh youth championships at the National Pool in Swansea.
Fresh from head coach Graeme Thomas's training camp in Slovenia, Tanner put in a series of top-drawer swims throughout the four days and came home with five qualifying times for the summer's British youth championships, four gold medals and two silvers.
These included big career bests to win the 16-17 200m backstroke final in 2.22.51 and the 800 free in 9.16.14, where she was also well inside the national mark for 400 metres at the midway split.
A two-second career best of 5.09.93 took the 400 IM gold six seconds inside the national standard, and after a trailing early on in the 400 free, a "negative split" saw her swim the back half faster to pip Swansea's Sarah Bowen to the gold inside the final metre.
Tanner was narrowly beaten by Cardiff's Nicola Robinson to the 200 fly title and inside the national standard by just 0.01, a comfortable second to Stella Lancey, also of Cardiff, in the 100 back, and although only sixth seed for the 200 IM she qualified for the four-swimmer final and came within a whisker of the bronze in the last race of a great meet in a season's best time.
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