SWIM Bournemouth’s Savannah Barman, Toby Kitchener and Rebecca Cummings are heading for the National Open Water Championships after medal wins in the south west competition.

Barman qualified for the national contest at Rother Valley, Sheffield, by winning both the regional and county 17-18yrs titles in Weymouth Bay.

She overcame a sea temperature of just 14C to complete the 5km race in 1hr 1min 42.6sec.

In the same event, a regional bronze medal and a Dorset silver earned Cummings a ticket to Sheffield at the end of July.

Toby Kitchener, 16, will join them thanks to his regional bronze medal and Dorset gold in the 3km race in 43min 42.6sec.

Poole captain Emily Clarke, who was already Sheffield-bound after a previous event, cemented her qualification by defending her south west and Dorset 19 and over 5km titles.

A sprint finish saw her pass Barman in the last 200 metres to be the first woman home in all age groups.

Poole men’s captain Ben Porter and team-mate Thea O’Keefe will join Clarke at Rother Valley after they too made the regional podium.

Porter, making his open water debut, won both south west and Dorset 3km titles to qualify for his first national competition.

O’Keefe’s regional bronze in the 16yrs 3km race means she can now swim at all three summer nationals – British, English and open water.

Poole’s Liam Openshaw and Jess Kelleway both won regional silver in the 13yrs 1.5km race.

In the girls’ 15yrs 3km, Poole’s Teagan-Mae Graham and Swim Bournemouth’s Maddy Warmer, Hannah Stonier and Danni Case respectively took the first four Dorset places.

Poole’s Nuala O’Keefe was second Dorset swimmer in the 14yrs 1.5km.

In the masters age groups, south west gold went to Swim Bournemouth’s Andy Brown in the 40-49yrs 5km event and Cathy Hartle in the 50 and over 3km.

Poole’s Jasmine Holmes achieved two top-eight finishes against international opposition as she and coach Barry Alldrick joined a south west England representative team at the Golden Bear Meet in Croatia.

Holmes came seventh in the 100m and 200m freestyle finals in 58.79 and 2:07.97.

She was also eighth in the 400m freestyle in 4:36.21 and 13th in the 200m individual medley in 2:30.64.

Poole head coach Alldrick, who was also head coach for the 26-strong south west team, said: “The trip included education sessions around race process and some tough training. The competition included internationals from at least six countries and Olympians from three.

“Jasmine gained a lot out of the meet as she got used to European race conditions and warm-ups where anything goes.

“She knows what she needs to work on for the nationals.”

Seagulls’ Maisie Gormley produced some good swims in Dublin after qualifying for the Irish Open Championships.

Her strongest swim was the 100m backstroke in which the 17-year-old came 34th in 1:11.07. 

She was also 38th, 54th and 77th respectively in the 50m backstroke (33.61), 50m freestyle (30.29) and 100m freestyle (1:04.96).