FOUR Dorset swimmers unleashed Bonfire Night firecrackers to send county records tumbling in the South West Short Course Championships at Millfield.

Bournemouth Collegiate School’s Beth Aitchison lit the touch paper for the Dorset contingent as she broke her own county record with 1:08.11 in the 100m breaststroke heats.

The Loughborough University student then swam even quicker to win the final in 1:07.83.

Aitchison, 19, went on to slice almost a second of the 100m individual medley (IM) county record, held since 2004 by former world championship swimmer Alex Savage.

She clocked 1:02.41 in the heats before comfortably winning the final in 1:02.82.

She also won silver in the 100m freestyle in 55.94.

Swim Bournemouth’s George Gibson, 19, who is studying chiropractic in Bournemouth, twice toppled Zak Aitchison’s Dorset record as he took bronze in the 100m breaststroke in 1:04.20.

Jacob Peters and Jazz McCrea joined in the record-breaking to lead a medal bonanza for Poole.

British junior champion Peters lowered his Dorset senior record to 24.66 in the men’s 50m butterfly heats before taking bronze in the final in 24.77.

He is the only British 16-year-old to go under 25 seconds this year.

He also won silver in the men’s 100m butterfly in a club record of 54.30, beaten only by Plymouth’s 21-year-old Reece Dunn.

Jazz McCrea, 15, twice broke her Dorset junior record in the 50m butterfly, recording 28.33 and 28.22 in heat and final to win the junior silver medal.

She was also second junior in the 100m butterfly (1:02.76) and 200m IM (2:21.07).

Fiona Hardie, 22, added to Poole’s medal tally with bronze in the women’s 50m butterfly in 27.89.

Poole also prospered in the relays.

The quartet of Jasmine Holmes, Thea O’Keefe, Hardie and McCrea won silver behind Bath University in the women’s 4x200m freestyle and bronze in the 4x100m freestyle.

Hardie’s 200m split of 2:02.86 was a six-second PB.

The Poole team of Matt Collins, Henry Bramwell-Reeks, Ben Porter and Peters won bronze in the men’s 4x200m freestyle.

Swim Bournemouth’s European bronze medallist Jay Lelliott won gold and silver in the 400m and 200m freestyle, dipping under his Dorset record with 3:45.81 in the longer event although it won’t count as he was swimming for Bath University.

BCS’s Kayla van der Merwe, 14, made the 50m breaststroke final, finishing sixth in 33.51.

Swim Bournemouth’s 13-year-olds Oli Fairman and Issy Hepburn produced notable swims in the boys’ 50m backstroke and girls’ 100m breaststroke to come within half-a-second of qualifying times for the under 15 events at the British Short Course Championships.

Hepburn was also seventh in the 400m IM.

BCS’s Leo McCrea, 13, won silver in the multi-disability 400m freestyle.