POOLE maintained their 10-year rise from also-rans to the top of Dorset swimming with their most successful county championships for at least 40 years.

Over the five days of competition, Poole amassed almost 3,000 points based on the top eight in each event – more than the second and third clubs Swim Bournemouth and Bournemouth Collegiate School (BCS) added together.

They also reeled in 113 gold medals and 288 medals in all. Swim Bournemouth were again second with 56 golds and 159 in total.

The result underlines a remarkable turnaround for Poole, who in 2008 were sixth in the championships behind Ferndown, Bournemouth Dolphins, Tornadoes of South Dorset, Seagulls and West Dorset.

Their 2008 points tally was just 732 and they had only three regional and no national qualifiers.

Head coach Barry Alldrick said: “My predecessor Robin Armayan started the revolution and we have stepped up again with international swimmers, national medallists and good depth through the age groups.

“It’s a big jump in 10 years but there is so much more we can do.”

Poole’s Commonwealth Games selection Jacob Peters again led the record-breaking, lowering the senior competition best times (CBTs) with 54.23 in the 100m butterfly and 50.88 in the 100m freestyle.

The fly mark was his own but the freestyle time toppled Seth Chappels’ standard from 2004. Chappels still holds the county record at 50.44.

Peters, 17, also won the men’s 50m freestyle after earlier seeing his own 9-10yrs CBT from 2011 fall to Swim Bournemouth’s Hugo Young (31.06).

Two CBTs fell in the girls’ 100m butterfly. Poole’s Jazz McCrea sliced 0.46sec off Alex Savage’s senior CBT from 2005 while BCS’s junior champion Ella Chown lowered the 15yrs mark held by Lydia McManus since 2007.

McCrea also won the senior 50m and 100m freestyle while Chown took her tally of 2018 championship titles to 12 as she won gold in the senior and junior 200m individual medley (IM) and the junior 50m and 100m freestyle, 50m backstroke and 200m breaststroke.

The junior 50m freestyle gold was shared with Poole’s Ella McNamara.

Chown’s BCS team-mate Honor Davies won the senior 50m and 100m backstroke with West Dorset’s Lauren McRobbie taking the junior 100m gold.

Swim Bournemouth brothers Callum and Drew McGregor repeated their 100m breaststroke senior-junior double from a fortnight earlier in the 200m.

Younger sibling Drew also won the senior and junior 200m IM and junior 100m butterfly.

BCS’s Alex Bryant and Seagulls’ Sonny Chamberlain-Hyde both recorded a backstroke double, Bryant winning the senior 50m and 100m, Chamberlain-Hyde the equivalent junior awards.

In another good weekend for Seagulls, Sam Small won the junior 50m and 100m freestyle and Miles Ward the junior 400m freestyle.

Poole’s Abbie Quarrie won the senior 200m breaststroke with younger sister Aimie collecting the junior 400m freestyle gold.

Poole also won both 400m freestyle senior titles through Ben Cutbush and Thea O’Keefe.

Much of the action was watched by Swim England president Richard Whitehead, who travelled from London to support the championships.

Club points: 1 Poole 2992.5, 2 Swim Bournemouth 1710.5, 3 Bournemouth Collegiate School 1096.5, 4 Seagulls 951, 5 West Dorset 476, 6 South Dorset Tornadoes 421.5, 7 Sherborne Storm 172.5, 8 Clayesmore 135, 9 Blandford 101, 10 Wareham 61.5, 11 North Dorset Turbos 50, 12 Bridport Barracudas 20, 13 Weymouth 7.

Medal totals: 1 Poole gold 113 gold, silver 96, bronze 79, total 288; 2 Swim Bournemouth 56, 51, 52, 159; 3 BCS 49, 32, 33, 129; 4 Seagulls 18, 33, 30, 81; 5 S Dorset Tornadoes 7, 8, 14, 29; 6 W Dorset 3, 15, 12, 30; 7 Clayesmore 3, 3, 4, 10; 8 Sherborne Storm 2, 4, 4, 10; 9 Wareham 1, 0, 3, 4; 10 Blandford 0, 3, 4, 7; 11 Bridport Barracudas 0, 1, 0, 1; 12 Nort Dorset Turbos 0, 0, 1, 1.