DORSET champions Jazz McCrea, Kayla van der Merwe and Oli Fairman are expected to be among the medal contenders as a record 44 local swimmers head for the annual summer championships in Sheffield.

The six-day British Summer Championships, for the top 24 in each event and age group, start at Ponds Forge on Tuesday.

The Swim England Championships are in the same pool from July 31 to August 4 with the Open Water Championships at nearby Rother Valley on July 29-30.

Poole’s European Juniors semi-finalist Jazz McCrea, winner of gold, silver and double bronze at the British showdown last year, is ranked first and third in the 17-18yrs 50m freestyle and 50m butterfly respectively.

Bournemouth Collegiate School’s van der Merwe – ranked second in the 16yrs 100m breaststroke – will be hoping to repeat her success at last year’s British event, where she won the 15yrs title after qualifying ninth for the final.

She is also ranked fifth in the 50m and 200m breaststroke and sixth in the 200m individual medley (IM).

Poole’s Oli Fairman, British bronze and English gold medallist last year, is again within striking distance of medals with two fourth and two fifth place seedings in the 16yrs British backstroke and IM events.

Swim Bournemouth’s Drew McGregor is another hoping history will repeat itself.

After trashing the formbook to rise from seventh and eighth to double breaststroke gold at English level in 2017, he now finds himself elevated to eighth in the British 15yrs 100m breaststroke and needing a similar leap to make the podium.

Team-mate Amy Brown is ranked sixth, eighth, eighth and ninth in the 14yrs 200m IM, 100m breaststroke, 100m backstroke and 50m backstroke respectively.

Poole’s 25 qualifiers are a record for a Dorset club, although the contingent includes several who are there only for open water or relays.

Robbie Hemmings, Alan Szcasiuk, Oliver Weston, Thea O’Keefe and Kath Baker are all individual British qualifiers with Ben Cutbush, Ollie Cleal, Louis Clayton, Teagan-Mae Graham and Fiona Hardie in the relays.

Graham, Miles Ward, Henry Bramwell-Reeks, Ella McNamara, Izzy Hepburn and Abbie Quarrie will represent Poole at the Swim England event with Ward, O’Keefe, Graham, Xavi West, Ryan Openshaw, Finlay Chandler, Jack Channon, Liz Mills and Jordan Young in the open water.

Van der Merwe will be joined in Sheffield by BCS team-mates Alex Bryant, Finn Trehane, Christian Tai, Grace Poynter, Oni Taiwo, Ben Samuel, para-swimmer Leo McCrea and open water debutant George Mahon.

Swim Bournemouth’s other qualifiers are Ella Chown, Alex Palotai-Avella and open water entrants Ryan Symington, Eve Hewett and Ryan Harper.

Wareham’s Tanya Blanchard will contest the British 15yrs 50m breaststroke for the second year running.

Isaac Ellis flies the Seagulls flag at both the British and English events with team-mates Sonny Chamberlain-Hyde and James Richardson joining him at the Swim England contest.

Seagulls’ Sam Small will swim nine events at the Welsh nationals with Maisie Gormley heading for the Irish Championships in Dublin.

Poole’s Commonwealth Games finalist Jacob Peters and other members of the British team are not allowed to compete at Sheffield as they prepare for next month’s European Games in Glasgow.