EMILY Clarke swam a 400m race with a broken elbow as she tasted the rollercoaster of sport at an international meet in Croatia.

Clarke, 20, one of three Poole swimmers in a 30-strong Swim England South West team at the Golden Bear International Meet in Zagreb, was in good form as she powered to third place in the 800m freestyle in 8:59.30.

At a meet featuring Olympians among the competitors, she was hoping for more success in the 400m freestyle and 50m butterfly – until disaster struck.

The Loughborough University student had just completed her warm-up ahead of the finals when she slipped and fell, injuring her elbow.

Despite the pain and against coaches’ advice, she bravely returned to the pool to complete the 400m freestyle – albeit 30 seconds slower than her best.

She then wisely withdrew from the butterfly final before being diagnosed with a fractured elbow and chipped bone.

Poole’s Thea O’Keefe, 16, came fifth in the 200m and 400m freestyle, seventh in the 800m and first in the 100m freestyle B final.

Chloe Plater, who trains with Poole while on holiday from Mount Kelly in Devon, was sixth in the 400m and 800m freestyle and first in the 200m B final.

Poole’s Barry Alldrick was head coach for the South West team with Seagulls’ Glenn Bailey also among the coaches.

  • Littledown Masters delivered the perfect tribute to their late coach Laurie Dormer when they regained the top club trophy at the Dorset Masters Championships.

Dormer founded the Littledown squad and coached it until his death a few days before the 2016 championships, when Poole were the top club.

Eighteen months on the team turned out in force at Rossmore and “swam it for Laurie” – finishing almost 100 points clear of nearest challengers Seagulls.

Even Dormer’s successor Sam Woodward downed his stopwatch three times to swim – and won a medal of each colour.

Result: 1 Littledown 431, 2 Seagulls 332, 3 Poole 256, 4 Weymouth 36, 5 Wareham 34, 6 Swim Bournemouth 28, 7 Blandford 21.

  • Swim Bournemouth remain on course to regain their Southern Junior League title after winning their second round gala at Weymouth.

The A team recorded 31 wins and 11 second places in the 49-race gala to finish 23 points ahead of nearest challengers Poole.

Both teams are expected to make the final in September.

Swim Bournemouth B were third and Seagulls fourth.

Result: 1 Swim Bournemouth A 265, 2 Poole 242, 3 Swim Bournemouth B 166, 4 Seagulls 155, 5 Yeovil 97, 6 Weymouth 94.