Junior Senior Counties 6^th/7^th February 2010 - John Charles Aquatics Centre Leeds

Cleethorpes & Scunthorpe Aquatics swimmer Thomas Paine smashed the National Qualifying Time with a superb performance at the British Gas Yorkshire Swimming Association Senior/Junior Championships.

The youngster was one of 24 swimmers from the club, ranging in age from 12 to 21, who travelled to the Sir John Charles Centre for Sport in Leeds for the competition.

They had qualified to swim in 132 individual events and four team races. The championships are for club's affiliated to Yorkshire Swimming Association, and are run with heats and finals for all the events apart from the 800m and the 1500m freestyle.

Paine finished fourth (third junior) in the 800m freestyle but initially missed his National Qualifying Time by 0.2 of a second, which was certainly not due to the apathy of the CASA parents sat in the crowd who couldn't have done more to encourage him. Undeterred, he came back with renewed vigour and smashed the time he needed for his 800m NQT within his 1500m Freestyle race.

Elsewhere, other CASA swimmers also excelled at the competition, with many PBs being made and district times achieved. Eight of the club's swimmers made it into 14 finals, no mean feat as the region is undeniably one of the strongest in the country.

Amongst the stand-out performers were Leah Altoft, who came first in the 100m butterfly, fifth in the 200m IM (second junior), sixth in the 200m backstroke (third Junior), fifth in the 400m IM (second junior), and sixth in the 200m breaststroke (third junior).

In addition, Ashleigh Fletcher finished ninth in the 400m freestyle, Bradley Horsfall was the third-placed junior in the 50m Backstroke, and Jasmin Kirk came seventh in the 200m breaststroke.

Other finalists were James Todd, who came fourth in the 50m butterfly, and Lauren York, who finished eighth in the 100m breaststroke and 50m breaststroke, and ninth in the 400m IM.

Although all the swimmers performances were a credit to the club, Fletcher's swim in the 400m freestyle final was particularly noteworthy as she was the only swimmer in the final not from either Leeds or Sheffield.

CASA also qualified for the team events but the strength and depth of the larger city clubs kept them away from any podium position.

The club came sixth in the women's open 400m medley, seventh in the women's open 400m freestyle, ninth in the men's open 400m freestyle, and sixth in the men's open 400m medley.