THOMAS Booth, the young swimmer dubbed "Tompedo", raced to the fastest time for 50m freestyle recorded in the UK this year.

The 10-year-old Ramsbottom Rascal, who lives in the town, broke the record in the heats at the Central Lancashire age group competition Warburton Gala at Broughton on Sunday.

Tom won the final on an excellent afternoon for the club, but was slightly off his heat time.

Also in top form was Richard Marks who was second in the 50m breaststroke final -- despite the ankle injury he picked up during the Maccabi Games in Philadelphia.

Luke Guest, aged 13, is back in form, landing a runners-up spot in the backstroke final, while Jennifer Bell was also a finalist in the fly final.

The Rascals had two finalists in the U-12 50m freestyle with Paul Whelan third, while little Tommy Mason received a special cheer for his brave effort.

The club had two finalists in the 16 years and over backstroke with Catherine Bell second and Rebecca Hindle, fourth.

But it was Tom's big day. Although only 10, he's 5ft 5ins and has size 8 feet -- not quite matching the size 14 of his hero, Aussie ace Ian Thorpe.

Determined Tom, sporting a recordbreaker T-shirt he picked up from the organisers to mark his achievement, was so determined to not to let his form slip during the summer that, while on holiday, he went on impromptu training sessions with the Truro Swimming Club.