SWIMMERS from Salesbury and Westholme were the big winners at the Blackburn Primary Schools Swimming Gala.

A total of 14 schools from across the borough contested 15 finals at Darwen Leisure Centre – and Salesbury and Westholme won 10 between them.

Both schools scooped team and individual awards on a day of top class swimming.

Lower Darwen also featured heavily with three awards with St Francis, and QEGS making up the winning schools.

Harvey Griffen from Salesbury and Jodie Beck from Lower Darwen were the stand-out individual winners, winning two races each while helping their respective schools to relay glory.

Harvey won the first race of the gala, touching home first in the 100 individual medley with Liam Toole of St Francis second and Mackenzie Clayton of Lower Darwen third.

Jodie picked up her first win of the day in the same event, with Charlotte Hepworth of QEGS second and Rosie Mills of Salesbury third.

Liam Toole, who just missed out on glory in the IM, made up for it in the 25m butterfly, beating Hugo Pickering of Salesbury in to second with Dominic Naylor of Westholme third.

Trudy Hill of Westholme was the girls butterfly champion ahead of Rosie Mills of Feniscowles and Lower Darwen’s Molly Hargreaves.

Harvey Griffin then won his second race of the day in the 25m backstroke. Joseph McGurk (Westholme) and Evan Cunningham (QEGS) were second and third respectively.

Jodie Beck followed suit to complete her double, winning the girls backstroke in front of Ella Waring Smith (Westholme) and Annabel Warner (Salesbury).

On to the first of the relays and it was no surprise the swimmers who dominated the individual events starred in the team events – Salesbury winning the boys 25m medley relay with Westholme second and Lower Darwen third.

It was roles reversed in the girls race, Lower Darwen first home with Westholme second and Salesbury third.

In the boys breaststroke, Salesbury had another winner, this time Jarvis Davis with Westholme’s Oliver Maughan second and Adam White of QEGs third.

Charlotte Hepworth, who was second in the IM, went one better in the breaststroke, the QEGS pupil seeing off the challenge of Alex Putman of Westholme and Alissa Baxter of Wensley Fold.

Dominic Naylor was another young swimmer who ‘upgraded’ after the Westholme pupil won the 25m front crawl after his bronze medal in the butterfly. Connor Eccleston of Salesbury was second with Keaton Knott of Lower Darwen third.

In the girls race, Stephanie Atkinson of Westholme was the winner with Gabriella Sandham of QEGS second and Eleanor Jorgensen of Salesbury third.

The gala concluded with the remainder of the relays and Westholme made it a double in the 4x25m freestyle winning both the boys and girls events.

In the boys race, Salebury were second and Lower Darwen third who then swapped positions in the girls race.

And finally it was the 6x25m mixed freestyle ‘cannon’ race which was won by Salesbury with Westholme second and Lower Darwen third “The standard of swimming was excellent,” said organiser Craig Marshall, from Redeemer Primary School.

“I would like to thank all the parents, children and teachers for their attendance at this year’s gala.”