CARNFORTH Otters were out in force on Saturday, April 20, with both their A and B teams competing in the North Lancs League on the same night.

The A team in division one who had home advantage swimming at Salt Ayre, again had strong opposition from Rosegrove A and Chorley A.

Determined to keep their unbeaten record this season the Otters stormed to an early lead following some very exciting races.

The ladies' open freestyle relay team of Laura Devey, Sophie Casson, Kate Docton and Harriet McGregor came home clear winners, as did the men's open team of James Tait, Andrew Palmer, David Ormerod and James Wilkinson.

Stacey Walker put in her usual gutsy performance to win the girls' 14 and under butterfly while another 14 year old, Louise Todd, scored maximum points in the backstroke.

In the 12 and under Robert Bale scored two well-deserved wins in the front crawl and butterfly.

In a hard fought race the Otters (Sarah Tait, Robert Bale, Stacey Walker, Winston Barker, Sophie Casson and David Ormerod) came in first, much to the delight of their very vociferous supporters.

As usual it was the excellent team performance that won the day.

Not only did they win but with the magnificent score of 123 points.

Rosegrove were second with 98 and Chorley third with 76.

Meanwhile, the B team travelled to Kirkham to compete against Clitheroe and Garstang in division three.

Once again the team spirit was tremendous but they knew they had two determined teams to swim against.

Jack Brown swam a strong race to win the 12 and under front crawl.

In the same age group Michael Bell, whose twin brother was in the A team, put in a fine performance to win the butterfly, and not to be outdone Harriet Davies battled gamely to win the girls' 12 and under breaststroke.

In the ladies' open butterfly Sophie Cassar, who has recently returned to competitive swimming, was rewarded with a well deserved win.

The final score was Clitheroe 132, Carnforth 90 and Garstang 71.

There were some hard fought races with some very close results and the swimmers were delighted with their performance.