A COACH hopes his swimmers' first taste of racing at a higher level will inspire them to return next year.

Winsford Swim Team sent three teenagers to the British Summer Championships in Glasgow after they set times that were fast enough to earn a invite.

"This is the biggest national meet of the year," said Dan Goodwin.

"It was a great experience for them and there is no doubt in my mind we can get more to make the grade in 2020; our swimmers are talented enough to win medals."

Jay Cushen contested the under 16s boys' 50m and 100m butterfly in Scotland,.

He was fourth in his heat over the shorter distance, missing out on a place in the final by six hundredths of a second in a high-class field.

It had been a similar story 48 hours earlier when he ranked 19th overall over 100m after timing 59.38s.

Goodwin said: "Extremely narrow margins make the difference at an event like this, and to be 13th in Great Britain is a superb achievement both for him and the club."

Will Murray had contested the under 18s boys' 50m breaststroke on the meet's second day, clocking 31.95s on his debut.

In a year of progress, he also made the cut for the British Championships at the same venue in April.

Izzy Kay was the other Winsford swimmer to take part and like Cushen she went close to making the top 10 in the under 15s girls' 200m butterfly.

Her heat time of 2:25.48 was just short of a personal best and little more than a second outside o final place.

Goodwin added: "It was great for Winsford to be represented by three outstanding athletes.

"They raced with determination and I'm certain each will come back stronger further down the line."