SWIMMING After a nail- biting third round of the National Arena League at Weston-super-Mare, Bath Dolphin have been promoted to Division 1 for the first time in at least a decade.

Wins in the first and second rounds at Bournemouth and Bath respectively, combined with the close third place at Weston's Hutton Moor pool, secured enough points for Dolphin to swim up a league.

Head coach Phil Brake surprised the squad with news of their achievement at the last training session before Christmas. Confirmation of Bath's success had been delayed because of another club's challenge to a swimming result in Division 1.

The third round gala was even more competitive than the first two as the top eight teams across the whole Western region battled to secure maximum points.

Rising to the challenge, Dolphin's swimmers once again produced a fantastic display of team swimming. The team secured 24 top-three placings – 12 of which were wins – from the 50-event gala.

The competition also saw another nine longstanding Bath Dolphin National League records broken.

As Christchurch & New Milton edged ahead of the field, Bath and Bodmin were in a close tussle all the way for second place. Despite yet another spirited performance in the relays, the Dolphins just missed out by a single point but were comfortable winners of the bronze pendant – good enough for the third promotional position overall.

New Bath Dolphin National League records were achieved by the women's 4x50m medley team (Emma Oliver, Kirby Littlewood, Sophie Purnell and Rebecca Cornish); men's 4x50m medley team (Sam and Matt Purnell, Oli Littlewood and Nick Parks); Ryan Gay, 100m butterfly; Emma Oliver, 100m backstroke; Oli Littlewood, 100m breaststroke; Esmee Charley, 50m freestyle; Sam Purnell, 100m freestyle; the 11-and-under girls' medley team (Charley, Charlotte Penny, Charley Bond and Rebecca Harnden); and women's 6x50m freestyle team (Littlewood, Oliver, Purnell, Cornish with Rachel Li and Chloe O'Sullivan).

Other Dolphin individual and team first places were achieved by Emma Oliver (4x25m individual medley); girls' 9-11yrs, 4x50 freestyle relay (Penny, Bond, Charley and Harnden); Tom Smith, 50m breaststroke and 50m backstroke; and Sophie Purnell, 100m butterfly.

Second places were gained by Ryan Gay, 100m butterfly and 100m breaststroke; and the boys' 4x50m freestyle team (Gay, Smith, Max Granger and Brandon Pallister).

Final gala team positions: 1 Christchurch & New Milton Seagulls 292 points, 2 Bodmin Dragons 256, 3 Bath Dolphin 255, 4 Salisbury Stingrays 231, 5 Paignton 209, 6 Swindon SX3B 206, 7 Bournemouth Dolphins B 194, 8 Dawlish 156.