THREE Pershore Swimming Club aces progressed to the Midlands Short Course Championships in Nottingham.

There were a string of personal bests with Patrick Heeks, 16, reaching seven finals out of eight events and Hannah Woodcock, 15, three out of six.

They both qualified for the nationals in Sheffield early next month with Chris Vizard, 17, also competing in four Midlands events.

Head coach Tom Naughton said: “It was very exciting, not only to see our swimmers competing against some of the best in the country but also encouraging to see them not looking out of place.”

Pershore finished third in the National Arena League second round at Walsall.

There were wins for Alexandra Barry, Isabella Woodcock, Hannah Woodcock and Heeks alongside some other impressive individual and relay performances.

In the first round at Droitwich, Pershore had got fourth place.

Barry and Heeks were again in winning form as was Emma Taylor.