Lottie Wynne-Jones starred as Bicester Blue Fins competed in the final gala of the Milton Keynes & District Junior League for the first time at Temple Cowley Pool in Oxford on Saturday.

And despite struggling against some of the best squads in the country, their sixth-placed finish is the best the club has achieved.

Blue Fins qualified for the final as one of the top six from the 34-team competition and achieved two first-places during the 49-race event.

Wynne-Jones, 11, stormed to victory in the 50m butterfly, breaking her own club age group record in the process and also becoming the fastest girl of her age in the country in the process.

She also missed out on first place in the 50m backstroke by the narrowest of margins – just three hundredths of a second.

Edward Davis won the 9-year-old 50m butterfly and finished a close second in the 25m freestyle.

Head coach Struan McNeil said: “Our young swimmers swam their hearts out throughout this year’s three galas, and this final showdown was their toughest test yet against the top swimmers in the region.

“For the club to notch up their highest ever league position having narrowly avoided relegation two years ago is a sign that we’re on the march.

“The bigger clubs in our area should take note, as we’re only going to get better!”

Meanwhile, Blue Fins’ officials Lizzy Rowland and Shelley Radford had the honour of judging the swimming championships at the first Invictus Games last weekend.

The pair’s roles included timekeeping and inspecting swimmers’ turns at the event, in the Queen Elizabeth Olym-pic Park in London.

Radford said: “It was an honour and a privilege to attend, and help the servicemen and women with their own sporting achievements.”