Junior members of a North-East swimming club are celebrating after being presented with a prestigious trophy by an Olympian.

Middlesbrough Amateur Swimming Club (MASC) achieved first place in the 10–14-year-old age group category at the Northumberland and Durham County Championships.

It led to the club’s victorious swimmers being presented with the 47-year-old Tom Randall Trophy by Commonwealth Games gold medallist, and double Olympian, Chris Cook.

The championships took place over two weekends at the Sunderland Aquatics Centre and finished with a final Teams Day of relays, with the best swimmers in the Northumberland and Durham District taking part.

MASC, whose members train at the Neptune Centre in Berwick Hills, and the Rainbow Centre in Coulby Newham, had more than 60 swimmers competing – the most in its 138-year history.

Out of 31 clubs in the district, MASC also achieved fifth place in Most Gold Medals category and sixth in the 15yrs Open category. The club accomplished almost double the points of its 2023 achievements, with two outstanding club records broken during the competition.

Darlington and Stockton Times: Junior members of Middlesbrough Amateur Swimming Club after their triumph

The swimmers also brought home 19 gold, 20 silver and 21 bronze medals and qualified for 172 finals, of which 47 were Heat Declared Winners.

The award follows promotion into the Northwest "Arena" Premier League in 2024, after only joining League Division 2 in 2022 and being promoted into the Division 1 league in 2023.

The club is now focusing on preparing for regional and national championships taking place over the next few months.

Marcin Paszek, MASC Head Coach, said: “Winning the Tom Randall Trophy is a tremendous achievement for Middlesbrough Amateur Swimming Club. I'm so proud of the dedication, hard work and talent displayed by all individual swimmers.

“The support all swimmers gave to their peers throughout both weekends was fantastic. This is a brilliant achievement and I'm so proud of every single swimmer taking part in the competition, and the sponsors, parents, Team Managers, and volunteers who continue to help us build such a great swimming community”.

Middlesbrough Amateur Swimming Club caters for all swimmers, from juniors and beginners to national-level competitors and masters, and offers both land based and pool training.