Nine Barnet Copthall swimmers have qualified for the Open Water Nationals competition in Sheffield on the back of some strong performances at a London qualification event at Surrey Docks.

Three swimmers qualified after winning their respective categories, with Analise Carver Varela, Lottie Bell and Fleur Lewis first in the 17/18-year-old five-kilometre, 16-year-old three-kilometre and 14-year-old 1.5-kilometre events respectively.

Another three made the grade after finishing second in their races, including 2016 Olympian Gaurika Singh in the 15-year-old three-kilometre race, Lucy Whytock in the 13-year-old 1.5-kilometre and Daniel Drienovsky in the 12-year-old 1.5-kilometre.

Sophie Murray and Ahaan Saini also qualified.

Copthall is set to take 18 swimmers to national events in Sheffield across the summer, including the British Summer Championships, starting today, and the Swim England National Summer Championships, which begin next Wednesday.

Rhys Gormley, the club's head coach, said: "Our team has performed exceptionally this year and we are looking forward to the final competitions of the year which they have worked so hard to gain entry to.”