Head coach Andy Hunter declared himself proud of St Ives Swimming Club’s performance in the first round of the National Arena League.

The local talents were pipped to victory by Cambridge in a close-fought Division Two battle at Spalding, where Nottinghamshire outfit Kimberley took third place.

Ollie Fitt was involved in four triumphs as claimed a men’s 100m backstroke and 100m individual medley double before starring in two relay successes.

He was part of the St Ives quartet - also featuring Andy Weatheritt, Tom Davis and Mike Lardner - which won the men’s freestyle and medley events.

The ladies squad of Cathy Thomson, Jaz Dearnley, Amy Coleman and Nicole Bradford also claimed medley victory while the 15yrs/under girls freestyle relay team of Sophie Turner, Georgia Spencer, Ciara Taylor and Mia Woods provided another triumph.

St Ives enjoyed a host of other individual victories – two of which came from James Quinn as he took 100m breaststroke honours in the 13yrs/under and 15yrs/under age brackets.

Olivia Smith added another pair of successes in the 11yrs/under girls section with fine swims in the 50m butterfly and 50m freestyle.

James Peacock took the 11yrs/under boys 50m butterfly while Sophie Turner won the 100m freestyle in the 15yrs/under girls section. Dearnley (ladies 100m breaststroke) also got in on the act.

“It was an excellent start to the Arena National League season and I’m very proud of our performance,” said head coach Hunter. “We produced great swims all the way through in a hard-fought competition.”

Other St Ives swimmers to impress in the event were Charlotte Dodge, Amelia Dunn, Millie Taylor, Daniel Moyses, Janos Kadar, Tiernan Stevenson, Daniel Moore, Luke Tunstall, Tom Lucas, Toby Offord, Harper Jackson, Evan Taylor, Bethan Endicott, Charlotte Flynn, William Coleman, Connor Brookes and Ciera Norman.

St Ives finished on a total of 185 points, two fewer than the tally managed by Cambridge.

Kimberley racked up 162 points while host club South Lincs brought up the rear on 146 as Loughborough did not compete.

The next round takes place over the weekend of November 11/12 with the third set of fixtures scheduled for December 9/10 ahead of finals being held in April, 2018.