selection to the national squad, when the third and final meet of the Winter National Age Group Championships took place at the BASA pool on Saturday.

Ten year-old Ashley Aitken of Harbour Club clocked her `A' times in the 50 metres breaststroke (45.52) amd 50 metres backstroke (42.05) while nine year-old Roy-Allan Burch of Sharks also made his mark in two events -- the 50 freestyle (34.19) and the 50 butterfly (39.25).

Notable by their absence from Saturday's meet were top competitors Stephen Fahy, 17, Abigail Madeiros, 14, and Rebecca Hanson, 12, all of whom were off the Island. But there were still some encouraging performances.

In the eight and under competition for high points, Emma Fenton of Sharks maintained her lead with a first place in the 25 backstroke, a second in 100 individual medley and a third in the 25 breaststroke. Team-mates Christina Dodwell and Flora Duffy were second and third respectively.

In the same age division for boys, Cameron McDonald of Triangles completed a clean sweep, winning all of his events on all three days of swimming to earn the high points trophy. James O'Shea of Sharks was second and Richard Collis of Harbour third.

Aitken claimed the girls high points award in the 9-10 division, winning nine events over the three meets. Runner-up was Sarah Cooper of Sharks and Meghan Jones of Triangles third.

Burch, meanwhile, lifted the boys 9-10 trophy after touching home first in eight out of nine events. It was a close race for second with Alex Collis of Harbour pipping Stephen Kenny of Triangles.

Candace Marson notched three first place finishes on Saturday to clinch first place in the girls 11-12 age group. Her Sharks team-mate Emma Rego won the 50 butterfly and 50 freestyle as well as placing second in the 100 free to take second overall ahead of Rebecca Hanson.

The boys 11-12 group ended in a tie for first place between Graham Smith of Triangles and Jonathan Herring of Sharks. But Smith won all three of his events in personal best times to take the high points trophy. Travis Tucker of Harbour was third.

Elisha Miller of Harbour grabbed three wins on Saturday to claim the 13-14 girls trophy. But the absence of Abigail Madeiros dropped her to third place behind Jessica Sousa.

Ronald Cowen continued to dominate the boys 13-14 division, taking nine wins over the three days of competition. Michael Pantry of Harbour was the runner-up and team-mate Paul Fox third.

In the 15 and over girls, Zoe Roberts beat out her Sharks team-mate Sarah Titterton for the high points award. And among the boys in that division, Stephen Fahy, who performed so well in the opening two meets, dropped to third because of his no show, allowing Craig Ferguson of Harbour to edge out team-mate Stephen Troake for the title by one point.

Saturday's meet marked the end of competitive swimming, with most of the competitors now taking a two-month break from their three to six weekly training sessions. Training will resume in February with the first of the Spring meets scheduled for the end of April.