HALESOWEN swimmers found it hard going when they made the long trip to Aylesbury for the opening round of this season’s West Midlands National League.

The Halesowen squad had been hit hard by both illness and injury but still managed to remain in contention until the final relays.

There was still plenty of highlights for Halesowen including victories by Richard Spoor in both the individual medlay and breaststroke events.

Chloe Finch, Kate Morrice and Josh Bradley all produced winning performances in the freestyle, while Jakob Baker bagged first spot in the breaststroke.

Halesowen’s men’s open relay team also proved unbeatable as they stormed to victory in both the freestyle and medlay events thanks to the efforts of Zach Collins, Jacob Darby, Michael Edmonds and Mark Laing.

Abingdon Vale went onto win the event with 228 points followed by Chase 185, Bilston 174, Halesowen 170, Redditch 168 and Leicester Penguins B 121