Braintree swimmer Alice Hickmott travelled to the Ponds Forge in Sheffield to compete at the ASA National Age Group Championships.
The competition sees the best swimmers in the country compete and Hickmott showed no nerves.
She set a new personal best time in the 100 metres backstroke and was unlucky to miss out by one position and 0.01 seconds on a place in the final.
She returned to the pool later in the week for the 200m event where she swam just outside her previous best.
Hickmott nevertheless put in another good performance to continue the taste of competition at this level.
For more on this story, see this week's Braintree and Witham Times.
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