Romford Town swimmers made their long-awaited return to the competition pool for the first time this season.

Swim England Essex held their Winter Short Course Swimming Championships at Basildon Sporting village for all Essex swimmers aged nine to 12 years of age.

For many, it was their first chance to compete at this high level, as they haven’t been held for the last two years.

Town, the longest-established swimming club in Essex, had an impressive meet with a total haul of 41 medals, and an additional 36 top eight finishers.

Summer Smith, 10, smashed her 10 events by winning nine golds and one silver medal and setting personal best times in the process.

Teammate Tumi Makinde, 11, also had a huge medal haul with four gold, three silvers and four bronzes.

Para-swimmer Kai Bradford, 12, was very successful in his events, winning four golds from the four events he entered.

Baris Muratoglu, 12, was very busy winning two golds and a silver in his races, while Jesse Howard, 11, won gold and bronze for Breaststroke and IM respectively.

Teammate Dillan Cronin won gold in 400m freestyle in a PB.

Sophie Long 11, won two silvers and two bronze medals in the breaststroke events and 100m IM, while Sophie Dixon swam her way to a silver and three bronzes in the same age group.

Young Charley Long, nine, had a great start to her Essex swimming career with three bronzes in freestyle and IM events in her first championships.

Other swimmers - although they may not have won medals - swam well to either make top eight finishes or personal bests.

These were the majority of Town's swimmers, especially Ruth Eguakhide, 12; Abigail Rogers, 12; and Orlaith Maclean, 10.