FELIXSTOWE were crowned champions of Division Two of the Winter League on Saturday after claiming second spot in Saturday's final round.Having won the opening two rounds at both their home pool and at Leiston, Felixstowe were favourites to take the title at Beccles Swimming Club, Bungay.

FELIXSTOWE were crowned champions of Division Two of the Winter League on Saturday after claiming second spot in Saturday's final round.

Having won the opening two rounds at both their home pool and at Leiston, Felixstowe were favourites to take the title at Beccles Swimming Club, Bungay.

In a fantastic overall team effort, 18 Felixstowe swimmers achieved personal bests. First place positions were claimed by James Taylor (50m backstroke and 50m freestyle), Paul Barker (50m freestyle and 50m butterfly), Iain Grey (50m butterfly), and Tobie Salter (50m butterfly). Young swimmers Rachel Wills, Donna Clark and Sam Fowler also put in good swims.

The final race was the canon relay 8x 25m mixed ages, involving one swimmer from each age group. In a very close race, Felixstowe just missed out on first place.

This meant that Felixstowe finished second place overall on the day to Sudbury, confirming their position at the top of the division over the three rounds. This means Felixstowe, in the first time they have won this event, have now been promoted to Division One.

Felixstowe returned home with two shields, one for winning the league and the other for the boys winning first place overall.

Club spokesperson Rosemary Jones said: “I would like to congratulate the team for their hard work, and thank Nick Minns, Emma Franks and all of the spectators for their support.”

DEBEN Swimming Club's 'A' team have finished a close second to Lowestoft & Olton Broad 'A' in Division One of the Winter League.

In the third and final round of the league, Deben's 'A' team travelled to Bury St Edmunds, while their 'B' team went to Lowestoft on Saturday.

In an exciting evening, the battle for the winners trophy was fought to the bitter end. While the Deben boys finished victorious in first place, the girls team finished second.

When the total points were added up at the end of the gala, Deben finished just five points off the top.

Outstanding performances came from Emily Prior, who the opening 100m individual medley race, and also from Evie Adams, who broke 30 seconds in the 50m freestyle for the first time. Other excellent first positions came from Ben Davies, Mark Stevens, Alice Tennant, George Rudland, Jon Sargent and Matthew Naunton.

Meanwhile, the 'B' team performed solidly throughout the competition with some good individual swims. The boys team finished in fourth position, while the girls finished in second position bringing an overall placing of fourth.

Personal best times were achieved by the following 'B' team swimmers: Eleanor Scott, Harry Fulcher, Catherine Tween, Alex Eames-Bayton and Katie Stokes. There were also some excellent first place swims from Bethany Scott, and Katie Stokes.

After the Winter League on Saturday night, two Deben swimmers travelled straight to Bath in order to compete in the National Schools Modern Biathlon Championships.

Fennella Foskett and Alice Tennant finished swimming at Lowestoft and had to make the long journey to Bath ready to race again on Sunday morning. There, they both had outstanding swims. Tennant was first in the girls' year 9, 100m freestyle with a time of 1.03.02, while Foskett was second in the girls year 10 with a time of 1.03.71. Deben were well represented at these biathlon championships with several of their swimmers achieving personal best times.