Camden Swiss Cottage’s young swimmers competed in their first Southern Junior Inter League Final on Sunday – and they finished fifth to narrowly miss out on a place in the national final.

Sunday’s competition at the Luton Sports Village pitted the winners of all of the southern junior leagues against each other, with the top four going through to contest the national final.

Some of Camden’s entrants were competing in their first ever team meet, and they collected 140 points.

Ten-year-old Ella McEver won the 50m breaststroke in 42.38, while Brandon Biss, 10, was first in the 50m freestyle (33.39) and third in the 50m backstroke. Alexis Lambropoulos, 11, took the 50m freestyle title (30.52) and Poppy Peters, nine, was second in the 25m butterfly.

Three boys’ relay teams also finished second. The nine years freestyle line-up of Haziq Kyril, Nikita Markov, Nick Finch and Josua Mara were runners-up, as were the boys’ 10 years medley and freestyle teams, comprising Biss, Oliver Wright, Leo He and Antoine Divet.

Meanwhile, there were third-place finishes for nine-year-olds Nick Finch and Markov in addition to Leo He, 10, Gabriele Giavannoni, 11, and Yann Divet, 12.

Team manager Michelle McCarthy said: “Our junior team performed really well against some of the very best swim clubs in the country. We are working hard to build a great base of young swimmers who will push the club to greater achievements in the future.”