Nine-year-old Brandon Biss was the star man as Camden Swiss Cottage’s youngest stars stormed to victory in the first round of this year’s M11 Junior Swimming League at Basildon’s sporting village pool.

Swimming in Division One of the league against tough opposition, Camden produced a fine team effort to win with 293 points, ahead of Kent’s RTW Monson (252) and Dulwich Dolphins (247).

The promising Biss secured the first individual victory of the day with a decisive win in the 25m freestyle, and he also helped team-mates Josua Mara, Luka Cutler and Oliver Wright to grab double victory in the nine-year-old freestyle and individual medley relays.

Biss went on to join the 8x25m cannon relay team – alongside Edie McGrath, Scarlet Bureau, Gabriele Giovannoni, Marliese Rittenhouse, Danny Markov, Julia Murphy and Konrad Georgescu – and Camden won in an exciting finish against Thurrock.

Other vital individual wins came from 10-year-old Giovannoni, Rittenhouse, 11, and Murphy, 12, while there were close second-place finishes for Keith Mara, 10, Rittenhouse, Markov, 11, and Clementine Butler Brown, 12.

Two freestyle teams triumphed in relay races – the 10-year-old boys’ quartet of Antoine Divet, Leo He, Mara and Giovannoni, and the 12-year old-girls’ group of Amelia Sargent, Butler Brown, Larissa Giles and Murphy.

Coach Michelle McCarthy said: ‘This was a great team effort with some brilliant swims and I was proud of how all the Camden swimmers supported each other.

“What we need to do now is build on this performance and keep our focus – we’ve still got two rounds to go.”