Northallerton: Saturday saw the opening Moors League of the season fixture at Stokesley where the hosts welcomed Guisborough, Saltburn and Marske, and Northallerton as they prepared to defend the trophy.

In what proved to be an afternoon of exciting and tense action Northallerton pulled off an unexpected upset that thrilled the crowd, enjoying a six point victory over Stokesley with Guisborough and Saltburn and Marske third and fourth respectively.

Northallerton showed great strength in depth with emphatic victories in all age groups from 9-year-old to 15+ as they welcome six new swimmers to their growing squad, Tamara Swales, Isla Clark, Robert Nutall, Fergus Roberts, Korina Mcvay and Darren Taylor, wore the black and red of NASC for the first time to bolster the relay teams to valuable points.

The team spirit was evident with determination and pride the key as Northallerton led throughout under the leadership of club captains Alex Smith and Sara Hope unlocking their opponents strengths.

Many personal bests were set along with six club records: Adele Carmichael 50m Fly (33.57); Sam Brayshaw 50m Back (33.06); Ben Wilbor 50m Breast (45.09), Oliver Wray 50m Fly (33.70) and Zara-Dee Hannay 50 Breast (40.39) and 50 Free (31.42) all in their respective age groups. Zara-Dee's Freestyle time was also registered as a Moors League record.

Special thanks were given by the team and coach to Ralph Stokeld whose support did not go amiss.

Coach Barbara Blades said: "We still have a long season ahead of us, so we must train hard and focus on our future swims, practicing starts and turns is important to all our swimmers to maintain the momentum we are achieving at Northallerton. Well done everyone who took part."