A GIRLS' swimming team from the North-East will compete against the best schools from around the country.

The pupils from Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, Darlington, have reached the finals of the National Schools' Swimming Championships, at Ipswich, in February.

At the divisional heats in Middlesbrough, the team - Natasha Crawley, Angie Winstanley-Smith, Carol Mohan and Rachel Piggett - qualified for the medley relay and free-style relay finals with the fastest times in the country.

Julia Atkinson, course leader for sports studies and PE at the college, said: "In the last two years, the college's boys' teams have done exceptionally well, being champions in 2001 and coming third in 2000. In 2003, it looks as though it's going to be the girls who excel."