Six City of Norwich swimmers are making their final preparations for the Swim England Winter Nationals in Sheffield.

The championships – from December 14-16 – are the final competition of 2018 and raced in a 'short-course' 25m pool.

There are only two age-groups – 15-year-olds and under and an Open age, which presents a challenge to qualify, meaning the Norwich group have done well to secure their places.

The youngest member is 13-year-old Olivier Vedrenne, who will also be one of the youngest swimmers in Sheffield and will race in the 100m and 200m breaststroke events.

Fifteen-year-old Sacha Thomas will compete in her first Winter Nationals, racing in the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle and the 50m butterfly. Sacha recently broke the Norfolk junior and senior records in all four of these events, some of the records dating back 33 years.

For 15-year-old Nathan Woodrow it will be his second Winter Nationals – he competes in the 100m and 200m freestyle, 100m and 200m butterfly and the 200m and 400m individual medley.

Sixteen-year-old Megan Pye will be at the Winter Nationals for the third time. She will line up in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke. She has also broken the Norfolk junior and senior records in all three of these backstroke events – again, records which had stood for 33 years.

UEA student Rikke Nagell-Kleven, 23, will race in her favourite event, the 100m individual medley. Rikke is Norwegian and has been studying at UEA for four years. Jana Spinner, 19, will join the three other girls for the medley and freestyle relays. She has also recently broken the Norfolk senior record for the girls 50m freestyle.

Head coach Alex Pinniger said: 'We have enjoyed an outstanding finish to 2018 and these six swimmers are all very highly ranked in Great Britain. We are all really looking forward to the Winter Nationals. Three of the swimmers have broken Norfolk records that have stood for a very long time so the future looks very promising for swimming in Norwich.'

If you are interested in joining City of Norwich Swimming Club contact Alex Pinniger at alexpinniger@gmail.com