Nine of the best for ace Neves

AFTER nine island records and two national titles at the bottom of the age-group, Kristina Neves called it a day at Pond's Forge in Sheffield yesterday.

Having stripped nearly five seconds off her own personal best and more than two seconds off Gail Strobridge's island mark with a 4min. 58sec. clocking for the 400m individual medley, the Guernsey starlet opted out of the final with 22 tough races in the space of five days completed.

Six of the new island records were improvements on the amazing 14-year-old's very own marks, but of the other three, two had stood to Strobridge and the other to Cate Jackson, swum in 1989, long before the Guernsey Swimming Club talent was born.

In addition, five of her performances were new South East regional bests for her age-group and, as an unexpected bonus, the Amateur Swimming Association, in conjunction with Speedo, its main sponsors, presented her with a waterproof MP3 player to help her bide the time while training.

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