FERNDOWN Otters sailed into their 22nd final in 23 years to maintain their status as the most consistent team in the Speedo League West.

They finished second to West champions Plymouth Leander in their second round gala to claim one of the six automatic places in the eight-team Premier Division final at Millfield on December 8.

Bournemouth Dolphins will be joining them after finishing second to City of Cardiff.

Both Otters and Dolphins look capable of challenging for places in the national final in May, which Bournemouth achieved last time.

Ferndown's gala at Plymouth was dominated by the home team, who were runners-up in this year's national showdown.

Plymouth won 34 of the 50 events but Otters finished a comfortable second, 29 points ahead of Swindon Dolphin, who were third in last year's West final.

National age group breaststroke champion Naomi Vides was involved in two of Ferndown's six wins, one of which was also their only relay victory - the girls' 13/u medley, which also involved Georgi Blake (back), Fiona Hardie (fly) and Emma Wignall (free).

The 13/u 100m breaststroke resembled an African championship as Vides - who has family roots in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Namibia - was challenged by Plymouth's 12-year-old Achieng Ajulu-Bushell, who holds 30 Kenyan national records.

In what could conceivably be a rehearsal for a future Commonwealth Games, Bushell led for most of the race but Vides's stronger kick saw her to victory in 1:12.60 to the Kenyan's 1:13.18.

Zoe Watson saw off Plymouth's Bo Cameron in the 15/u 100m freestyle (59.0) while Fran Hughes shrugged off the lingering symptoms of a virus to win the 15/u 100m breaststroke in 1:15.2.

Nicole Scott won the 100m butterfly in 1:03.6 and Danni Burry the 50m freestyle (31.8).

  • Dolphins fielded a weakened team for various reasons, especially in the older girls' events.

"We had only four girls over the age of 13 and the average age of our women's freestyle relay team was thirteen-and-a-half," said Dolphins coach Graham Bassi.

"But the kids dug deep and pulled off what in the circumstances was a very good result."

Dolphins' 11 and under girls produced a clean sweep of their events with Amelia Maughan winning the 50m backstroke and freestyle (35.41 and 29.15), Samantha Bush the butterfly (34.94) and Annie Leadbetter the breaststroke (41.10).

They also won both relays through Maughan, Courtney Rowan, Bush and Vicky Adams (freestyle) and Maughan, Leadbetter, Bush and Rowan (medley).

The 13 and under boys' team of Jay Olenicz, Jack Thorpe, Joe Poynter and Sam Adams won both their relays, with Poynter also winning the 13/u 100m breaststroke in 1:15.50.

Other winners were David Bogaard in the men's 100m breaststroke (1:05.78) and the 11/u boys' relay squad of Jackson Mullins, Louis Bridet, Curtis Allen, Peter Lawson and Jack Burton (medley and freestyle).