SWIM Bournemouth star Jack Burton broke his third county record in eight days as he enjoyed his first taste of life in swimming’s fast lane.

But his latest record was achieved not in the relatively humble surroundings of Bournemouth’s Littledown Centre, which hosted the Dorset championships a week earlier, but the awe-inspiring environment of the Olympic pool.

In fact, Burton and Poole’s Noah Vides, both 15, were among the very first swimmers to compete in the pool that in four months’ time will have 17,500 spectators watching the likes of Michael Phelps and Ryan Locthe.

The two Dorset lads found themselves in adjoining lanes as they lined up for heat one of the men’s 100m breaststroke in the opening heats session of the British Championships and Olympic trials in the £275million London Aquatics Centre.

They finished 51st and 55th overall and 32nd and 33rd among British swimmers in times of 1:08.22 and 1:09.69 respectively.

Burton’s time shaved 0.16sec off his own Dorset junior long course record. He returned three days later to come 52nd overall (37th British) in the men’s 200m breaststroke in 2:28.98, a second or so outside his Dorset senior and junior records.

In both events, he was the second 15-year-old in the country.

Burton, from Ringwood, said: “It was really scary. I didn’t know what I had to do or how long I had to do it. I think I got to the pool a bit late for my first race. But it was my third PB in a week.”

Vides said: “I’m all right with that because I have been ill for quite a while and have only had two or three weeks of proper training. The experience of swimming here is really amazing. The approach is so professional. It’s a lot different to anything I have done before.”

At 14, Poole’s Dan Speers was one of the youngest boys in the entire championships – and he had to swim both his events within an hour of each other.

First up was the 100m freestyle in which he lowered his personal best by 0.4sec to a long course 54.02, finishing 74th overall, 27th British and second among swimmers born in 1997.

After swimming down during the women’s 200m butterfly heats, he returned for the second men’s event of the day to stop the clock at 2:34.53 for placings of 57th overall and 40th British.

Poole coach Robin Armayan said: “The freestyle was good and moved him up the rankings slightly. The 200m breaststroke was a problem because he’s been growing a lot, hasn’t done the training due to a knee problem and also because of the short time between his races.

“But it was great experience, which is why we’re here.”

Seagulls’ Bournemouth Collegiate School (BCS) swimmer Jessie Foster, 13, and Poole’s Naomi Vides, 17, whose paths crossed in the Dorset championships, met again in the 100 and 200m breaststroke in London.

In the shorter distance, European Youth Olympics finalist Foster came 51st overall and 32nd British in 1:13.96, with Vides 52nd and 33rd in 1:14.05.

In the 200m breaststroke, Foster almost matched her PB with 2:37.85 to come 44th overall (24th British).

Vides – affected by the same virus that struck down her brother in the new year – was well short of her best form as she came 58th overall (43rd British) in 2:45.32.

In the 200m individual medley, Foster was 56th overall (31st British) in 2:29.44.

Another star of last month’s Dorset championships, Tornadoes of South Dorset’s Jay Lelliott, 17, added to his recent tally of Dorset senior records as he knocked almost a second off his previous mark with a time of 2:05.10 in the heats of the men’s 200m butterfly.

Former Bournemouth Dolphin Joe Poynter, now at Millfield, came 40th overall in the 400m medley in 4:09.50.

In the 200m, he was 46th overall in 2:12.28.