Kristina Neves proudly displays her national championship trophy at Pond’s Forge in Sheffield. (0611571)

GUERNSEY has a national swimming champion. Competing at the National Bagcats Championships at Pond’s Forge in Sheffield, 11-year-old local girl Kristina Neves was crowned the best in her age group in the country.

On the way to the title, the talented Neves won a staggering nine gold medals and set 10 personal-best times and three new south-east records. She amassed 2,941 Bagcats points, more than 250 ahead of Southport’s Lauren Cheston in second place.

Neves took it all in her stride and she said she was not surprised by her success. She had been spending up to 15 hours a week in the pool in the lead-up to the championships.

Supported by Rothschild Bank International, Neves goes to Crawley to train with coach Tim Hartley in the Olympic size pool at the K2 Leisure Centre. ‘Not really [surprised] – I’ve been training for it,’ she said. ‘It’s my first time. It feels good to be national champion.’