Hampshire's swimmers have taken Britain's biggest inter-county swimming event by storm - powering to their first-ever victory by a huge margin.

And with consistency the key, local trio Julia Beckett, Josh Sweeney and Alex Savage each medalled in both individual and relay swims to help take Hampshire to the top ahead of 38 rivals from England, Scotland and Wales.

Hampshire travelled to Sheffield Ponds Forge with hopes of matching their best-ever bronze medal finish (achieved for the second time last year). Their squad had strength in depth - a key requirement in this 20-team contest, where points are scored right down to 20th place and consistency counts for more than one or two star wins. But they knew, too, that either Yorkshire or Northumberland & Durham had won this Swimming Times/ISTC event every year since 1988. So even their coaches admitted to caution when they moved into a strong lead before half-way - and to stunned surprise when they just kept getting stronger. In the end, thanks to a powerful showing in the relays, their margin was over 60 points.

Team manager Jane Davies, who moves up to the county ASA presidency next year, said: "We didn't realise quite how good they were. They performed very, very well. They knew what they'd gone there to do. They were calm, and they went into the relays to make sure, make no mistakes and do a good job".

The result was victory in the last three standard relays, followed by a second place in the closing squadron event. Fareham Nomad Graeme Holland made his trip (for the relays only) worthwhile, joining Winchester's Josh Sweeney, Simon le Couillard (Tigers) and Max Underhay (Portsmouth Northsea) to win the 12-13 years medley.

Another Winchester City Penguin, Julia Beckett, Romsey & Totton's Alex Savage, West Wight's Elizabeth Kreuz and Rushmoor's Kathryn Rowley took the 14-15 years girls' medley - a feat matched by the 16-17 years girls.

Earlier, Underhay (100m freestyle) and le Couillard (Portsmouth Northsea) had become Hampshire's only individual winners of the day. But again, the key is consistency - last year's bronze medal-winning squad hadn't recorded a single individual finish better than third. Crucially, almost all the county's swimmers managed top-10 finishes, with many going better.

Julia Beckett was an excellent second in her 100m freestyle, smashing the 60-second barrier for the first time to clock 58.93pb. Aged just 14, she'll be back in this age-group next year. Alex Savage also produced an exceptional swim and another pb time - taking bronze in the 100m butterfly in 1.05.49. And Josh Sweeney also took butterfly bronze, in a rapid 1.05.95. Rebecca Pritchard, Penguins' third representative here, finished a solid 10th in the 12-13 years breaststroke and picked up a silver medal in the medley relay.

Division 1 Result in full:

Hants 478, 2 Northumberland & Durham 415.5, 3 Lancashire 400.5

also: Yorkshire 391, Cheshire 385.5, Kent 371, Middlesex 369, Surrey 357, Somerset 336.5, Devon 321, Sussex 307.5, Warwicks 301.5, Essex 298.5, Notts 297, Staffs 288, Lincs 274, Oxon & N Bucks 261; (relegated:) Scotland East 250, Glos 216, Wilts 190.5.

Dorset secured promotion to Division 1 for next year's Inter-Counties, finishing third in the 19-team Division 2 at Ponds Forge. Charlotte Evans and leanne Studley were Dorset's individual winners as the county gave best only to two regional teams, Scotland West and South Wales.

Division 2 Result in full:

Scotland West 502, South Wales 461, Dorset 418.5 (all promoted); Cumbria 403, Suffolk 396.5, Cambridgeshire 394, Scotland North 387, Leics 371.5, Berks & S Bucks 365, Norfolk 362.5, Mid Scotland 340, Herts 335, Derbys 333, Worcs 320, North Wales 252, Beds 250, Northants 213, Cornwall 181, Shropshire 176.

Hampshire's county squad will host a 'Millennium special' at the Quays, Southampton on November 25. Devon, Dorset, Essex, Kent, Surrey and Sussex have all been invited to send a team. Hampshire will field two teams - effectively an A/B and B/C string as it takes the opportunity to give more swimmers county experience.