Signs are promising that the Channel Islands will once again enjoy a gold rush in the pool at the Island Games in Aland this summer.

In the first three sessions of this weekend’s main meeting of the Specsavers CI Championship, no fewer than 36 records were broken and many in convincing style.

Not unusually, several Games gold medallists were among those who set new marks with Ben Lowndes, Jonathon Le Noury and Jeremy Osborne among the Sarnians to excel at Beau Sejour.

Others went to undoubted future Games stars such as Kristina Neves (with seven), the Parfit siblings and Joshua Lewis, who shone on Saturday afternoon. The 15-year-old’s performance in the 200m breaststroke was outstanding.

THE Beau Sejour Swim School and the competitive squads of the Beau Sejour Barracudas have become the first organisation in the Channel Islands to gain the highly regarded Swim 21 accreditation.

Swim 21 is the ‘quality mark’ of the Amateur Swimming Association - the sport’s national governing body.

It recognises nationally and regionally the clubs that are committed to providing safe, effective and quality services for the benefit of their members.

It is a way of ensuring that every athlete - whatever their age or experience - belongs to a club that provides the best possible support and environment.

The Specsavers Channel Islands Swimming Championships will pose the first big test of the year for Guernsey and Jersey’s best swimmers.

With the distance races having taken place last weekend, the main events are being held this weekend at Beau Sejour.

The Guernsey Swimming Club will represent the Bailiwick along with the Beau Sejour Barracudas while Jersey Swimming Club and AIB Tigers are the two visiting clubs.