Stonehaven teenager Dean Fearn triumphed at the Speedo British Swimming Summer Championships winning four record-breaking golds and a silver medal.
The week-long national competition. which was held in Sheffield, was the biggest event that 14-year-old Fearn has competed in, but that did not faze him.
In each of his four gold-medal winning races, the teenager, who swims with Aberdeen Dolphins, set personal bests and broke British and Scottish records for his age group.
In the 50 metre butterfly, Fearn set a new British and Scottish record with a time of 25.01 seconds. He broke Scottish records in the 100m butterfly (56.18), and the 100m (58.71) and 50m (27.24) backstroke.
The 14-year-old old also got on the podium in the 50m freestyle event, as he picked up a silver medal with a time of 24.59 seconds.
As it was his first major competition, Fearn had hoped to do his best, but did not expect to return to Stonehaven with five medals and four new record times.
He said: “I wasn’t expecting the results that I got. I was obviously trying to go down and win a medal, but I didn’t think I’d get as many as I did.
“It’s the biggest event I’ve ever swam in and the plan was to see how I compared to the other athletes. I was really really pleased with how things went.
“After I won the first gold in the 50m backstroke, it motivated me to try and go for gold in every other race that I did.
“The first gold medal felt great, I’ve never had that feeling before. They all felt good, but the first one was really special.”
Now Fearn has a taste for competing in major events, he has set his sights on the European Junior Championships.
He said: “I just have to keep training and working hard. I’m enjoying racing long course, I feel a lot better with that now.
“I’ll take it step by step, but I’m hoping to go to the European Junior Championships next year. That would be a big step for me, and then I can keep going from there.”
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