HANNAH McElroy was crowned Essex open water three kilometre champion.

The Borough of Southend Swimming Club (BOSS) youngster finished third in the East Region Championships at Whitlingham, in Norfolk, and with the event doubling up as the county championship, that was enough to see her win the Essex title.

McElroy, 14, was one of the younger swimmers in the 13 to 16 age group, but showed her toughness over three 1km laps of the lake.

She chipped away at those ahead of over the course of every lap and found herself part of an elite leading froup coming towards the finish.

McElroy kicked hard for the finish and crossed the line in third in a time of 51m 36.12s to claim Eastern bronze and Essex gold.

A number of other BOSS swimmers were at Whitlingham, including Cavan Beck who competed in the 2km event.

Beck had a good start and stayed with the main pack right until the sprint finish at the end where he had to settle for sixth place in the East but an Essex Championships silver medal in a time of 28m 43.64s.

Both Beck was then due to compete in the gruelling 5km event, along with team-mates Kirstie Fehily and Bethan McElroy and Cavan Beck, but the event was abandoned due to safety reasons with intense thunderstorms and torrential rain overhead.

Fehily and Beck will both be in action closer to home this weekend when they race in the Southend Pier swim that takes place on Saturday.