PERSHORE Swimming Club member Alex Barry helped the West Midlands schools team to a historic national win.

The English Schools Swimming Association hosted their annual inter-region championships at Liverpool Aquatic Centre.

The West Midlands had never won the trophy but swooped to secure the 67th running of the event.

Hanley Castle High School year eight pupil Barry, 13, was female junior captain after being drawn from the best swimmers in Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Shropshire and Warwickshire.

At the end of the first day the team were joint second with Barry having taken fifth place in the 200-metre backstroke and helping the 4x100m relay medley team to fourth.

The highlight for Barry on day two came in the 4x100m freestyle relay where she took silver along with Erin Davies, Millie Checkley and Alisha Greenshields.

The final result came right down to the last race and the West Midlands scraped through to secure the overall team victory by one point over the south-east.

The gala move to Crawley in March 2018 when they will try to defend their crown.