City of Birmingham swimmers Alex Hooper and Holly Lynch competed at the recent Mare Nostrum meet in Monte Carlo alongside Olympic medallists such as Lisbeth Trickett, Alain Bernard and Laszlo Czeh.

The girls, along with their coach Adam Ruckwood, were given the opportunity to attend after City of Birmingham SC were awarded Development Club Funding from British Swimming for 2008/09.

Alex finished 5th in the 200m Backstroke and 6th in the 100m Backstroke, whilst Holly finished 9th, winning the 'B' final in both the 100m and 200m Backstroke.

Adam was delighted with how the girls performed at their first senior international meet and how they conducted themselves and would learn from the whole experience.