WEAKENED by illness and injury, a young Diss Otters squad produced a valiant effort in the face of stiff opposition at this year's Norfolk Junior League final, held at Waterworld, Thetford.

WEAKENED by illness and injury, a young Diss Otters squad produced a valiant effort in the face of stiff opposition at this year's Norfolk Junior League final, held at Waterworld, Thetford.

Victories were hard to come by for all teams against a strong UEA Norwich squad. However, 12-year-old Katie Nash did win two individual races for the Otters. Nash won both the girls' 100m IM and 50m butterfly events.

The Otters did gain three individual and two relay second-place finishes. Ten-year-old Alice Waterfield came second in both the girls' 50m breaststroke and 25m butterfly events and 11-year-old Robbie Arnold also gained a second place finish in the boys' 50m backstroke.

The Otters relay squads were also in good form and gained two second places in the 4x25m freestyle relays. Both the nine-year-old boys' squad (Richard Lloyd, Richard Hatton, Jack Arnold and Ryan Waters) and the 12-year-old boys' squad (Andrew Johnson, Ben Sweeting, Robbie Arnold and Daniel Knight) produced excellent swims to earn good points for the team.

Final scores: UEA Norwich 223, Dereham 155, Gt Yarmouth 142, Norwich Swans 125, Diss Otters 116, Thetford 111.