STUDENTS were crowned swimming champions after making a splash at a prestigious Olympic venue.

Market Field School in Elmstead Market was crowned Essex Panathlon champion at the iconic Aquatics Centre in London.

Charlie Garner from Doucecroft School in Eight Ash Green also stole the show.

A competition was staged by Panathlon, a charity hosting sports contests for young people with disabilities and special educational needs.

The two Colchester schools were separated by two points in the final at the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic venue.

Market Field finished with 55 points and student Charlie Latimer-Camilleri, 16, said she was exhilarated by the experience.

She said: "Tom Daley was here training this morning and winning this medal makes me feel a tiny bit like him.

"Those Olympians and Paralympians trained so hard and put everything into it – to get just a little bite of winning where they won six years ago is just so exciting.

"I watched them on TV getting their medals and now I'm doing the same."

The day marked a personal triumph for 18-year-old Charlie Garner.

He has autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia and since the age of 12 has suffered with hyperthyroidism, which affects his body temperature and accelerates his metabolism.

Charlie admits he has a big phobia of swimming, so his family did not expect him to attend the finals. He achieved his 10-metre swimming badge only two weeks ago, but swam double that distance in the competition.

He said: "Water still makes me nervous. I haven't conquered it yet, but I feel like I've made a lot of progress and today definitely helped.

"I kept going right until the end. It's still sinking in what I've done."

Andrea Griffiths, Charlie's sports coach at Doucecroft, said they had worked so hard with him.

She said: "He used to be afraid of drowning and wouldn’t leave the corner of the pool. He hated getting wet and just getting him to let go of the side was a massive effort.

"I think it's the structure and the atmosphere here which helped him go for it and compete."

Market Field and Doucecroft finished ahead of five other competing schools across Essex.

By winning gold, Market Field guaranteed their place in the Panathlon South of England Swimming Finals in July.

The day was attended by GB Paralympic gold medallist swimmer and Panathlon ambassador Liz Johnson.