Colchester Swimming Club's Laura Stephens in fine form

The Colchester Swimming Club member, who is now based at Plymouth Leander, was in fine form at the meet.

The 19-year-old lowered her 200 metres butterfly personal best (PB) for the second time this year, as she continues to build towards her long-term of competing at next year's Tokyo Olympics.

Stephens said: "I was really pleased with my swims in Edinburgh, especially the 200m butterfly.

"To swim a personal best time now gives me a lot of confidence that I’m in a really good position going into the British Championships and the hard work I’ve been putting into training is paying off.

"I’m really excited for the next few weeks to finalise my preparations and then be ready to race fast in Glasgow."

Stephens swam a new PB at the event in Scotland, which was contested by some of the best swimmers from the UK and abroad.

Stephens, from Wix, produced a solid performance in the 200m butterfly to clock a PB of two minutes 09.24 seconds.

It is the fifth fastest time in the world this year and saw her finish in second spot.

She was just behind Commonwealth Games champion and European medallist Alys Thomas, who won in a time of 2m 08.75s.

Ciara Schlosshan was third and more than three seconds behind Stephens who had earlier swam 2m 12.82s, in her 200m butterfly heat.

The former Colchester County High School for Girls pupil also competed in the 100m butterfly final, finishing sixth in a time of 1m 00.43s.

She had earlier swum 1m 44s to finish fourth in her 100m butterfly heat.

It was a busy meet for Stephens, who also competed in the 50m butterfly and 200m backstroke.

She was second-placed British swimmer in the 50m butterfly, after clocking a time of 27.16s.

And she registered a time of 2m 17.45s to finish sixth, in the 200m backstroke.

Stephens is now preparing for the British Championships, which get underway at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre on Tuesday April 16.

The competition doubles up as trials for the World Championships.