SWIMMERS from Winsford have earned the right to make history next month when they compete in the National Arena League’s regional showpiece for the first time.

They have qualified for the North West Premier Division A final after finishing fifth at Macclesfield in the season’s second round, amassing enough points to be ranked among the eight highest-scoring clubs overall.

“Our chances looked slim considering who we were up against,” said head coach Dave Pettengell.

“We expected it to be tough, so to make it through is an achievement we should be proud of.”

Winsford have reached the Premier Division previously, in 2007, but dropped out after a single season.

They returned to the competition three years ago, placing second in Division Two.

A single point separated them from Division One champions Alsager at the end of the following campaign.

Last year, Winsford won the B final to rank ninth overall in the region.

Pettengell said: “We’ve had a couple of cracks at the National Arena League in my decade at Winsford.

“We found on the first occasion we reached the Premier Division that we couldn’t compete at that level due to a lack of strength in depth, so I pulled the club out to build again a team that could make it there. It’s great to have done that and to have gone one better than last time.”

The Premier Division A final is at Manchester Aquatics Centre on Sunday, December 15.