ANNE Seager, 51, from Ruardean, has achieved the 'Top Ranking' place in the inaugural Open Water Swimming Series sponsored by H2O magazine.

Anne is no novice to open water swimming, having successfully completed an English Channel relay crossing in 2011. Not content to rest on her laurels, she has just become the very first open water non-wetsuit swimming champion for the National Ranking series for 2012.

Her top scores were in the 2.5km Bournemouth sea race, which nine swimmers were unable to finish in and had to be rescued from a strong tidal current and rough waves, and a 1 mile Loch Ness swim in a near minimum legal temperature of 10.5 degrees

The plummeting temperature sent most of the competition to the warmer confines of the rescue boat.

A 2km race in Queensford Lake in Oxfordshire was tame by comparison. Anne gained further valuable points, keeping her ahead of the bow wave to see her gain first place and victory in her age group for the overall series for 2012.