CHILLED out swimmer Tom Robinson is basking in his open-water success.

The Pennington teenager has hit top gear in the Lake District this year, his latest success coming with victory in the Windermere Cross Lake Swim.

The Chillswim contest saw Robinson battling it out with a host of open-age swimmers over the 1.2km course, and he was the first home in a new personal best and course record of 14:09.

His performance saw the Ulverston Amateur Swimming Club member beat close to 200 competitors, with the second-placed finisher 90 seconds back.

It was a display which proved Robinson is in top form in the Lake District, even if the youngster himself was modest in his assessment of how the year has gone.

“My form has been all right – I think it has been better in the open water than it has been in the pool,” said the 14-year-old, who splits his training regime between Ulverston, Cockermouth and Manchester.

“My long-distance is coming along and it’s my strength now.

“I just like feeling free. It’s good not being in a box all the time. It’s different to the pool.

“There’s a different feeling in the races, you have more freedom when you’re swimming.

“The Chillswim was my best race of the year and we’ve got the nationals coming up as well, so we will see how they go.”

The Chillswim saw competitors catch a ferry from Brockhole across to Wray Castle before swimming back.

Robinson will be back in the pool for both the English and British National Championships. He will be competing in the 50m backstroke at the British event and both the 200m butterfly and 100m backstroke at the English Championships, but in the 15-year-old and under age group.

“For the British Champs, I’ll just see how it goes, but for the English Championships, I want to make the finals in both the events,” he said.

After the pool championships, Robisnon will return to open-water events in September, with an event in Coniston Water next up.

That is a venue the swimmer has a particular fondness for, taking part in sessions with Chillswim organiser Colin Hill, though living so close to the Lakes makes it easy to take advantage of the natural facilities on his doorstep.

“It’s good to be close to the Lakes,” he said. “Coniston Water is my favourite, it’s easy to get to and it’s clean.”

Though his open-water swimming has seen him shine so far in 2015, Robinson continue to train hard in the pool across his three venues.

The sessions in Cockermouth see him join European Games medallist Luke Greenbank, allowing him to test his backstroke against those of a high standard.

He has been helped with expenses by Active Cumbria’s Talented Athlete Fund, from whom he received a £300 silver grant.