PORTLAND swim star Jay Lelliott kicked off his British Summer Championships schedule in Sheffield with a silver medal in the men’s 19-and-over 400m freestyle.

The former Tornadoes of South Dorset youngster finished fastest in qualifying with a time of three minutes 54.45 seconds – a second quicker than next best Nicholas Grainger.

But Grainger managed to beat Lelliott by just three hundredths of a second in the final, meaning the Dorset swimmer was left to settle for second spot on the podium.

Lelliott tweeted: “400m freestyle silver to kick nationals off, chuffed with the time and in a good place for the rest of the meet.”