NEWPORT swimming starlet Bethan Coole, pictured, has insisted that Wales' young swim team is full of potential stars of the future.

And it said something about the useful nature of the Welsh squad when the Penhow teenager is one of the veterans - and she is only 17!

Coole, who competed in three disciplines in the Games, helped the Welsh quartet finish fifth in their 4x100 metres freestyle relay on Saturday night with Monmouth teenager MacKenzie Howe plus Julia Martin and Catrin Davies.

But, with the average age of Wales' 18-swimmer squad just 17-and-a-half, these Games in Manchester are merely the start of their promising careers.

Most of the squad will only be in their twenties when Commonwealth Games 2014 comes around - Coole including.

But there has been a great deal of success for Wales at Manchester's Equatic Centre.

Cwmbran's Gareth Duke was celebrating after breaking the Commonwealth record of one minute 18.08 seconds in the S6 category of the 100m multi-disability freestyle heat, but wasn't quite good enough to secure a final spot.

And 16 other Welsh records have also been smashed here.

Aberystwyth-based Davies, who, at 22, is the eldest member of the Welsh team, battled her way to the women's 50m freestyle final where she finished eighth with a time of 26.54secs.

Coole told how the squad set out their strategy before going into the pool.

She said: "We had a target before the Games began and we have exceeded all of our own expectations.

"Everyone has performed very well and we have had more individual finalists in this Commonwealth Games than in any other in the last 30 years."

Talking about her own performances, Coole said: "I have been very pleased with my times.

"But some people forget I'm only 17. Because I competed in Kuala Lumpur last time there is higher expectations of me.

"But I'm still only a teenager and I'm not 18 until October.

"There are plenty of swims and years left in the tank," she laughed.

"Some swimmers don't peak until their mid-to-late twenties so hopefully I'll be around until at least the Commonwealth Games in 2014."

Coole admits she has got some big decisions to make when she returns to training at the prestigious Millfield Academy, like which event to specialise in.

The former Caerleon Comprehensive School student reached the 100m butterfly semis and 100m backstroke, finishing seventh in both as well as other events.

Coole said: "Entering a six-day competition like this you need so much mental energy as well as physical energy - and it started to take its toll."