There's lots of swims available across my local.

Who cares what other people think? Claim it, don't claim it. Either way, you had the fun of playing and landing the fish, so that's reward enough. If you got a photo, then even better. If it was a PB, maybe then there is a bit more to the “should I, shouldn't I” argument.
I fished a local water which was hard as nails back in the day. I had to go to work but my mate had another couple of nights. I left him one of my rods out, as he only had two (yes he had the relevant licences) he had a run on my rod. Sadly he lost the fish. That would have been our first fish from the lake. Had he landed it, I recon we both would have taken some credit for it.