Hynds excited as Ollie looks to defend Commonwealth gold

The Kirkby superstar’s place with Team England was confirmed this week, with the opening ceremony less than three months away.

Hynd holds the grand slam of titles with Paralympic, World, European and Commonwealth golds already in his bulging trophy cabinet.

And will travel to Australia with high hopes of defending his crown at his second Commonwealth Games.

“He’s really excited for the Commonwealth Games,” said Helen. “It’s a different type of Games to the Paralympics and it’s a chance to represent England instead of Great Britain, which is exciting, and to represent your country again is such an honour.

“It’s why he puts in all the hard work and gets up at quarter-past-five in the morning to train three times a day. He’s had two long pool sessions and a hard gym session - and he doesn’t do all that for nothing. He looks forward to it and loves to compete.

“He’s excited for it and hopefully defend his title.”

The 23-year-old won gold in the SM8 200m Individual Medley in Glasgow 2014 and will compete in the same event this time around in Australia.

“It’s fantastic and we’re so pleased for him. We’re so excited for him. He’s really looking forward to competing out there on the Gold Coast, training hard and excited to be going to his second Commonwealth Games.

“We went to watch him swim in Glasgow and it was fantastic. They put on a great show in Glasgow and he did really well. I remember the night Ollie won, Kate, Prince William and Harry were all there in the crowd.

“As Ollie did his lap of honour they applauded him right the way round, which was exciting. We had a fantastic time up there watching him swim,” said Helen.

He will take to the water on Sunday 8th April following a record breaking 2017 which saw him smash his own S8 category time in the 400m Freestyle at the British Summer Championships.

Hynd shaved two seconds off his gold medal Rio 2016 time to earn gold and also posted the number one ranked time in the world in the SM8 200m IM, which also earned him gold in the event.

His mum Helen can recount all of his achievements at the drop of a hat.

“They’re safely tucked in my memory pockets of the brain and heart. I can remember all of his and Sam’s medals. That’s what Team Hynd is all about,” she added.

“It’s going to be a really exciting year for him.

“He’s also got the trials for the Europeans in August not long after he gets back from the Gold Coast so it’s going to be busy. Hopefully he’ll be able to defend some of his titles there as well. It’s an exciting year.”