Swimmer Ollie's all set for Mexico City

Ollie, who is trained by Mansfield District Council’s award-winning swimming development officer, Glenn Smith at the town’s Nova Centurion Swimming Club, will be heading to Mexico City for the IPC World Championships in September.

He was picked for the team after his performance at the British Summer Championships in Sheffield, where he achieved a new world record for the S8 400m freestyle, shaving two seconds off the time he achieved in his gold medal-winning race at the Rio Paralympics in 2016.

Ollie also went on to win gold in the MC 200m individual medley in the SM8 category, and achieved a bronze medal in the MC 100m freestyle race.

The British Summer Championships also provided an opportunity to showcase the talents of some of Mansfield’s other younger swimming stars in the making.

Brother and sister Nicholas and Natalie Meldrum competed in the 50m breaststroke events, Natalie also in the Nova women’s 14-16-year-olds 4x100 freestyle team which reached the finals.

Ben Foulston, in the S10-17-year-old category, joined Ollie in the finals of the 400 freestyle and 200m individual medley. He also made the final of the 50m freestyle where he posted a PB, just falling short of a medal.

Rebecca Flisher made the final of the 4x200 freestyle in the women’s Nova Centurion 14–16-year-olds team.

Their coach Smith, recently named Performance Coach of the Year in the Nottinghamshire Sports Awards for the fourth time, said: “I’m delighted that Ollie has been selected to join the British team in Mexico again and I am confident he’ll bring a few more medals home.

“The British Summer Championships have been an excellent opportunity for Mansfield’s swimmers to show their winning credentials.

“We have a history of producing champions and it is a real pleasure to work alongside our young swimmers as they work to achieve even greater heights.”