As reported in PO9 & PO11 in September, talented England team swimmer, sixteen-year-old Oliver Jermy, from Hayling Island, took part in the ISF Gymnasiade 2013 World School Games held in Brazil from 27 November - 4 December.
The South Downs College student and member of Havant and Waterlooville Swimming Club, flew from London to Brazil as part of the England team of 24 students aged from 15-18 years.
The five-day competition with 42 different countries took place in 35C heat in an outdoor pool, with event heats and finals taking place on the same day.
Oliver achieved 4th place in the 200m backstroke and 400m individual medley finals and 8th place in the 50m backstroke final.
Oliver told Postcode Publications, “Before leaving for the competition I received a letter from his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge wishing the team good luck, and I was lucky enough to take part in the parade at the opening ceremony.
“The whole experience was just incredible – swimming in an open-air pool in 35-degree heat along with wind and rain was a completely different scenario to my training and it was such a great experience.
“I’d like to thank my family and friends for their support, as well as a special thanks to my swimming coach Graham Pople at Havant and Waterlooville Swimming Club and local accountancy firm Wilkins Kennedy for their sponsorship and support.â€
Claire Peers, Marketing Director at chartered accountancy firm Wilkins Kennedy, who sponsored Oliver, said, “Oliver is a star and we are very proud of his achievements – we are pleased to support such [emerging] young talent and would like to congratulate him on his success [at the Games].â€
The pace is relentless for Ollie in 2014. He attended the England Talent Camp for distance swimmers in Coventry before his Club weekend training camp at Crystal Palace as reported in this column. In March he has the County Championships over three weekends, also reported in this column. He has been selected for the next round of the Hampshire Schools Competitions, has the Regional and National Championships after the British Championships in Glasgow which he is expected to go to in April. Also, as part of his British Swimming Development Programme, he has a week long training camp in Tenerife in the October half term school holiday.
There is news also of Katie Byrne, aged 13 years and from Selsey; another of the talented group of young swimmers at the Havant and Waterlooville Club. Like Ollie, Katie gets extra training to help her evelop her talent. Katie attends the ASA Region Beacon Programme based at the Mountbatten Centre, Portsmouth every Saturday morning. She starts training at 7am and completes a supervised 2 hour swimming session followed by a 45 minute dry side session consisting of free weights, balance work and 'killer' circuits. This is as well as completing a 2 hour training session with her-own squad at 4pm that evening!
Katie was selected for the Beacon Programme following her success at the British Gas Age Group National Championships in July 2013, where she finished 9th overall in her group and was the the South East Region’s highest ranking 13 year old girl in the competition. She also reached the finals for the 200m freestyle where she finished ranking 5th in England. Selection for the England Talent Development Programme followed and she attended a Performance Profiling and Development day in Guildford in October 2013. She has since been nominated by the England Talent staff to attend a Regional development camp in Reading this month (February).
In 2013 Katie was also both the South East Region Champion and the Hampshire County Champion for 13 year old girls. In August 2014 Katie competes at the National Championships in her favourite event the 400m Freestyle.
Talent comes with hard work and commitment. As well as all the specialist training outlined above Katie and Ollie swim 7 times per week with the other youngsters at the Havant & Waterlooville Club often in the early hours and in combination with their school academic schedules.