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Two girls from Skipton Swimming Club have swum themselves in with a chance of achieving Olympic qualifying times at the British Championships to be held next week.

Abigail Kerr, 13, and Julia Scrivin, 15, will compete in the championships, which is one of three Olympic Trial events being held this year.

The two girls, who are each ranked No 1 in the country in their age group (Abi in 50m breaststroke and Julia the 50m backstroke), will have an uphill climb to produce Olympic qualifying times, according to their head coach Coz Tantrum.

Tantrum said: "They will be competing against some of the faster swimmers in the country at the British Championships.

She said that many of those swimmers will actually be older than Abi and Julia.

Tantrum added: "It's tough for these younger swimmers to produce a really fast times on a big stage."

However the two girls both have a very impressive CV.

Julia, from Skipton, has just received the Young Achievers Award for the area and was presented with a cheque for £100 for her achievements in swimming.

Tantrum said that one of the reasons Julia received the award is that on top of all of her schoolwork, she trains 20 hours a week, including two-a-day sessions on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturday. She trains once a day on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, leaving Tuesday as the only day she does not swim.

Julia is the current junior Yorkshire champion and also North Eastern junior champion in the backstroke events.

Julia is ranked No 1 in the country in the 15 years band in the 50m backstroke and holds a top 10 in the country in the 100m backstroke.

She has also represented Yorkshire in the Inter Counties and is part of the Talent Development Squad for the North.

Abi, who lives in Ilkley and attends Ilkley Grammar School, is ranked is No 1 in the 50m breaststroke and second in the 100m breaststroke in the 13-year-old category.

Abi has won two gold medals in the Yorkshire Age Group (13) in the 50m and 100m breaststroke and was third in the 200m breaststroke.

She was seventh junior (U-15s) in the Yorkshire Championships held at the beginning of February and was also eighth in the 400 medley, 400m freestyle and 200m medley.

In the North Eastern Regionals held in November she was fourth in the 100m and 200m breaststroke.

Abi also made her National qualifying time in February as well as British Championship/Trial time.

Tantrum said she had been suffering with an illness prior to her recent good form.

"She was feeling really rested, which is why she has been producing some fast times."

Tantrum said that Abi worked hard on technical changes in her stroke which has paid dividends. She missed out on qualifying for the National Age Group Championships last year by one second. This year she was 2.5 seconds within the qualifying time.

Although the Olympic Trials will be important Tantrum said Abi needs to concentrate on doing very well against swimmers in her age group at the National Age Group Championships while Julia needs to do the same at the National Youth Championships.

Tantrum added: "What they can achieve will be down to them. The club is going to back them to the best of their ability."

3:11pm Thursday 27th March 2008

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