Rio the aim for British gold medal winner Andy Weatheritt
St Ives swimmer Andy Weatheritt with his British Summer Championships medals. - Credit: Archant
St Ives swimming star Andy Weatheritt’s sights are set on Rio after storming to national glory.
The 23 year-old powered to 50m freestyle success at the British Summer Championships in Sheffield courtesy of a personal best time of 22.85.
And the next target for Weatheritt, from Holme, near Peterborough, is to clinch a place in the 2016 Olympics.
He said: “Winning the British title is the highlight of my career so far.
“I knew I had a good chance going into the event and to do it on a big stage with a personal best was very pleasing.
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“A lot of hours have gone into swimming down the years and it is nice for that to be rewarded.
“The Olympics are now the target. I’m ranked second in Britain and I need to knock about half-a-second off my times.
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“That’s more than achievable before the trials in April.”
Weatheritt, who graduates from Loughborough University this summer after studying chemistry, also collected a national silver medal in the 50m breaststroke – something he treats as a ‘fun event’.
He was not the only St Ives Swimming Club medallist at the British Summer Championships as rising star Ollie Fitt collected a 100m backstroke bronze in the Men’s 16yrs age bracket.
Weatheritt added: “It is great to see another young swimmer coming through and he is doing everything correctly.”
Fitt only missed out on another medal by a whisker when taking fourth in the 50m backstroke final. He also finished seventh in the 200m backstroke final.
St Ives clubmate Fran Crocker (15) impressed with three personal best performances in the Welsh Home Nations Championships.
Proud St Ives Swimming Club coach Andy Hunter said: “It has been an exceptional few days with Andy, Ollie and Fran all performing superbly in big events and I’m very proud of their achievements.”
