PARALYMPIC hopeful Alice Tai has been named in a 25-strong British team for the IPC European Championships in Madeira later this year.

The 16-year-old’s selection for the May event comes as she returns to Bournemouth Collegiate School (BCS) following a few months at British Swimming’s Paralympic National Performance Centre in Manchester.

She had intended to spend at least two years there but trying to juggle school and swimming with her family 250 miles away proved a challenge too far.

“The swimming programme in Manchester is really good and, if I wasn’t still at school, it would have been easier,” said Tai, who won a relay gold and three bronze medals at last year’s IPC World Championships in Glasgow.

“But it was chaotic. I was having to catch a bus to school after swimming and I arrived 20 minutes late.

“I think my mum is really happy to have me home and it’s nice to see all my friends again.”

Tai, who turns 17 on Sunday, has also been warmly welcomed back at BCS where she has resumed her A-level studies and rejoined the school’s swimming academy under coaches Adam Parfitt and Zoe Baker.

“It’s a big year for me,” she said. “I won gold, silver and bronze in my first Europeans in 2014 and the aim in Madeira is to win medals again.

“Before that, we have the British Paralympic International Meet in Glasgow in April, which is also the trials for Rio.

“Rio has been my dream for years but I’m not feeling too nervous. I think mum is more nervous than I am.

“I know the qualifying times are hard but there’s no point in stressing over it.

“I will just get on with the training and hope it works out.”

Tai, who swims in the S10 category, was born with two club feet and underwent a dozen operations as a youngster.

Despite her disability, she has regularly competed at the Dorset County Championships and won medals against able-bodied swimmers at open meets.

  • Organisers of the 2016 IPC European Championships have announced that tickets for the competition, which takes place between May 1-7, will be available free of charge for all spectators. They are available for download at the IPC Swimming website.

The event, which is being staged in Funchal, will see 450 of the world’s best swimmers from 50 countries descend on the Complexo Olimpico de Piscinas da Penteada for the last major international competition ahead of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

Those competing include Great Britain’s quadruple reigning European champion Andrew Mullen, world and Paralympic champions Jessica-Jane Applegate, Hannah Russell and Ollie Hynd and world record breaker Bethany Firth.