Greek odyssey for England's Amelia (From Bournemouth Echo)

Greek odyssey for England's Amelia

7:00am Thursday 2nd April 2009 in

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AMELIA Maughan is set to make her international debut even sooner than expected – next week, in fact.

The Bournemouth Dolphins 12-year-old and the club’s head coach Graham Bassi fly to Thessalonika in Greece on Sunday after being selected for a five-day England training camp.

When the training is over, the England team will then compete in an international open meet in Greece.

Nick Sellwood, the ASA’s head of talent development, said: “Amelia will be wearing the England hat and will be representing her country.”

Sellwood added Maughan and Bassi to the team of 35 swimmers and 12 staff at the 11th hour after watching her astonishing swims at the British Championships in Sheffield last month.

Sellwood said: “We have added Amelia to the England national development squad following her outstanding performances at the British Championships.

“Having reviewed her level of performance, it was clear that this was a girl we would like to invest in by giving her international opportunities to prepare for the European Youth Olympic Festival in July and onwards towards the European Junior Championships in the future.”

Maughan will not be old enough for the European juniors until 2011.

She is at the younger end of the age range for European Youth Olympic Festival in Finland in July but is likely to be in Britain’s team when it is announced by the British Olympic Association in June.

Maughan, already the national age group champion in the 100m and 200m freestyle, will be the youngest member of an England team in Greece whose ages range from 12 – in her case – to 24.

Dave Legge, who will be head coach for the trip, said: “We have picked a mix of talented swimmers who are coming through and have made the teams for the European juniors or youth Olympics or who have the potential to make the Commonwealth Games team next year.”

The support staff includes several of England’s most experienced coaches and sports scientists, who will be working with the swimmers to improve their techniques and performances.

Nick Gillingham, Olympic silver and bronze medallist, is also attending as an athlete mentor.

As reported in the Echo last week, Maughan’s swims in Sheffield made her the youngest 12-year-old in the world this year as she reached the semi-finals of the women’s 50m and 100m freestyle with times of 26.86 and 57.57.

She is also top of the British all-time list for her age by a considerable margin.

She has already broken Dorset junior records set by Karen Legg and Alex Savage, the two most successful swimmers in the county’s history, when they were 16.

A year ago she twice broke the National Swimming League’s 11-and-under 50m freestyle record, held by Fran Halsall, who went on to make the Olympic final in Beijing.

• East Dorset Open Water SC have become the first open water club in the South West and possibly in the country to be awarded Swim 21 accreditation by the ASA.

The award is a national quality mark which recognises clubs that are committed to providing safe and effective services for the benefit of their members.

The same panel meeting which accredited East Dorset OWSC also re-accredited two other local clubs, Bournemouth Dolphins and Ferndown Otters.

Meanwhile, East Dorset are due to hold their first training sea-swim of the season off Shore Road Beach, Sandbanks, on Tuesday, May 5 (6.15pm).