A COMMONWEALTH Games qualifying time was among Jacob Peters’ targets as he flew to the US this week to challenge the world’s best junior swimmers.

Poole’s British junior champion will be 17 on Sunday – the day the GB junior team move from their preparation camp to the World Junior Championships in Indianapolis.

And an early qualifying standard for next year’s Games on the Australian Gold Coast is high on his birthday wish-list.

The world juniors are among Swim England’s nominated meets where qualifying times can be set.

To put himself in the frame, the Poole Grammar School sixth-former needs to lose 2.38sec from the 200m butterfly Dorset record of 2:00.65 that won him the British junior title in April.

He said: “I’m feeling good. I swam a couple of PBs at the British Summer Nationals last month, despite being in heavy training. That’s encouraging.

“I’m ranked 12th for the 200m fly in Indianapolis but a lot has happened since I did that time.”

Medals will be a tall order at an event where Peters will be up to 18 months younger than many of his rivals.

Hot favourite for the men’s butterfly events is Hungary’s 6ft 7in world junior record holder Kristof Malik, 17, who recently beat British record holder James Guy and Olympic champion Joseph Schooling of South Africa to the 100m silver medal at the World Championships in Budapest.

Peters – a mere 6ft 3in – said: “Apart from the times, my aim is to get to the 50m and 100m fly semi-finals and the 200m final.”

The championships start next Wednesday but Peters will open with the 100m butterfly on Thursday.

Swim Bournemouth’s Bath Uni student Jay Lelliott is also on international duty as he represents British Universities at the World University Games in Chinese Taipei at the weekend.

Lelliott, 22, a Commonwealth Games finalist in 2014, won the 400m and 800m freestyle at the last Games in South Korea two years ago.

• Bournemouth Collegiate School’s (BCS) Alex Palotai-Avella won a silver medal at the Swim England Open Water Championships at Sheffield’s Rother Valley.

She came second in the 13yrs 1.5km event in 19min 06.39sec.

Sixth places went to Poole’s Teagan-Mae Graham in the 16yrs 3km in 38:23.77 and Thea O’Keefe in the 17-18yrs 5km in 1hr 3min 25.18sec.

Other top 10 finishers in their age groups included Swim Bournemouth’s Lucy Pearce and Kath Baker, who were seventh and eighth in the 19 and over 5km (1:05.09:29 and 1:05:16.13) and Jordan Young, who was 10th in the men’s 5km (1:04.39.28).